Procurement Law

According to the usual definition, public procurement law comprises the entirety of all legal and procedural rules that a contracting authority must follow when procuring materials and services. It also includes the provisions under which bidders can claim legal protection for violations of procedural rules under public procurement law. Thus, public procurement law acts both on the part of the contracting authority and on the part of the bidders. The overriding goal is economic procurement by the contracting authority on the basis of prior fair and transparent competition.

In this context, the award of public contracts is of enormous economic importance, as contracts with a volume of approx. 12% to 15% of GDP are currently awarded under these rules in the EU. In addition, public procurement law is increasingly being applied in other sectors of the economy, for example, because the receipt of a subsidy is linked to the requirement that any subcontracts be awarded in accordance with the provisions of public procurement law. It is also not uncommon for public sector privatization projects and the establishment of public-private partnerships to have a significant procurement law component.

In this context, our experienced attorneys advise and represent both public contracting authorities and bidding companies. In doing so, we take a comprehensive approach to large-volume contract awards from a wide range of industries:

  • On the part of the bidding companies, we advise them already in the run-up to tendering procedures and point out to them possibilities of participating in tenders as well as facilitations with regard to the requirements to be met. Furthermore, we accompany the entire tendering procedure up to the award of the contract. If necessary, we support the bidders in protecting their rights, if necessary also with reprimands or by way of review proceedings. The aim of our advice is not the legal dispute but the submission of the successful bid.
  • We advise contracting authorities from the conception of the award procedure through the invitation to tender to the selection of the first-placed bidder. This also includes the defense against review proceedings and claims for damages under public procurement law. Here, too, the focus of our advice is on awarding contracts as smoothly as possible.

Durch unsere breit gefächerte Expertise, beispielsweise im privaten Baurecht oder auf dem Gebiet der Rüstungsaufträge, stehen wir unseren Mandanten auch während der anschließenden Vertragserfüllungsphase zur Verfügung und können so eine umfassende Begleitung des Gesamtvorhabens sowohl auf Seiten der Bieter als auch auf Seiten der Vergabestelle anbieten.