PURCHASING PROCEDURES - University of Central Lancashire

7: EU PROCUREMENT LEGISLATION
INTRODUCTION
The primary function of the European public procurement legislation is to open each Member
States‟s public sector purchasing to intra-community competition. The legislation is founded on
two main principles of non-discrimination (i.e. that a potential, or actual, tenderer is not
discriminated against because of their nationality) and transparency (i.e. that the contract awarded
is openly advertised and awarded using objective procedures that will withstand scrutiny. These
principles are fully compatible with the UK government‟s policy which is that the public sector‟s
purchasing decisions should be based on value for money achieved through open competition.
The legislation which impacts upon the purchasing practices of UK public sector bodies was
originally enacted via three distinct Statutory Instruments in the early- to mid-1990s, but all three
have now been superseded by a „consolidated‟ European Directive which was introduced into UK
law on 31 January 2006 (Public Contracts Regulations 2006, Statutory Instrument No.5).
The 1990s Regulations placed a responsibility on public sector contracting authorities (which
includes universities) to advertise certain types of contract above pre-determined values in the
Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), and thereafter deal with the tendering and award of
such contracts using a pre-determined set of procedures and practices. The 2006 legislation
incorporates and refines most of the principles and practices described in the earlier Regulations,
whilst broadening the scope of the legislation to cover novel or hitherto less-regulated areas of
public procurement, in particular environmental issues, electronic tendering, electronic auctions and
framework agreements.
The Head of Purchasing is responsible for guidance in ensuring that the University complies with
its legal obligations concerning EU Procurement legislation. All departments and sections of the
University are required to co-operate fully by notifying the Head of Purchasing of any purchases
likely to exceed the appropriate threshold under any of the above Directives. All purchases under
the Works Directives must be notified to the Director of Facilities Management.
1 DEFINITIONS
1.1 Public Supply Contracts
A public supply contract is one for the purchase, lease, rental or hire purchase, with or
without option to buy, of products. It includes siting and installation of the products where
these are part of the main purchase.
1.2 Public Services Contracts
Purchasing Procedures December 2011