At the end of August 2017, Decree-Law No. 111-B/2017, of 31 August, was published. This statute revises the Public Contracts Code, in line with the amendment to the European legal framework applicable to Public Procurement, which came into force on 1 January 2018.
This revision has several objectives, including simplifying the procedures for forming public contracts, and making these less bureaucratic and more flexible, with the aim of increasing the efficiency and quality of public expenditure, and enabling a more correct interpretation and application of the legal rules. Several novelties along these lines are introduced by the statute.
Two Ministerial Implementing Orders giving shape to the statute have been published. Ministerial Implementing Order No. 371/2017, of 14 December, establishes standard forms for publishing public contact award notices, and also adopts new models for notices. In addition, it lays down that these notices must be made available on electronic platforms, and freely accessible to all interested parties. Ministerial Implementing Order No. 372/2017, of 14 December, covers several public contracts, defining the terms for presenting documents for the qualification of tenderers for the formation of these contracts. It also states that these documents must be reproduced via the electronic platform used by the contracting authority or via e-mail.
Also particularly relevant for the conducting of public procurement procedures are the new community thresholds that have been published. These thresholds are the limits above which public tender procedures or restricted procedures with prior qualification have to comply with the obligation to publish the respective notice in the Official Journal of the European Union, and are set out in Regulations which also came into force on 1 January 2018.