Public Procurement 2026

Principles, Procedures and Accountability in Public Procurement Around the World

Public procurement regimes sit at the intersection of public law, commercial practice and government policy. While the detail of those regimes differs considerably from country to country, this guide is intended to draw out the principal features that practitioners, suppliers and contracting authorities most need to understand when navigating the award of government contracts. Across a range of jurisdictions, chapters identify the legislation that governs procurement, the entities and contract types within scope, the relevance of value thresholds, and the extent to which procedures are open to domestic and international bidders. They also describe the foundational duties imposed on awarding authorities, including transparency, equal treatment, non-discrimination, proportionality and the obligation to conduct competitions in a manner that is fair, objective and properly documented.

Beyond that legal framework, the questionnaire is directed to the mechanics of contract award and challenge. Contributors explain how procurements are advertised, what information must be disclosed, whether authorities may engage with the market in advance, which procedures are available for contract award, and when direct awards or negotiated processes may lawfully be used. Responses also address participation and award criteria, exclusion grounds, debriefing obligations, standstill requirements and the review mechanisms available to unsuccessful bidders. The guide offers a practical account not only of the rules on the books, but also of how procurement disputes are resolved, what remedies may be obtained, and how contracting authorities manage contracts after award, including through modification and termination. The result is a comparative guide to the way public procurement systems balance competition, flexibility, public accountability and the efficient delivery of public projects and services.

Transforming European Public Procurement: From Compliance to Innovation and Sustainability in the Wake of COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine War

It is well known that public contracts have a huge impact on the European economy: according to the latest estimates, they represent around 15% of the European gross internal product.

To ensure fairness and competition, the Treaties and the 2014 European Directives on public procurement establish a framework for awarding contracts through transparent and regulated administrative procedures. These procedures typically involve open competition, and, for contracts exceeding European thresholds, require public notices in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly influenced the prevailing approach to public procurement around the world. The urgent need to acquire medical equipment, goods and services to treat the disease and mitigate its spread necessitated more flexible procurement rules. Consequently, specific legal frameworks were established to expedite the execution of contracts related to COVID-19. However, most of these regulations are no longer in force.

Similarly, the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation prompted additional legislative adjustments. These measures, aimed at adapting to the crisis, include provisions allowing for the revision of prices in public contracts. This change was essential to enable private parties to withstand the inflationary pressures brought on by the war, particularly the dramatic and unforeseeable surge in energy and raw material costs.

In response to these challenges, European institutions agreed on an extensive and ambitious Recovery and Resilience Plan. This plan is designed to fund projects submitted by EU member states that align with European goals, particularly those related to public administration reform, namely through the adoption of technology to fully digitalise administrative procedures, and to the “green transition” (eg, renewable power sources, energy efficiency, use of recycled goods).

EU member states have received/are receiving billion of euros to implement this agenda, aimed at aiding in the recovery from the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, and also at helping to foster innovation and promote sustainable development. However, this initiative also presents multiple challenges. On the one hand, the public sector must speed up procedures, while ensuring strict compliance with applicable rules to effectively distribute the funds allocated from the EU budget. On the other hand, the private sector must be able to implement the funded projects, which are ambitious and demanding, and which must be implemented in very short time periods. In Portugal, the execution of the Recovery and Resilience Plan has significantly boosted the national economy: according to official data, for example, 1,025 EU-funded contracts were executed in 2023, which was almost triple the 398 contracts executed in 2022.

Looking forward, the focus in much of the EU will likely be on enhancing the execution of projects funded by the European budget and addressing the difficulties encountered since 2020, first due to the pandemic and later owing to the war. Furthermore, efforts will be made to increase sustainability in public contracts, namely by including environmental factors in the tenders’ award criteria. Traditionally, the primary focus has been on cost, but there is an increasing recognition of the importance of environmental factors. The rise in the use of environmental criteria by 11% in 2023, especially noticeable in transportation contracts, is a positive development. Although there is still no updated information regarding public procurement in 2024, it seems fair to assume that such tendency was maintained.

In 2023, for example, the Portuguese government approved the Sustainable Public Contracts Strategy for 2030 (Estratégia Nacional para as Compras Públicas Ecológicas 2030) and listed the sustainability criteria that should be adopted in the procurement procedures launched by bodies directly dependent on the government (central administration) and by public institutes and public companies. Given the ambitious nature of the goals set in this strategy, there will likely be increased pressure to ensure compliance. Critical to this effort is the need for effective follow-up and active supervision.