The new threshold regulation 2023 has come into force!
02/07/2023 - Reading time: 5 minutes
Author
Bernhard Scherzer
Attorney at Law
The Federal Procurement Act (Bundesvergabegesetz) applies to contracts above and below the thresholds of the EU Procurement Directives (upper and lower threshold range). It should be noted that in the lower-threshold range, simplified award procedures are permitted due to the relatively low contract values.
In addition to these “European” thresholds for the delimitation between the upper and lower threshold ranges, the Federal Procurement Act has also set its own national thresholds for the lower threshold range, which regulate the admissibility of various (simplified) award procedures in the lower threshold range. In addition, the legislator has increased these thresholds in recent years by issuing or extending threshold regulations and thus ensured further simplifications in the sub-threshold area.
The expiry of the previous threshold regulation by the end of 2022 and the resulting lowering of the threshold values therefore caused some excitement among contracting authorities shortly before Christmas. Only when the Federal Ministry of Justice announced a transitional regulation did that some temporary calm returned.
On February 6, 2023, the BMJ finally complied with its announcement and issued a new threshold regulation, thus, from February 7, 2023, until June 30, 2023, higher thresholds will again apply (for the time being) in the sub-threshold range to award procedures initiated during this period.
In particular, contracting authorities will once again be able to award contracts worth less than EUR 100,000,-- (instead of EUR 50,000,--) directly to suitable companies without having to conduct an award procedure.
Additional choices of procedures in the sub-threshold area:
Classic Regime
Works Contracts
| Threshold | Procedures | |
| < EUR 100.000,-- | - - | Direct award Negotiated procedure without prior publication |
| < EUR 500.000,-- | - | Direct award with prior publication |
| < EUR 1 Mio | - | Restricted procedure without prior publication |
Supply and Service Contracts
| Threshold | Procedures | |
| < EUR 100.000,-- | - - - | Direct award Restricted procedure without prior publication Negotiated procedure without prior publication |
| < EUR 130.000,-- | - | Direct award with prior publication |
Sector Regime
Works Contracts
| Threshold | Procedures | |
| < EUR 100.000,-- | - | Direct award |
| < EUR 500.000,-- | - | Direct award with prior publication |
Supply and Service Contracts
| Threshold | Procedures | |||
| < EUR 100.000,-- | - |
| ||
| < EUR 200.000,-- | - | Direct award with prior publication |
Whether the higher thresholds will also apply beyond June 30, 2023, is currently still open. As the Ministry of Justice stated in its circular of 23.12.2022, it is currently still being examined which thresholds will apply from July 2023.
Author
Bernhard Scherzer
Attorney at Law