De gunning volgens het Voorstel voor een ‘Public Procurement Act’

Op 9 september 2026 is door de Europese Commissie (EC) een ‘Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL’ (COM(2026) 590 final) gepubliceerd:

https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/publications/proposal-regulation-public-contracts-and-concessions_en

Het gaat om een Voorstel voor een ‘Public Procurement Act’, in dit geval een EU-verordening en dus geen EU-richtlijn, die de bestaande Richtlijnen 2014/23/EU, 2014/24/EU en 2014/25/EU herroept en bepaalde EU-verordeningen en EU-richtlijnen wijzigt.

Volgens artikel 1 lid 1 van het Voorstel geldt:

This Regulation establishes rules on public contracts for works, supplies or services and concessions for works or services procured by one or more public buyers from one or more economic operators, the value of which is equal to or greater than the thresholds established in Article 2.

Het gaat dus nog steeds om (de aankoop middels) ‘overheidsopdrachten’, ‘ondernemers’ en ‘aanbestedende diensten’.

Uit artikel 98 van het Voorstel volgt, dat een gunning op ‘beste prijs-kwaliteitverhouding’ (‘BPKV’) het uitgangspunt is met een weging voor ‘kwaliteit’ (‘K’) van tenminste 30% of 50%, maar dat ook een gunning op ‘laagste prijs’ (‘LP’) in het voorkomend geval (nog) is toegestaan:

1.            Public buyers shall award the contract to the economic operator that offers the best quality for money.

To that effect, public buyers shall evaluate the tenders received according to the best price-quality ratio method referred to in paragraph 2, and by applying award criteria with the minimum quality weighting in accordance with paragraph 4, except as provided for in paragraph 5.

2.            To determine the best price-quality ratio, public buyers shall evaluate the tenders through a comparison of their price and quality, based on quality criteria linked to the subject-matter of the contract. Costs can also be taken into account when determining the best price-quality ratio.

Quality criteria shall refer to any criteria used to assess the degree to which a tender proposes beneficial, efficient or sustainable outcomes in relation to the subject-matter of the contract.

The quality of the tender may, for instance, relate to the following aspects:

(a)           technical merit, aesthetic and functional characteristics, accessibility, design for all users, and production methods;

(b)           environmental and climate-related considerations referred to in Article 50, food-specific considerations referred to in Article 53 where relevant, social considerations referred to in Article 55, innovation objectives referred to in Article 59, security and public safety interests as set out in Article 66, resilience and security of supply requirements as set out in Article 69, or European preference requirements where a public buyer applies those requirements in the form of an allocation of award points pursuant to Article 73(2), point (b);

(c)           quality of the staff assigned that can significantly impact the level of performance of the contract, such as the organisation, qualification and experience of the staff assigned to performing the contract;

(d)           after-sales service and technical assistance, delivery conditions such as date at which or period during which the delivery is to take place or to be completed.

Public buyers may also establish a fixed price on the basis of which economic operators are to compete on quality criteria only.

3.            Award criteria shall be non-discriminatory, proportionate, specific, objective and measurable; they shall be evaluated in a process containing sufficient safeguards against irregularities. They shall allow the public buyer to effectively compare the strengths and weaknesses of the offered goods, services and works, and shall not have the effect of conferring an unrestricted freedom of choice on the public buyer.

Public buyers shall specify, in the public summary of competition, the criteria and their relative weighting chosen to determine the best price-quality ratio.

4.            The weight of quality criteria shall represent at least 30 % of total points awarded.

For contracts where the subject-matter is labour-intensive, the weight of quality criteria shall represent at least 50 % of total points awarded.

Where, pursuant to Article 99, public buyers apply life-cycle costing, the weight given to life-cycle costs shall be counted within the respective percentage share.

Where public buyers apply environmental criteria specific for public procurement set in Union legislation as referred to in Article 50(4), second subparagraph, including delegated acts adopted pursuant to Article 54, and where those requirements relate to award criteria, the weight given to such environmental considerations shall count within percentages indicated in this paragraph. Mere compliance with obligations not relating to award criteria shall not be an award criterion.

5.            Public buyers may derogate from paragraph 1, second subparagraph, and from paragraph 4, where the quality of the product, service or works procured can be ensured in any of the following ways:

(a)           specifications;

(b)           where relevant, conditions for the performance of contracts;

(c)           a combination of any of the following: quality-based award criteria, specifications and conditions for the performance of contracts.

Public buyers shall indicate in the public summary of competition which of the ways set out in the first subparagraph justifies that derogation.

De betreffende motivering voor ‘LP’ moet dan dus in de aankondiging.

De mogelijkheid van een gunning op ‘LP’ is terecht, want kwaliteit kan ook vastliggen in de aanbestedingsstukken, kost daarbij ook geld, en de EC stelt met het Voorstel geen zak geld ter beschikking aan de aanbestedende diensten om kwaliteit in te kopen.