There isn’t (yet) a firm date. I can hear you groaning, but at least you know that as of 4 August 2014. ;)
However, the new Directives are now part of EU law and so it can already be applied in the UK. In applying it, no-one could be accused of breaching EU law. However, the UK -related ‘laws’ will include some extras such as preventing the use of PQQs (Pre-Qualification Questionnaires – RFI’s for our private sector readers) for tenders below the EU threshold. A Directive is not legislation or statutory law (despite it often being referred to as such) It is just an order/directive, albeit binding on the Member States (all 28 of them) to transpose it into their respective legal systems.
What would you do?
Caution. It would suggest that the existing rules apply until the day Public Contract Regulations 2014 come in to effect under UK legislations. No doubt those pesky lawyers advising suppliers are watching carefully for anyone jumping the gun.
Our understanding *taps nose* is that it will not be transposed (until a Directive is transposed it is not legislation or statutory law – legislation will be the Public Contract Regulations 2014) by the end of this calendar year – you may have read that “sometime near Xmas” was the start date, which doesn’t now appear to be the case.
When will the new Procurement Directives be applied in the UK?
The 2014 EU Procurement Directives have been adopted by the EU institutions and were published in the Official Journal of the EU on 28 March 2014. They came into force on 17 April 2014. EU Member States now have 2 years to implement them in national legislation.
So, who would need convincing that every Member State will have done so by then?
Assuming the General Election would be May (?) that seems a likely date for the regs and associated timescales to have been formally applied in the UK. Where Scotland would fit into the timescales is also open to the influences of democracy. Case law then follows as the legislation or outcomes intended under it get challenged through the courts This in itself gets complicated because you have binding precedents through cases heard under UK law and persuasive precedents cases heard through other European courts
Merely conjecture, of course! Sign-up to our email newsletter, below, if you’d like more (I’ll flag up when the legislation date actually kicks in).
Small print: As always, please do not take this as formal advice and consult your legal Counsel – just my opinion :)
Thanks
– Ray
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