Public procurement regulations govern every contract under which a public authority or other State entity is procuring construction works or supplies of goods or services, provided the likely value of the contract is above one of a range of financial thresholds.
Under the rules, a contracting authority which wants to procure construction works or the supply or goods, or wants to buy in services must follow strictly one of the specified tender procedures – the open procedure, restricted procedure, competitive dialogue procedure, competitive procedure with negotiation, or an innovation partnership. Contracts granting concessions, for example, to build a toll road in exchange for a share of revenues, are subject to a special regime.
Suppliers who miss out on a contract because of defects in how the procurement has been conducted can go to court to stop the tender process and seek damages for wasted tender costs or even lost profits. In some circumstances the contract can be declared ineffective.