News 2026

On 26 January, FIEC submitted its contribution to the European Commission’s Consultation (including the Call for Evidence) on the revision of the EU Public Procurement framework

For FIEC, the ultimate goal for this revision should be clear: to make the public sector an attractive, reliable and predictable client for construction works and services. This implies greater legal certainty and targeted amendments that reduce unnecessary complexity and administrative burden, while ensuring procurement delivers quality outcomes and workable projects in practice. It also means striking the right balance between predictability and flexibility — enabling contracting authorities to choose fit-for-purpose approaches without undermining competition.

FIEC’s key messages are as follows:

- Keep the legal instrument as a Directive (not a Regulation) to preserve stability and pragmatic implementation across Member States.

- Simplification, transparency and competition: tackle the growth of direct awards and single-bid procedures; keep in-house procurement a strictly limited exception and ensure transparency through an effective digital, public and accessible informative system.

- Level playing field / “Made in Europe”: explore simple and proportionate tools without adding bureaucracy, alongside a stronger EU approach on third-country participation (reciprocity, GPA/bilateral agreements) and increased focus on state-backed operators/SOEs where distortions exist — notably for EU-co-funded projects.

- Move away from price-only decisions: support robust life-cycle costing and EU guidance on strategic procurement, while keeping criteria linked to the subject matter and avoiding rigid EU-wide mandatory thresholds.

- Deliverability and fair risk allocation: promote workable price-revision mechanisms adapted to contract duration; avoid imposing a specific BIM software (interoperability); allow variants by default and recognise unforeseeable findings during works.

- Proportionate requirements: exclusion/selection grounds should remain focused on the essence of procurement and provide legal certainty.

- Subcontracting: avoid EU over-regulation (no mandatory caps on tiers/levels, no “full chain” joint-and-several liability, no EU pre-qualification system).

FIEC will remain fully engaged in the next steps to ensure the revision delivers simpler rules, fair competition and better value in public investment.

Read FIEC's response to the Consultation via this link or download it from the below tab.

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  2026_01-16 FIEC_Answer to Call of evidence_on_Public_Procurement.pdf

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