The Act on Amending Public Procurement Law and
Certain Other Acts of 14 March 2014 became
effective on 16 April 2014 (Journal of Laws of 2014,
item 423). The changes effected under the
amendment are revolutionary, both for contracting
entities and contractors.
The key novelty is the increased Public Procurement
Law (“PPL”) applicability threshold for all
contracting entities, from EUR 14,000 to EUR
30,000. This means that for conclusion of excluded
contracts
(i.e.
civil-law
agreements
with
consideration) below PLN 30,000 in value, the
requirements laid down under the Public
Procurement Law do not need to be met. That means
that such agreements can be concluded without the
competitive tendering process, and their provisions
can be agreed freely between the parties.
Further, the amendment introduces the changes, long
awaited by a number of professional groups
(academic, educational, artistic), with respect to the
exclusion of obligatory application of PPL to
contracts whose value is below the amounts set forth
under provisions issued pursuant to Article 11(8) of
PPL, that is lower than the so-called EU thresholds,
in the event that these contracts provide for the
delivery or rendering: (i) goods or services used
exclusively for the purposes of conducting research,
experimental, scientific, or development work, not to
be used by the contracting entity to engage in series
production, to achieve market profitability, or cover
the costs of research and development (Article
4(8a)), (ii) goods or services for the purposes of
cultural activities, associated with the organization of
exhibitions, concerts, competitions, festivals, shows,
theatre plays, cultural education events, or museum
or library collections, unless the contract is intended
to provide the contracting entity with fixed assets to
be used in its day-to-day operations (Article 4(8b)),
as well as (pursuant to the Act of 30 May 2014
becoming effective on 8 July 2014) (iii) goods or
services for the purposes of educational activities,
associated with the collection of textbooks,
educational materials, and student materials for
school libraries, referred to under the Act on System
of Education of 7 September 1991 (Journal of Laws
of 2004 No. 256, item 2572, as subsequently
amended) unless the contract is intended to provide the contracting entity with fixed assets to be used in
its day-to-day operations.
The change outlined above means that contracting
entities from the public finance sector and those
characterised as unincorporated state-owned
organisational units will be obligated to apply PPL
only if the value of the contracts providing for the
above three categories of goods or services is at least
EUR 134,000, while in the case of the other
contracting entities, the value ceiling applicable to
such contracts that triggers obligatory application of
PPL stands at EUR 207,000.
Another significant restriction on the application of
PPL is introduced by excluding from the scope of the
law contracts for services with respect to research
and development work and provision of research
services which are not fully financed by the
contracting entity or the benefits of which are not
collected solely by the contracting entity for the
purposes of its own activity. This case involves
situations when the relevant research and
development work service is not fully financed by
the contracting entity, meaning that it is co-financed
by private entities or rendered within the framework
of cooperation between a public and a private entity
(research consortia, science clusters, clinical research
agreements, etc.).
The amendments to PPL outlined above should help
reduce the complexity and increase the speed of
awarding public contacts by contracting entities, as
well as improving the opportunities to access the
quite sizeable public procurement market by
contractors.
MILLER, CANFIELD,
W. BABICKI, A. CHEŁCHOWSKI I WSPÓLNICY SP.K.
ul. Batorego 28-32
81-366 Gdynia
Tel. +48 58 782-0050
Fax +48 58 782-0060
gdynia@pl.millercanfield.com
ul. Nowogrodzka 11
00-513 Warszawa
Tel. +48 22 447-4300
Fax +48 22 447-4301
warszawa@pl.millercanfield.com
ul. Skarbowców 23a
53-125 Wrocław
Tel. +48 71 780-3100
Fax +48 71 780-3101
wroclaw@pl.millercanfield.com
Disclaimer: This publication has been prepared for clients and professional associates of Miller Canfield. It is intended to provide only a summary
of certain recent legal developments of selected areas of law. For this reason the information contained in this publication should not form the
basis of any decision as to a particular course of action; nor should it be relied on as legal advice or regarded as a substitute for detailed advice in
individual cases. The services of a competent professional adviser should be obtained in each instance so that the applicability of the relevant
legislation or other legal development to the particular facts can be verified.