The German Bundestag has advanced legislation aimed at accelerating the awarding of public contracts. Following this initiative, the federal government’s draft law was successfully passed by the coalition’s votes on Thursday.
The core objectives of the new law are multifaceted. Key changes include raising the value threshold for direct federal contracts to €50,000, significantly reducing the mandatory proof and documentation requirements, and speeding up administrative review procedures. Furthermore, the legislation plans to introduce specific support measures for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and “young and innovative companies” to ease their participation in public tenders. Added relief is also designated for administrative bodies.
While the draft law was originally expected to pass earlier this year, a dispute regarding efforts to make the so-called “lot principle” more flexible caused a delay in its final adoption. This push for reform was motivated by strong criticism from the construction industry and regional municipal associations, who had previously decried the existing procurement processes as “time-consuming and complicated”.