The new regulation of the European Commission for public works tenders drastically changes the market landscape in our country, according to experts, who estimate that in practice the existence of construction certificates is nullified and the battle of the lowest bid comes to an end.
This is the Public Procurement Act proposal, which was approved by the European Commission a few weeks ago and is under public consultation, with the aim of modernizing and simplifying the framework of public contracts and the more effective implementation of investments in public services and infrastructure.
It also introduces a single platform for all public contracts in the EU and greater support for goals concerning the environment, society, and innovation.
Specifically, the proposal makes the best price-quality ratio (Best Price-Quality Ratio-BPQR) the standardized award method, as the quality criteria will correspond to at least 30%, with a parallel “comply or explain” mechanism.
Thus, public contracts will not be judged only by price, but also by quality, innovation, safety, resilience, and environmental and social criteria.
“Monumental proposal”
Fotis Kouvoukliotis, President of PESEDE, said yesterday in a panel discussion held as part of the 9th Infrastructure and Transport Conference - ITC 2026 that “we are facing a monumental proposal that replaces everything we knew until now”.
For his part, the president of SATE, Zacharias Athousakis, explained that the bodies of the European Commission found deviations in the implementation of the previous directives in the member states, as these left room for different incorporation into each country’s national law.
“The fact that we are moving toward a regulation means that we will have more specific rules, from which the member states will not be able to deviate. This is good news, because the rules should be at roughly the same level in all countries. We view this positively”, he noted.
He then stressed that the successful bidder will no longer be the one offering the biggest discount, but the one evaluated on the basis of criteria to be determined by the contracting authority, such as environmental and climate impacts and the operational characteristics of the project.
“The regulation provides that the criteria should be reflected in such a way in the tender notices as to ensure equal treatment. How, however, this equal treatment will be ensured in practice is an issue about which I have my reservations. The plan is ambitious, but we are also in a new era of things”, he added.
It is emphasized that the full implementation of the bill throughout the EU is expected around 2029-2030.
Next, Georgios Ntoulis, president of SEGM, noted that “if we are honest, the European regulation essentially comes to nullify the existence of certificates”.
“If it does not take prior experience into account and gives the possibility of participation to start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises without previous experience, it essentially nullifies them. But let us keep a reservation on this”, he added.