Romania recently enacted Government Emergency Ordinance 45/2018 to amend its public procurement framework. The ordinance modified six pieces of legislation governing procurement, sectoral procurement, concessions, remedies, and the National Agency for Public Procurement.

The driving force behind this emergency adoption was Romania’s objective to improving its absorption rate of EU structural funds, which necessitates greater flexibility in terms of public procurement.

Key modifications include:

• Threshold adjustments to provide expanded options for awarding contracts outside mandatory public tender procedures
• Scope change requirements establishing new mandatory public tender thresholds for subsequent contract modifications
• Tax liability standards relaxing acceptable outstanding tax obligations for bidders
• Contestation reforms shortening protest periods and introducing bond requirements for challengers to discourage unfounded disputes

The amendments streamline procurement processes while attempting to balance efficiency with competition safeguards in Romania’s contracting environment.