Bulgaria ∙ Key Public Procurement and Concessions Developments

Abstract

Compliance with EU Law The first group of legislative amendments aims to eliminate non-compliance with the EU Directives 201411. [...]the PPA1612 now defines ‘substantial modification’ of a contract or framework agreement as modification rendering the contract materially different in character from the one initially concluded. The list of hypotheses for considering a modification ‘substantial’ is now explicit and includes modifications changing the economic balance of the contract in favour of the contractor in a manner which was not provided for in the initial contract, fully aligning the provision with the one in the Public Sector Directive. The digitalisation of the public procurement process and the introduction of the possibility for filing an electronic complaint through the platform lead to abolition of the requirement to provide a copy of the challenged decision and to evidence sending of the complaint to the contracting authority. 3. With a view to transposing the Concessions Directive in the national legislation, the existing legal framework was subject to a thorough analysis and evaluation which concluded that the CA06 and PPPA13 were ineffectively applied in practice33.