Public Procurement Authority

1. Contracting authorities shall take all necessary measures to prevent, detect, and, if necessary, remedy conflicts of interest and situations that result in a distortion of competition.

2. Persons or organizations acting on behalf of the contracting authority or involved by the contracting authority in any activity related to the procedure or its preparation shall declare in writing any circumstances that could result in a conflict of interest as defined in this Article. If a person is involved in multiple activities related to the procurement procedure (such as preparation of the procedure, evaluation of tenders and requests to participate, and decision on the outcome of the procurement procedure), the person concerned must make the declaration in relation to each procedural step. If the conflict of interest or the risk of a conflict of interest arises after the declaration has been made, the person concerned must inform the contracting authority immediately.

3. If the acts referred to in paragraph (2) or any other source of information indicates a risk of a conflict of interest, the contracting authority shall investigate the existence of a conflict of interest.

4. A conflict of interest exists if any person involved by the contracting authority in activities related to the procedure or its preparation, or any person capable of influencing the outcome of the procedure–including the procurement service provider and its employees–has, directly or indirectly, a financial, economic, or other personal interest that may be considered to interfere with the impartial and objective exercise of their functions.

5. It shall be presumed that a conflict of interest exists under paragraph (4) if the person referred to in paragraph (4)

a) participates in the procurement procedure as a tenderer, candidate, subcontractor or in the attestation of suitability;

b) is a member, senior manager, member of the supervisory board, director or employee of an economic operator participating in the procurement procedure as a tenderer, candidate, subcontractor or as an entity involved in the attestation of suitability; or

c) is a relative of a person specified in points (a) or (b).

6. With the exception of publicly traded companies, any entity owned by the persons listed below or by their relative referred to in points (a)–(i) living in the same household are considered to have a conflict of interest and may not participate in the procedure as a tenderer, candidate, subcontractor, or as an organization involved in the certification of suitability:

a) President of the Republic,

b) Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly,

c) member of the Government,

d) President of the Curia, President of the National Judiciary Office,

e) Prosecutor General,

f) President of the Constitutional Court,

g) President of the State Audit Office,

h) heads of the following Hungarian entities: Public Procurement Authority, Competition Authority, National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, National Election Office, Central Statistical Office, National Atomic Energy Authority, National Intellectual Property Office, National Tax and Customs Administration Authority, National Research, Development and Innovation Office, National Media and Infocommunications Authority, National Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Authority, or

i) President of the Hungarian National Bank

7. No person whose participation in the preparation or conduct of a procurement procedure would give rise to a conflict of interest may participate on behalf of the contracting authority. Where a conflict of interest exists, the contracting authority must examine how the conflict of interest has affected the principles of fair competition and equal treatment in the procurement procedure concerned and must take all measures necessary to eliminate the conflict of interest and restore the legality of the procedure. Article 62(1)(m) may be applied if the violation of equal treatment and the fairness of the competition cannot be remedied in any other way.

8. Notwithstanding paragraph 7, if a candidate, tenderer, subcontractor, or an organization involved in the certification of suitability, or an economic operator with a direct or indirect connection to any of these entities as defined in Article 3(28)– including persons specified in paragraph (5)(b)–has participated in the preparation of the procurement procedure, the contracting authority must take appropriate measures to prevent the distortion of competition. This includes, in particular, sharing all relevant information related to the procedure with other economic operators and ensuring an adequate deadline for the submission of tenders. The economic operator concerned may be excluded from the procedure under Article 62(1)(m) only if compliance with the principle of equal treatment cannot be ensured in any other way. Prior to the exclusion, the contracting authority shall, by requesting the supply of missing information or provision of clarification, ensure that the economic operator concerned is given an opportunity to prove that their participation in the preparation of the procurement procedure does not violate the principles of equal treatment and fair competition, or to resolve the conflict of interest in any other manner. The measures taken by the economic operator to remedy a conflict of interest must be described by the contracting authority in the summary of the evaluation of tenders (requests to participate).

9. For the purposes of paragraph 8, the participation in the procedure of the persons (entities) listed below does not violate fair competition or create conflict of interest:

a) persons (entities) from whom or which the contracting authority requested information related to the assessment of the given public procurement, including the estimated value of the public contract or market survey, without indicating the starting date of the public procurement and only providing the data necessary for the assessment,

b) persons (entities) who or which participated in the pre-market consultation conducted by the contracting authority [see: Article 28(4)],

c) persons (entities) from whom or which the contracting authority has received a quotation for the submission of the application for a grant,

provided that, in applying points (a), (b) or (c), the contracting authority has not disclosed to them information more than that made available to all tenderers or candidates in the course of the procurement procedure and that the time limit for the submission of tenders ensures compliance with the principle of equal treatment.

10. The contracting authority is entitled to process data on the financial, economic, and personal circumstances of persons or their relatives, contained in the declarations or other documents required for the performance of their obligations under this Article, as relevant for assessing conflicts of interest in accordance with Article 46(2), until the expiry of the document retention obligation.

1. Contracting authorities, with the exception of those referred to in Article 5(2) and (4), shall notify the Public Procurement Authority of their falling under the scope of this Act and any changes in their data within thirty days following the date from which they come under the scope of this Act or from the date of those changes.

1a. The contracting authority shall meet its reporting or change reporting obligation under paragraph 1 by registration or data modification in the electronic public procurement system (hereinafter referred to as EPPS).

2. The Public Procurement Authority shall maintain an up-to-date register of contracting authorities in the EPPS, and shall provide further information about the contracting authorities included in the register, as required by the European Commission. If the entity concerned fails to fulfil its obligations of notification as set out in paragraph 1 or, where there is a doubt whether the entity concerned is subject to this Act, the President of the Public Procurement Authority initiates the procedure of the Public Procurement Arbitration Board.

1. Contracting authorities shall be obliged to determine, in accordance with the relevant legislation, the distribution of responsibilities for the preparation, carrying out and internal control of their procurement procedures, as well as the responsibilities of persons and organisations acting on their behalf or involved by them in such procedures and the procedure of documentation applicable to their procurement procedures. In doing so, contracting authorities shall specify in particular the person, persons or bodies responsible for decisions made in the course of the procedure. The group of parties acting on behalf of the contracting authority and the order of exercising the rights concerning the application of the EPPS on behalf of the contracting authority shall be stipulated in the rule on public procurement or during the application of paragraph 2.

2. Where a contracting authority does not have any general rule on public procurement drawn up according to paragraph (1) or fulfils the criteria that allow derogation from such rules as laid down therein, it shall lay down the requirements set forth in paragraph (1) before the preparatory work for the given procurement procedure at the latest.

3. Persons and organizations acting on behalf of the contracting authority or involved in the procurement procedure, who participate in the preparation of the procurement procedure, the preparation of the invitation and procurement documents, the evaluation of tenders, or any other stage of the procedure, shall be required to jointly demonstrate adequate professional competence related to the subject matter of the public procurement, as well as adequate competence in public procurement, law, and finance. The contracting authority under Article 5(1)(a) and (b) and Article 5(1)(c)(ca) and (cb)–with the exception of local government budgetary bodies and national minority self-government budgetary bodies–must involve a state public procurement consultant in the process.

3a. Contrary to paragraph 3, the contracting authority shall not be required to involve a state public procurement consultant in the case of direct orders placed by the contracting authority based on a framework agreement.

3b. With the permission of the contracting authority employing him or her, the state public procurement consultant may establish a services contract with another contracting authority for the purpose of providing public procurement expertise.

4. Contracting authorities shall set up an evaluation committee of at least three members, who jointly have the professional competence pursuant to paragraph 3, for the evaluation and assessment of the tenders according to this Act, taking place following the supply of missing information, the provision of requested information or the provision of explanation [Articles 71-72], where appropriate. The evaluation committee shall put forward in writing an expert’s opinion and a proposal for the decision for the person or body making the decision closing the procurement procedure. The work of the evaluation committee shall be documented by drawing up minutes, which may contain the members’ reasoned evaluation sheets, if applied by the contracting authority.

5. The person taking the decision closing the procurement procedure in the name of the contracting authority may not be a member of the evaluation committee. In the case of a collective decision-making process, persons delegated by the decision-making body in the evaluation committee shall be entitled to have right of consultation. In the case of collective decision-making process, a vote by call-over shall be applied.

Article 27/A

The contracting authority, excluding the contracting authority under Article 5(2) and (4), shall accept and process the electronic invoices that comply with European Standard EN 16931-1:2017 and the list of syntaxes attached by the European Commission to this Standard in the Official Journal of the European Union.

1. The contracting authority shall ensure thorough preparation of the procurement procedure, as regards the subject-matter and the estimated value of the public contract. The procurement documents made available by the contracting authority shall ensure that economic operators are given an opportunity in the procedure to make an offer which is technically suitable, physically executable and economically rational. Contracting authorities shall, even during the preparation of the procurement procedure, seek to ensure conditions necessary for high quality performance, protection of environment – in light of the subject-matter of the public contract - and consideration of sustainability concerns, as well as prevention of amendments to the subject-matter of the public contract. The contracting authority can also use the method of value assessment.

2. The contracting authority, under his responsibility specified in paragraph 1, shall conduct a separate examination aimed at the establishment of the estimated value and the results of the examination shall be documented. In the course of the examination, the contracting authority may use methods based on objectivity. Such methods are in particular

a) inviting the indicative bids concerning the subject-matter of the public procurement,

b) market research concerning the subject-matter of the public procurement, conducted by organizations specialized thereto,

c) involving a forensic expert,

d) tariffs proposed by professional chambers,

e) detailed database of building projects, which is created and maintained by the relevant professional chambers and is based on execution value,

f)

g) analysis of the contracting authority’s former contracts having a similar subject-matter.

3. In the case of public works, the procedure may only be launched, if the plans meeting the requirements set in a separate act of legislation are available. In the cases specified in a separate act of legislation, the contracting authority shall also provide for the control of plans and design architect's and design engineer's site supervision.

4. Before launching the procurement procedure, preliminary market consultations may be held by the contracting authority with independent experts, public authorities and market participants in order to prepare the procurement procedure and to provide economic operators with information on the public procurement planned and the requirements thereof. Contracting authorities shall take all necessary measures, in particular concerning the disclosure of all the relevant information in the procurement documents as well as the establishment of the suitable time limit for the submission of tenders, to ensure compliance with the principles of fair competition, equal opportunities and equal treatment of economic operators.

5. The contracting authority may, among other methods, conduct preliminary market consultation by publishing the draft technical specifications and the draft contract in advance in the EPPS, providing interested economic operators with the opportunity to comment on them.

6. The cases and conditions for the mandatory use of preliminary market consultation are laid down by government decree.

1. The contracting authority may authorise other contracting authorities to conduct a procurement procedure on its behalf. However, this authorisation may not result in the avoidance of the rules to be applied to the authorising contracting authority according to this Act.

2. A public contract may be realized jointly by several contracting authorities who may choose and authorise one of them to conduct the procurement procedure.

3. In the cases pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 2, the contract notice launching the procedure shall state that the contracting authority conducts the procedure (also) on behalf of other contracting authority (authorities).

4. For the purposes of paragraphs 1 and 2, if the entire procurement procedure is conducted jointly, on behalf of all the contracting authorities concerned, the contracting authorities shall be jointly responsible for fulfilling their oblligations set out by this Act. If the procurement procedure is not conducted in its entirety on behalf of all the contracting authorities concerned, contracting authorities shalltake joint responsibility only for those elements of the public procurement, which are carried out jointly. Each contracting authority shall have sole responsibility for fulfilling his oblligations set out by this Act with respect to the elements of the procurement procedure carried out on his behalf.

1. Contracting authorities may jointly award public contracts, conclude framework agreements or operate a dynamic purchasing system with contracting authorities from other Member States of the European Union. However, it shall not be aimed at evading the application of this Act or any other regulation applicable to the contracting authority.

2. Unless the conditions specified in this Article have been regulated by an international agreement, in the case referred to in paragraph 1, the contracting authority and the contracting authority coming from another Member State shall conclude an agreement that determines:

a) the responsibilities of each contracting authority, and the law applicable to the public contract, as well as

b) the internal organisation of the procurement procedure, including the management of the procedure, the distribution of the works, supplies or services to be procured, and the conclusion of contracts.

3. The information specified in paragraph 2(a) shall be referred to in the procurement documents for jointly awarded public contracts.

4. Unless this Act or a separate act of legislation requires the use of a specific central purchasing body, the contracting authority may employ a central purchasing body located in another Member State. The national provisions of the Member State where the central purchasing body has its registered office shall apply to the implementation of the public procurement, as well as the award of the contract ina dynamic purchasing system or based on a framework agreement.

5. A contracting authority may set up a joint entity with a contracting authority from another Member State of the European Union in order to award a public contract (public contracts). In this case, the participating contracting authorities shall, by a decision of the main competent body of the joint entity, agree on the applicable national procurement rules of one of the following Member States:

a) the national provisions of the Member State where the joint entity has its registered office; or

b) the national provisions of the Member State where the joint entity is carrying out its activity.

6. The joint entity referred to in paragraph 5 may either be established for an undetermined period, or may be limited to a certain period of time, to certain types of contracts or to one or more individual contract awards, on condition that this is provided for in the joint entity’s instrument of constitution.

1. The Government may order the budgetary authorities under its control or supervision, public foundations established by itself, and economic organisations under state ownership and over which it exercises direct or indirect dominant influence to execute any public procurement within the framework of a centralised procedure and may determine the personal and material scope thereof, the organisations entitled to invite tenders (central purchasing body) and the conditions for participation in such procedures.

2. A centralised procedure shall be used for health-care services of organisations financed by the Health Insurance Fund, in the cases specified by a separate act of legislation. The Government shall be entitled to specify the detailed rules for the procedure, including the personal and material scope thereof and the organisation entitled to invite such tenders (central purchasing body).

3. Centralised procedure shall be used for public procurements related to government communication, organisational development and event organization tasks, in the cases specified by a separate act of legislation. The Government is entitled to determine the detailed rules of the centralised procedure, including the personal and material scope thereof, and the organisation entitled to invite tenders (central purchasing body).

3a. A centralized procedure shall be used for government IT purchases, in the cases defined in the act of legislation. The government is entitled to define the detailed rules of the centralized purchasing procedure, including its personal and objective scope and the entity entitled to launch a call (central purchasing body).

3b. In the case of public procurements pursuant to Article 1/C of Act CXXXII of 2011 on the National University of Public Service and Higher Administrative, Law Enforcement, and Military Education, a centralised procedure shall be used for the provision of government training and educational tasks defined by law, as well as for the development of curricula related to such training. The Government is entitled to determine the detailed rules of the centralised procedure, including the personal and material scope thereof.

4. The detailed rules pertaining to centralised public procurement procedures pursuant to this paragraph, if different as required by such procedures from those set out in this Act, shall be determined in a separate act of legislation.

5. The contracting authority and the economic operators shall not be obliged to apply the EPPS in their electronic communication, in the case of conducting the tendering stage in the dynamic purchasing system operated by the central purchasing body or for the application of the electronic catalogue, or when the purchase is carried out, whether with or without reopening the tender, on the basis of the framework agreement concluded by the central purchasing body. However, the central purchasing body or the contracting authority carrying out the purchase shall, even in this case, make publicly available, via the EPPS, or set in the EPPS all the contract notices and data that it is obliged to make publicly available or to enter in the system with regard to the contract, based on this Act or the implementation decree hereof.

1. Public procurements may be implemented in a combined, centralised manner by several contracting authorities, which have created a joint central purchasing body or have designated among themselves a central purchasing body, where Article 31 does not provide for the use of a central purchasing body. Rules pertaining to the cooperation of contracting authorities establishing a centralised procurement system shall be laid down in a cooperation agreement.

2. The central purchasing body shall have responsibility for the functioning of the centralised public procurement system. Contracting authorities using the system are responsible for implementing those elements of the public procurement which are conducted by them, in particular for the procurement in the framework of the dynamic purchasing system operated by the central purchasing body or purchasing on the basis of a framework agreement concluded by the central purchasing body, by reopening or without reopening competition. If the dynamic purchasing system operated by a given central purchasing body may also be used by other public buyers, this shall be indicated in the notice launching the procedure for establishing the dynamic purchasing system.

3.

1. Contracting authorities may or, if the Government so provides, shall reserve the right to participate in a public procurement procedure for organizations qualifying as sheltered place of employment, provided 30 % or more of their employees are disadvantaged or disabled workers, furthermore, for developmental employers, provided 30% or more of their employees are involved in developmental employment. Contracting authorities may or, if the Government so provides, shall require that the public contract be performed in the framework of a job creation programme, provided at least 30% of the people employed in the course of the performance of the contract are disadvantaged, disabled or handicapped workers (sheltered employment programmes). Contracting authorities shall refer to this fact in the contract notice launching the procedure.

2. In the case of contracts that are reserved according to paragraph 1, contracting authorities shall ensure equal rights, where more than 30% of the employees of an economic operator established within the European Union are disadvantaged, handicapped or disabled workers.

1. Contracting authorities may reserve the right for economic operators to participate in procedures for the award of public contracts exclusively for those health, social and cultural services referred to in Annex 3, which are covered by CPV codes 75121000-0, 75122000-7, 75123000-4, 79622000-0, 79624000-4, 79625000-1, 80110000-8, 80300000-7, 80420000-4, 80430000-7, 80511000-9, 80520000-5, 80590000-6, from 85000000-9 to 85323000-9, 92500000-6, 92600000-7, 98133000-4, 98133110-8, provided that the economic operators in question fulfil all of the following conditions:

a) their objective is the pursuit of a public service mission linked to the delivery of those health, social and cultural services referred to in this paragraph;

b) they are non-profit-making organizations, in which profits are reinvested with a view to enhance the performance of their public tasks or, where profits are distributed or redistributed, this should be based on participatory considerations;

c) the structures of management or ownership of the organisation ensure the active participation of employees in the management or require the active participation of employees or stakeholders in the pursuit of the public task; and

d) on the basis of this paragraph, they have not been awarded a contract, having a subject-matter subject to this paragraph, by the contracting authority concerned, within the past three years.

2. The contract specified in paragraph 1 shall be limited in time and its maximum duration shall not be longer than three years.

3. The call for competition shall make reference to the reservation of the right of participation in the procurement procedure under this Article.

1. Tenders or requests to participate may be submitted by several economic operators jointly.

2. In the case of application of paragraph 1, joint tenderers or candidates shall designate among themselves a representative entitled to act on behalf of the joint tenderers or candidates in the course of the procurement procedure.

2.a. The document including the authorization pursuant to paragraph 2 shall be attached to the tender or the request to participate, in a procedure consisting of more than one stage. The authorization shall state that the economic operator entitled to represent the joint tenderers or candidates may proceed for the individual joint tenderers or candidates to make the various declarations that are to be made electronically in the EPPS.

3. All the statements made on behalf of the group of joint tenderers or candidates shall clearly include the designation of the joint tenderers or candidates.

4. Where this Act stipulates that contracting authorities shall send a notification to tenderers or candidates, furthermore, for the purposes of supply of additional information [Article 56], supply of missing information [Article 71], request of information [Article 71] and request of explanation [Article 72], the contracting authority shall dispatch the information, notification and request addressed to the joint tenderers or joint candidates to the representative defined in paragraph 2.

5. Where the contracting authority prescribes the provision of a tender guarantee [Article 54], the joint tenderers shall provide the guarantee only on one occasion. In the event of the infringement of the validity period of the tender by any joint tenderer [Article 54 (4)], the contracting authority is entitled to receive the tender guarantee.

6. Joint tenderers are jointly liable for the performance of the contract to the contracting authority.

7. Out of the economic operators submitting a joint tender or request to participate after the expiry of the time limit for the submission of tenders or, in the case of a procedure consisting of more than one stage, the expiry of the time limit for participation, upon the departure of any economic operator, the remaining economic operators may participate in the subsequent part of the procedure only if they continue to meet all suitability criteria set in the procedure and the change does not entail the distortion of competition.

8. The contracting authority may not require setting up an economic organisation as a condition for participating in the procurement procedure; however, it may be required from successful tenderer(s), if it is justified for the performance of the contract to be concluded pursuant to a procurement procedure. The notice starting the procurement procedure shall clearly set the requirement of the contracting authority for setting up an economic organisation.

9. If a contracting authority allows or requires the setting up of an economic organisation (project company) for the performance of the contract, the contracting authority shall specify the requirements concerning the business organisation to be set up in the procurement documents; the requirements may only be related to the legal form, the minimal amount of the subscribed capital, defined in proportion to the value of the contract, to the scope of the activity of the business organisation and the control of its activity.

1. In the course of the same procurement procedure or, in the case of a possibility of division of a contract into lots the contract concerning one lot, the tenderer or the candidate

a) may not submit another tender or another request to participate jointly with another tenderer or candidate,

b) may not participate as a subcontractor of another tenderer or candidate,

c) may not certify the suitability of any other tenderer or candidate for the performance of the contract [Article 65(7)].

2. Where a contracting authority experiences an obvious breach of the provisions set out in Article 11 of the Hungarian Competition Act (Act LVII of 1996 on the Prohibition of Unfair and Restrictive Market Practices; hereinafter referred to as: the ‘CA’), as well as the provisions set out in Article 101 of the TFEU or it has a sound reason to assume it in the course of its procedure, the contracting authority shall notify the Hungarian Competition Authority thereof in accordance with the provisions of the CA regarding notification or complaint.

3. Where the minister responsible for public procurements or the minister responsible for the use of EU funds experiences an obvious breach of the provisions set out in Article 11 of the CA or the provisions set out in Article 101 of the TFEU or it has a sound reason to assume it in the course of the legal control of procurement procedures, public contracts, works or service concessions or any amendment thereof, the minister notifies the Hungarian Competition Authority in compliance with the provisions of the CA concerning notification or complaint and, in doing so, he is entitled to transfer any data, which is made available in the course of the control of the procurement procedure, public contract, works or service concession concerned or any amendment thereof, with the exception of qualified data, to the Hungarian Competition Authority.

4. According to the Act XXVII of 2022 on the Control of the Use of European Union Budgetary Resources (hereinafter: Eufetv.), the minister responsible for public procurements or the use of EU funds is entitled to transfer any data–except for classified information–to the Integrity Authority in cases within the latter authority's scope. This includes any data available through the oversight of the procurement procedure, contract, works or service concession, or their amendments.