A public procurement contract is an administrative contract concluded for consideration between a public body and a supplier or service provider in order to meet the needs of a public organization in terms of works, supplies, or services. Contracts meeting a need with an estimated value equal to or greater than €25,000 excluding VAT must be concluded in writing.
Ordinance No. 2015-899 of 23 July 2015 on public procurement – Article 4 (definition of public procurement contracts)
This type of contract is defined in contrast to contracts concluded free of charge.
In a contract for consideration, each party receives a counterpart, generally the payment of a sum of money, in exchange for performing a service.
However, other forms of remuneration may also give the contract its remunerative character. This is the case, for example, with urban furniture contracts, where the service provider installs the street furniture without the city paying for it, in exchange for the right to operate advertising spaces. In this situation, advertising revenue constitutes the provider’s remuneration.
The public buyer’s contracting party may be a natural or legal person, public or private. However, public procurement contracts are most often awarded to private companies.
That said, nothing prevents a public buyer from applying as a candidate. In such cases, this right must be exercised in compliance with public procurement principles, particularly the principle of equal treatment between candidates. For example, when setting its price, a public candidate must not benefit from advantages arising from the resources or means allocated to it as part of its public service mission.
Public procurement legislation defines the participants in a public procurement procedure as follows:
When the competitive procedure begins, the term economic operator is used to cover all potential participants.
A candidate is an economic operator who applies to participate or is invited to participate in the procedure.
A tenderer is an economic operator who submits an offer as part of a public procurement award procedure.
Legislation identifies three types of needs:
Works
Supplies (purchase, rental, etc.)
Services
The distinction between these three categories is important because certain rules differ depending on how the need is classified (also referred to as the “subject matter of the contract”). For example, the estimated value of the need determines which procedure must be used, and this amount differs depending on whether the contract concerns supplies or services, or works.
Note: Framework agreements are contracts intended to establish the terms governing contracts awarded over a given period. They are subject to the same award rules as public procurement contracts.
All of these administrative contracts, regardless of their value or the procedure used, must comply with three fundamental principles:
freedom of access to public procurement,
equal treatment of candidates,
transparency of procedures.
These principles ensure the effectiveness of public procurement and the proper use of public funds.
Any person must be able to freely become aware of a public buyer’s procurement needs.
This principle is guaranteed by the publicity issued by public buyers to make their needs known and by the competition generated through such publicity.
Respect for this principle prohibits any form of discrimination and applies at all stages of the procedure:
specifications must be drafted objectively and must not influence the choice,
all bids received within the required deadline must be examined, regardless of the candidate’s nationality or location,
all candidates must have access to the same information, and if one candidate asks a supplementary question, the public buyer must respond to all candidates.
Note: From 1 April 2017 for central purchasing bodies and from 1 October 2018 for other public bodies, all exchanges of additional information must be carried out electronically.
Transparency allows all candidates, and any interested party, to verify that the public buyer complies with the first two principles.
In formal procedures, the selection criteria are communicated to candidates from the publication stage. These criteria must enable the public buyer to select the most economically advantageous offer.
Likewise, any tenderer whose bid is rejected must be informed of the rejection and the reasons for it.
Failure to comply with these principles may result in criminal sanctions. In particular, the offence of favoritism concerns any act contrary to legislative or regulatory provisions that guarantee freedom of access and equal treatment of candidates in public procurement.
January 26, 2026 - BY Admin