The Government will double the threshold for public acquisitions that are permitted without auction, to 30.000 Euro

The threshold value of contracts on which the authorities may directly purchase products, services or works, without being obliged to initiate public auction, will be doubled from 15.000 Euro to 30.000 Euro.

For acquisitions below this threshold  there will be also eliminated the guarantee of participation.

The new rules are included in a Emergency Government Ordinance draft amending the public procurement legislation.

The changes are justified in the document as a more  "flexible and transparent" process of awarding public procurement contracts, taking into account the low level of absorption of European funds.

The Ordinance raises the ceilings which are mandatory rules relating to public procurement, establishing that this legislation applies to a contract whose estimated value equals or exceeds the equivalent of EUR 5 million Euro in Lei(from 4.84 million Euro/ present), for works, or is equal to or greater than the equivalent in lei of 200,000 euros (193,000 euros to), if a service contract.

The increase of ceiling has direct consequences for the limits within which the contracting authority will submit for publication the notice. For the publication of the procurement notice in the Official Journal of the European Union, the threshold for the supply or service contract increased from 125.000 Euro to 130.000 Euro and from 387.000 Euro to 400.000 Euro, depending on the type of the contracting authority, and from 4. 84 million to 5 million Euro for a works contract.

The National Authority for Regulating and Monitoring Public Procurement will no longer be involved in supervising the analysis of the need and opportunity for a public procurement, the conformity of the technical specifications, prices charged by suppliers, the technical, economic contained in the reports , except the financial situation of bidders, and the observance of contractual obligations during the course of procurement contracts and concessions.