The European Commission has proposed a new Public Procurement Act that would replace the three 2014 procurement directives with a single directly applicable regulation. The proposal, published on 9 September, remains subject to the ordinary EU legislative process and would apply two years after entry into force if adopted.
A central change is a stronger emphasis on factors beyond price. Public buyers would normally use the best price-quality ratio, with quality representing at least 30% of the available award points. They could depart from this requirement where quality is adequately secured through specifications or contract conditions.
Quality criteria may include resilience and security of supply, as well as delivery conditions. Buyers considering whether to divide contracts into lots would also have to consider reducing dependence on a single supplier and strengthening supply-chain resilience. For procurement involving designated critical entities, requirements could include multi-source supply, geographic diversification, stockholding, continuity plans and supply-chain transparency.
The proposal also establishes a horizontal framework for European preference. Public buyers could favour EU or internationally covered suppliers and products through participation, origin or award criteria, subject to the EU's international commitments.
Critical medicines would retain separate sector-specific treatment where the Critical Medicines Act establishes different procurement requirements, including resilience and European-preference provisions.
Under the current 2014 framework, public buyers may already use price-quality criteria and take account of factors such as delivery and security of supply, but they may also award contracts on price or cost alone. The proposal, if adopted, will make price-quality assessment the normal approach and give resilience, security of supply and European preference a clearer place in tender scoring. Pharmaceutical manufacturers would therefore face less emphasis on unit price alone and greater scrutiny of supply reliability, diversification and continuity. Where European-preference criteria are used, manufacturing origin and supply-chain location would also affect competitiveness in public tenders.
Source: European Commission
Link: Proposal for a regulation on public contracts and concessions
Date: 9 September 2026
Source: European Parliament and Council of the European Union
Link: Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC
Date: 28 March 2014
