Procurement in a Nutshell – Government publishes draft procurement legislation
21st December, 2018
As a result of the UK's decision to leave the European Union, the Government has published the draft Public Procurement (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.
Please click here to view the regulations.
The purpose of these is “to address deficiencies in retained EU law in relation to public procurement arising from the withdrawal of the UK from the EU, ensuring the legislation continues to operate effectively after the UK leaves the EU” as well as making sure that any references to European institutions, European Directives and Treaties are appropriately removed or replaced.
What do the draft Regulations say?
In addition to facilitating the continued application of the Public Contracts Regulations, the Concession Contracts Regulations, and the Utilities Contracts Regulations post-exit day, the draft Regulations also cover aspects of procurement law such as the removal of State Aid as a factor when considering abnormally low tenders and the removal of the requirement to publish tenders in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).
With regard to the latter, the legislation explains that there will be a new UK based e-notification service to replace OJEU and UK economic operators will have to monitor this in order to keep abreast of potential procurement opportunities.
Why is this important?
The Regulations are important in demonstrating to public sector organisations that, despite the uncertainty surrounding Brexit and for the time being at least, it will have relatively little impact on the public procurement regime in the UK.
Nonetheless, if you have any queries on the issues raised or on any aspect of procurement, please contact us via our procurement hotline on 0191 204 4464 or please click here to access our procurement page.
Please note that this briefing is designed to be informative, not advisory and represents our understanding of English law and practice as at the date indicated. We would always recommend that you should seek specific guidance on any particular legal issue.
This page may contain links that direct you to third party websites. We have no control over and are not responsible for the content, use by you or availability of those third party websites, for any products or services you buy through those sites or for the treatment of any personal information you provide to the third party.
