The Public Procurement Authority and its legal predecessor, the Public Procurement Council has had an unchanged legal status since the adoption of the first public procurement act (Act XL of 1995 on Public Procurement) and it fulfils its responsibilities as a body subordinate to the National Assembly only. The Authority as an autonomous public administration body performs its public tasks in accordance with Act CXLIII of 2015 on Public Procurement (PPA) currently in effect. It has general competence in the exercise of its functions, and has nationwide jurisdiction. In pursuance of Article 187 of the PPA, the primary objective and task of the Public Procurement Authority is to contribute effectively to the development of public procurement policy, to the establishment and dissemination of lawful public procurement practices, considering the public interest and the interests of the contracting authorities and the tenderers, while at the same time promoting the public and transparent spending of public money.
The Council operating within the framework of the Public Procurement Authority (Council) is aimed at implementing the principles of PPA, meeting the individual objectives in the public interest and enforcing the interests of the public procurement actors. The President of the Council is the President of the Public Procurement Authority. The actual headcount of the Authority is stipulated in PPA; at present, it has 16 members in addition to the President. In addition to establishing the headcount of the Public Procurement Arbitration Board, appointing and recalling the chairperson and deputy chairperson of the Public Procurement Arbitration Board and the public procurement commissioners, one of the most important tasks of the Council is to prepare guidelines aiming to facilitate the application of public procurement law, based on experience acquired from the decisions of review procedures and the control of public procurements in practice and concerning practical information on public procurement.
The Public Procurement Arbitration Board is an independent body with national jurisdiction, responsible for the legal reviews against infringements or disputes in connection with public procurement and design contest procedures, concession procurement procedures, as well as defence and security procurements. The Public Procurement Arbitration Board operates within the Public Procurement Authority but acts independently of it.
The Authority’s manifold duties are stipulated in the PPA as follows:
- monitors the application of public procurement law and formulates its opinion on related draft legislations,
- collects and publishes statistical data on public procurement,
- controls negotiated procedures without prior publication,
- controls public procurement notices,
- edits the Official Journal of the Authority titled Public Procurement Bulletin,
- keeps contact with the public procurement bodies of other EU Member States,
- organizes conferences, trainings, professional courses,
- monitors the amendment and performance of public contracts,
- keeps and publishes lists and registers specified by the law.
The organizational structure of the Authority:
