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22 September 2016

Belgian procurement legislation opens the door for sustainability

Belgian legislators transposed the EU Procurement Directives into national law on 17 June 2016, replacing the 2006 legislation with 193 new Articles. The legislation introduces greater flexibility into procurement processes, with open and restricted procedures no longer given priority. Innovation is also emphasised, with the new law promoting the use of innovation partnerships between procurers and suppliers to aid the development of better products and services.

Under the legislation, procurers are obliged to consider quality criteria in addition to price, opening the way for life-cycle costing and the use of sustainability criteria. While the legislation still states that the 'most economically advantageous tender' must be purchased, procurers are free to interpret what this means in terms of achieving the best price to quality ratio.

Products with a high energy efficiency rating are favoured under the law. The use of tender criteria is generalised, but tenders of limited value or in specific circumstances are exempt from standard award criteria.

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