Aanbesteding

Public procurement refers to the formal procedure by which public bodies award contracts for the execution of works, the supply of goods or the provision of services. This takes place in accordance with strict statutory rules intended to ensure transparency, equal treatment and competition.

The importance of public procurement lies in preventing arbitrariness and corruption in the expenditure of public funds. In the Netherlands, the matter is governed by the Public Procurement Act 2012, which transposes the relevant European directives and prescribes threshold values above which a European procedure is mandatory.

In practice, public procurement requires careful preparation of the tender documents, publication and an objective evaluation of the tenders, thereby ensuring a transparent and verifiable process.