The Belgian public procurement legislation primarily consists in the Act of 17 June 2016 regarding public procurement (the "Public Procurement Act") and its implementing regulations. The most important implementing regulations are the Royal Decree of 18 April 2017 regarding procurements in the traditional sectors and the Royal Decree of 18 June 2017 regarding procurements by entities operating in the 'utilities' sectors, i.e. water, energy, transport and postal services sectors.

The exposition in this chapter mainly focuses on public procurements in the traditional sectors. Rules applicable in the utilities sectors are largely similar and follow the same basic principles, but generally offer more flexibility to the contracting authority.

The above regulations are supplemented by the Act of 17 June 2013 regarding motivation, information and legal remedies for public procurement contracts.

The Royal Decree of 14 January 2013 sets the general rules of performance of public procurement contracts.

Separate acts and implementing decrees specifically cover concession contracts, as outlined under 2.h., as well as public procurement in the defense and security sectors, as discussed under 1.d.

Finally, all public procurement and concession contracts are also subject to the principles enshrined in the EU Treaties and the Belgian Constitution or developed in the European or Belgian case law, as discussed under 1.c.

Yes. Current Belgian public procurement law mainly transposes EU directives, namely Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement, Directive 2014/25/EU on procurement by entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors, Directive 2014/23/EU on the award of concession contracts, Directive 89/665/EEC on legal remedies for the public sector, and Directive 92/13/EEC on legal remedies for the utilities sector.

In accordance with the above directives, Belgian public procurement regulations provide for more stringent requirements for procurement contracts of which the estimated value equates or exceeds the European thresholds. These thresholds are, for the years 2016 and 2017, EUR 5,225,000 for works contracts, EUR 209,000 for all supply and most services contracts, which is lowered to EUR 135,000 for some centralized federal authorities, and EUR 750,000 for social and certain other specific services. Contracts with an estimated value below these thresholds are under the applicable Belgian legislation subject to a lighter regime, which nevertheless safeguards compliance with the general principles of non-discrimination, proportionality, transparency and competition, as outlined under 1.c.

In addition, Belgium is also a party to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement of 15 April 1994 (GPA). Under this binding international treaty, Belgium must open public procurement markets to foreign companies from outside the EU in accordance with the GPA's basic rules regarding publication of calls for competition, award procedures and non-discrimination. The scope of application is however limited to contracting authorities and contracts listed in the annexes to the GPA.

Traditionally, the principles of non-discrimination, transparency and free competition are listed in the EU directives and Belgian legislation as general principles underlying all public procurement procedures. Since the implementation 2014 directives, the principle of proportionality has been added as a fourth general principle of Belgian public procurement law.

It is important to note that these general principles are not only included in the legislation implementing the procurement or concession directives, but are to a large extent also safeguarded by the EU treaties and/or Belgian administrative jurisprudence. As a result, they also apply to government contracts falling outside the scope of public procurement or concession law or not reaching the thresholds for European or Belgian publicity.

The European principles of free movement, non-discrimination, transparency, proportionality and mutual recognition apply to contracts that are sufficiently relevant for the internal market. Belgian principles of good administration such as the duty of care, the obligation to state reasons and the principles of equality and proportionality apply to contracting authorities which are considered as public authorities under Belgian administrative law.

Yes. The Belgian Federal State has implemented EU Directive 2009/81/EC on defense and sensitive security procurement by the Act of 13 August 2011 regarding public procurement of works, supplies and services related to defense and security and its implementing Royal Decree of 23 January 2012.

This procurement regime is less liberalized and offers more possibilities for contracting authorities to ensure certainty of supply and the confidentiality of classified or security-related information.

The limited scope of application of the defense and security procurement regime is not determined by the identity of the contracting authority, but by the specific military or classified nature of the procurement contract.