New EU Procurement Thresholds from 1 January 2016

United Kingdom

The European Commission has issued revised thresholds for the application of EU public procurement rules. The revised thresholds will take effect from 1 January 2016 and apply for the next two year period, to 31 December 2017.

The Euro thresholds have been slightly increased but fluctuations in exchange rates over the last two years mean that the Sterling thresholds have actually decreased slightly.

The principal revised thresholds are as follows:

Contracts EU threshold
Public Contracts
Supply / Services (Central Government Bodies) £106,047
Supply / Services (Other Contracting Authorities) £164,176
Works £4,104,394
Light Touch Regime £589,148
Utilities and Defence Contracts
Supply / Services (Central Government Bodies) £328,352
Works £4,104,394

The Commission has provided Sterling equivalents for the new thresholds for concessions contracts but those will not be applied until the Concessions Directive (Directive 2014/23/EU) is implemented in the UK, the deadline for which is 18 April 2016. From that date the Sterling equivalent thresholds will be £4,104,394 (EUR 5,225,000).