Legal framework procurement in The Netherlands

Please note: Most links lead to pages in Dutch.

Public Procurement Act and Decree

Dutch public procurement law recognises the general principles of public procurement law (equal treatment, non-discrimination, mutual recognition, proportionality and transparency) and the general principles of Dutch civil law (including pre-contractual good faith).

The Public Procurement Act (in Dutch: Aanbestedingswet 2012) applies to all public contracts.The Dutch Public Procurement Act is further detailed in the Public Procurement Decree (in Dutch: Aanbestedingsbesluit).The Proportionality Guide, Works Procurement Regulations and the European Single Procurement Document/ESPD are part of the Public Procurement Decree.

Proportionality Guide

The Proportionality Guide (in Dutch: Gids Proportionaliteit) intends to ensure that all requirements imposed by a contracting authority are proportionate to the object and scope of the public contract. On the Dutch page about Proportionality Guide you will also find an English version. The Public Procurement Decree states that the Proportionality Guide is to be considered as a mandatory directive.

The Proportionality Guide further elaborates on the principle of proportionality and how it should be applied in procurement procedures. Accordingly, the application of the Guide should strengthen the position of small and medium-sized enterprises during tender procedures. Contracting authorities may only deviate from the detailed provisions on proportionality if this is properly motivated in the tender documents.

Works Procurement Regulations

The Works Procurement Regulations (in Dutch: Aanbestedingsreglement Werken, ARW) describe procedures to be used for procurement for the award of works contracts above and below the EU threshold. The Works Procurement Regulations is mandatory for contracts below the EU threshold.

European Single Procurement Document (ESPD)

The Uniform European Single Procurement Document (in Dutch: Uniform Europees Aanbestedingsdocument, UEA) is a self-declaration form used in public procurement procedures by public buyers and businesses in the EU. With this document tenderers declare that they meet the suitability and selection criteria in a procurement procedure. They do not have to submit all supporting documents immediately. This simplifies the tendering process and reduces administrative burdens for both economic operators and contracting authorities. 

The European Commission provides a tool for preparing an ESPD in English.

European procurement directives

The Dutch Public Procurement Act implements the latest EU procurement directives (2014/23/EU, 2014/24/EU and 2014/25/EU):

• Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement 
• Directive 2014/23/EU on the award of concession contracts 
• Directive 2014/25/EU on procurement by entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors 

The directives have as one of the objectives to make it easier and cheaper for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to bid for public contracts. Furthermore the directives want to ensure the best value for money for public purchases and the respect of the EU's principles of transparency and competition. To encourage progress towards particular public policy objectives, these directives also allow for environmental and social considerations, as well as innovation aspects to be taken into account when awarding public contracts.

The European Commission is revising the European public procurement directives from 2014. This is because the current rules are often complex and are not applied in the same way everywhere.

Further details: Herziening Europese aanbestedingsrichtlijnen

General Government Terms and Conditions

General Government Terms and Conditions for public service contracts (ARVODI), purchase and supply contracts (ARIV) and IT contracts (ARBIT) provide a uniform set of general terms and conditions between the State of the Netherlands and third parties.

The Dutch-language website also lists the English versions. Please note that English translations are regularly updated at a later stage. In the name of the document you can see which version it is. 

• Algemene Rijksinkoopvoorwaarden voor diensten (ARVODI)
• Algemene Rijksinkoopvoorwaarden (ARIV)
• Algemene Rijksinkoopvoorwaarden bij IT‑overeenkomsten (ARBIT)