Introductory text

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts^f1, and in particular the second subparagraph of Article 9(4) thereof,

Whereas:

By Decision 2014/115/EU^f2, the Council approved the Protocol amending the Agreement on Government Procurement^f3 (‘the Agreement’) concluded in the framework of the World Trade Organization. The Agreement is a plurilateral instrument and its purpose is to mutually open government procurement markets among its parties. It applies to any procurement contract with a value that reaches or exceeds the amounts (‘thresholds’) set in it and expressed as special drawing rights.

One of the objectives of Directive 2014/23/EU is to allow the contracting entities and the contracting authorities, which apply that Directive, to comply at the same time with the obligations laid down in the Agreement. In accordance with Article 9(1) of Directive 2014/23/EU, every two years the Commission is to verify that the threshold for concessions set out in Article 8(1) of that Directive corresponds to the threshold established in the Agreement. Given that the value of the threshold calculated in accordance with Article 9(1) of Directive 2014/23/EU is different from the value of the threshold set out in Article 8(1) of that Directive, it is necessary to revise this threshold.

Directive 2014/23/EU should therefore be amended accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: