The EU Public Procurement Act, article by article
The Public Procurement Act is the regulation the European Commission proposed on 9 September 2026 (COM(2026) 590) to replace the three EU procurement directives with one text that applies directly in every member state, and to make quality worth at least 30% of the points in an award. It is still a proposal: it would apply 2 years after it enters into force. In Portugal, 70.6% of the contracts awarded by open tender from January to August 2026 were decided on price alone.
Legal texts read in the Council's and the Parliament's registers and in the EU Law Tracker on 11 October 2026. Figures: Portal BASE (IMPIC), edition of 5 October 2026; TED award notices harvested on 8 September 2026.
One regulation instead of three directives
The proposal is a regulation, not a directive. Article 149 says it "shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States", so it would apply as written everywhere, without a national law to transpose it. Article 146(1) repeals the three directives in force today: 2014/23/EU on concessions, 2014/24/EU on public procurement and 2014/25/EU on the water, energy, transport and postal sectors.
It keeps the thresholds in force in the 2026-2027 biennium: Article 2(1) writes EUR 5,404,000 for works and concessions, EUR 140,000 for supplies and services bought by central government and EUR 216,000 for sub-central buyers, the values of the EU thresholds for 2026-2027. Article 3 keeps them tied to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement.
Defence stays outside it. Article 78(1) excludes contracts within the scope of Directive 2009/81/EC, the defence and security procurement directive, which the Council amended separately on 9 October 2026.
The European-preference framework
Chapter 5, Articles 70 to 77, is new. A supplier, a product, a service or a work is "covered" when it originates in a country the Union has a procurement commitment with: a party to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement, or a trade or customs-union partner, within that agreement's scope (Article 70). A public buyer may restrict a procedure to Union and covered operators (Article 73(1)). It may also require that what is offered originates in the Union or a covered country, give such tenders a price reduction or extra points for ranking only, or reject a tender whose Union or covered content is below 50% of its estimated value (Article 73(2)).
None of it is automatic. A buyer can apply the Article 73(2) measures only if it states them in the competition public summary (Article 73(3)), and Article 76 lets it decline them, for instance where no Union or covered supplier can provide what is needed and there is no reasonable substitute, or where the preference would mean buying at disproportionate cost. The mandatory version is a power, not yet a rule: Article 75 lets the Commission require the measures by delegated act for operators and goods that are not covered, "where this is in the interest of the Union".
Price alone becomes the exception
Article 98(1) tells buyers to award the contract to the tender that "offers the best quality for money", assessed by the best price-quality ratio. Article 98(4) sets the floor: quality criteria carry at least 30% of the points, and at least 50% where the contract is labour-intensive, which Article 6(10) defines as labour normally accounting for at least 50% of the contract value. Article 98(5) keeps a way out: a buyer may depart from the floor where the quality is ensured through the specifications or the performance conditions, and must say which in the competition public summary.
How far that is from today, in the register TRINTA can read for it: in Portugal, 70.6% of the contracts awarded by concurso público (open tender) from January to August 2026 were decided on price alone, the award criterion their buyers reported to Portal BASE. Under Article 98 as proposed, each of those would need a quality weighting of 30% or more, or the Article 98(5) justification written into the notice. The month-by-month reading is in the Barómetro, in Portuguese.
TRINTA's harvest of TED award notices reads the number of bids, not the award criteria, so this page carries no price-only share for other countries.
What the Commission says about competition, and what TED counts
The explanatory memorandum cites the European Court of Auditors: competition for public contracts "had decreased over the past decade" and "single-bid procedures had become increasingly common". TRINTA counts that on every contract award notice in TED, the EU Official Journal: 35.9% of the 571,148 lots awarded from January to July 2026 drew a single bid.
| Member state | Single bid | Lots |
|---|---|---|
| Poland | 57.5% | 75,144 |
| Greece | 55.9% | 5,177 |
| Cyprus | 54.1% | 545 |
| Slovenia | 46.9% | 10,784 |
| Bulgaria | 46.7% | 13,222 |
| Czechia | 44.6% | 26,095 |
| Portugal | 41.3% | 7,093 |
| Hungary | 39.6% | 7,950 |
| Spain | 38.1% | 26,519 |
| Lithuania | 37.2% | 2,500 |
| Italy | 35.5% | 8,220 |
| Romania | 33.4% | 247,071 |
| Croatia | 33.0% | 19,028 |
| Estonia | 32.5% | 5,091 |
| Slovakia | 29.3% | 5,612 |
| Malta | 28.0% | 399 |
| Netherlands | 26.1% | 5,020 |
| Austria | 25.6% | 3,596 |
| Luxembourg | 25.6% | 511 |
| Belgium | 25.3% | 5,780 |
| Latvia | 24.5% | 7,392 |
| Denmark | 23.7% | 2,901 |
| Sweden | 22.7% | 7,868 |
| Germany | 21.2% | 39,847 |
| Ireland | 20.6% | 1,900 |
| France | 18.8% | 26,902 |
| Finland | 17.2% | 3,904 |
The unit is the lot, because one notice can award many. TED carries contracts above the EU thresholds; the smaller contracts on national registers draw more bids, so each row describes the large end of its market.
Every country, CPV division and code is on where EU public tenders draw a single bid.
Where the procedure stands on 11 October 2026
The Commission adopted the proposal on 9 September 2026 and the Council registered it on 10 September 2026 as document ST 12969/26. It follows the ordinary legislative procedure, file 2026/0265(COD). In the Parliament the file is in its preparatory phase and the committee responsible is still to be confirmed; in the Council, a working party discussed it on 17 September 2026, on 18 September 2026 and on 2 October 2026. Neither register shows a position adopted by either institution.
The act exists once the Parliament and the Council adopt the same text. It is then published in the Official Journal, enters into force on the twentieth day and applies 2 years later (Article 149). Until then the three directives, and the national laws that transpose them, govern every tender. For a sense of pace, and not as a forecast: the defence-procurement amendment the Commission proposed on 17 June 2025 was adopted by the Council on 9 October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
01What is the EU Public Procurement Act?
A proposal for a regulation on public contracts and concessions, COM(2026) 590, adopted by the European Commission on 9 September 2026. It would replace Directives 2014/23/EU, 2014/24/EU and 2014/25/EU with one text that applies directly in every member state (Articles 146 and 149), add a European-preference framework (Articles 70 to 77) and make quality worth at least 30% of the award points (Article 98(4)). It is not law yet.
02When will the EU Public Procurement Act apply?
2 years after it enters into force, according to Article 149 of the proposal, and it enters into force on the twentieth day after its publication in the Official Journal. The Parliament and the Council have to adopt it first: on 11 October 2026 the Parliament's file was in its preparatory phase and a Council working party had discussed it on 17 September 2026, 18 September 2026 and 2 October 2026.
03Does the Public Procurement Act replace Directive 2014/24/EU?
Yes, as proposed. Article 146 repeals Directives 2014/23/EU, 2014/24/EU and 2014/25/EU and reads every reference to them as a reference to the regulation. Until the regulation applies, the directives and the national laws that transpose them stay in force.
04What is European preference in EU public procurement?
In the proposal, measures a public buyer may use in favour of suppliers, goods, services and works from the Union and from countries the Union has procurement commitments with: restricting participation to them, requiring Union or covered origin, giving their tenders a price reduction or extra points for ranking, or rejecting tenders whose Union or covered content is below 50% (Article 73). The buyer must announce them in the competition public summary, may decline them in the cases of Article 76, and the Commission may make them mandatory by delegated act (Article 75).
05Will public tenders still be awarded on price alone?
Only as an exception. Article 98 makes the best price-quality ratio the rule, with quality worth at least 30% of the points and 50% for labour-intensive contracts; Article 98(5) allows a departure where the quality is ensured by the specifications or the performance conditions, and the notice must say which. In Portugal, 70.6% of the contracts awarded by open tender from January to August 2026 were decided on price alone.
06Does the Public Procurement Act change the EU thresholds?
No. Article 2(1) of the proposal writes the values in force in the 2026-2027 biennium: EUR 5,404,000 for works and concessions, EUR 140,000 for central-government supplies and services and EUR 216,000 for sub-central buyers. Article 3 keeps them tied to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement.
07Does the Public Procurement Act cover defence contracts?
No. Article 78(1) excludes contracts within the scope of Directive 2009/81/EC on defence and security procurement. That directive was amended separately: the Council adopted the amendment on 9 October 2026, raising its thresholds to EUR 2,000,000 for supplies and services and EUR 10,000,000 for works, and on 11 October 2026 it was not yet in the Official Journal.
08How many EU public tenders receive only one bid?
35.9% of the 571,148 lots awarded through TED, the EU Official Journal, from January to July 2026 drew a single bid, counted by TRINTA on the bid count (eForms BT-759) of every award notice. The highest shares among member states: Poland 57.5%, Greece 55.9%, Cyprus 54.1%.
How to cite
TRINTA, "EU Public Procurement Act: what the proposal says", COM(2026) 590, Portal BASE and TED, edition 11 October 2026, https://trinta.ai/eu-public-procurement-act (accessed [date]).
Sources
- Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on public contracts and concessions, repealing Directives 2014/23/EU, 2014/24/EU and 2014/25/EU (Public Procurement Act)COM(2026) 590 final, 2026/0265(COD); Council document ST 12969/26. Read on 11 October 2026.
- Procedure file 2026/0265(COD), Public Procurement ActLegislative Observatory, 2026/0265(COD). Read on 11 October 2026.
- 2026/0265(COD), EU public procurement rules: revisionEU Law Tracker, 2026/0265(COD). Read on 11 October 2026.
- Procedure file 2025/0177(COD), simplification of intra-EU transfers of defence-related products and of security and defence procurementLegislative Observatory, 2025/0177(COD). Read on 11 October 2026.
- 2025/0177(COD), Directive amending Directives 2009/43/EC and 2009/81/EC (Defence Omnibus Simplification Proposal - Defence Directives)EU Law Tracker, 2025/0177(COD). Read on 11 October 2026.
- Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directives 2009/43/EC and 2009/81/EC, as regards the simplification of intra-EU transfers of defence-related products and the simplification of security and defence procurementPE-CONS 46/26, 2025/0177(COD), 23 September 2026. Read on 11 October 2026.
- Portal BASE (IMPIC), 2026 contracts fileedition extracted on 5 October 2026, the file the Barómetro reads; contracts counted once each, by idcontrato.
- TED award notices, eForms BT-759harvested through the TED search API on 8 September 2026; lots awarded from January to July 2026.