Joint Procurement

Joint procurement is the collaborative model through which contracting authorities pool their resources to run a single procurement rather than conducting duplicate exercises for the same or similar needs. It differs from centralised purchasing body arrangements in that it typically involves equals cooperating for a specific procurement, rather than one body providing purchasing services to others as its primary function. Joint procurement reduces duplication, shares expertise, and can produce better market outcomes through combined volume.

What is Joint Procurement?

Article 38 of Directive 2014/24/EU expressly permits joint procurement, setting out the framework for how contracting authorities from the same or different member states may cooperate in conducting a procurement procedure. The directive recognises several organisational models.

Joint conduct of the full procedure: two or more contracting authorities jointly conduct the entire procurement process, from market engagement to award. They must agree in advance on the procedural rules that will apply, which is generally those of the member state in which the lead authority is established. Each authority is then jointly and severally responsible for fulfilling the obligations of the directive.

Designated lead authority: the participating authorities designate one of their number to act as the lead contracting authority for the procurement. The lead authority conducts the process but the other authorities remain parties to the resulting contracts and are responsible for their own performance obligations. This is the most common practical model.

Use of a centralised purchasing body: one authority purchases from a centralised purchasing body that conducts the procurement on behalf of all participants. This is a form of joint procurement in substance, though distinct in structure.

For each model, the participating authorities must agree on the internal governance of the procurement: who manages the timetable, who evaluates bids, how decisions are taken, and how disputes between the authorities are resolved. These governance matters are typically set out in a formal joint procurement agreement before the notice is published.

The allocation of compliance responsibility matters significantly. Directive 2014/24/EU establishes that each participating contracting authority is responsible for fulfilling its own obligations under the directive with respect to the parts of the procedure it conducts. Where a lead authority manages the whole process, the other participants rely on the lead's compliance but remain liable if the lead fails.

Why it matters for bidders

Joint procurement simplifies the landscape for suppliers: instead of responding to twenty similar but slightly different tenders from twenty different public bodies, you respond to one. This reduces your bid costs and allows you to invest more in the quality of a single response.

The challenge is the scale: joint procurements can produce very large contracts that individual SMEs cannot realistically bid for alone. Lot division and consortium arrangements are the main mitigations. Where a joint procurement does not divide into lots, the scale of the resulting contract may be a legitimate subject of a proportionality challenge if it is disproportionate to the needs being served.

Example

Four Scandinavian universities jointly procure research computing infrastructure. They designate one university as the lead authority. The lead publishes a single contract notice on TED, manages the evaluation, and awards a framework agreement from which all four universities can call off services. Each university signs its own call-off contract under the framework and is responsible for its own performance obligations. The suppliers face one competitive process for access to a significant combined market.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does joint procurement require all participating authorities to be in the same country?

No. Article 39 of Directive 2014/24/EU specifically addresses cross-border joint procurement between authorities from different member states. This is addressed in more detail in the cross-border joint procurement entry. Joint procurement between authorities in the same country is simpler because a single national procurement law framework applies.

Which national procurement law applies in a joint procurement?

Where all participating authorities are in the same member state, their national implementation of Directive 2014/24/EU applies. Where authorities from different member states are involved, Article 39(4) requires that the participating authorities agree in advance which national law applies to the joint procedure. The options include the law of the member state where the lead contracting authority is established, or a jointly agreed alternative that each member state's implementation permits. National laws vary in how much flexibility they allow on this point.

Can a contracting authority use a framework agreement set up by a joint procurement even if it was not one of the original participating authorities?

Generally not, unless the framework's scope was designed at the outset to include other authorities using it. The original contract notice should have identified which contracting authorities are entitled to use the framework. An authority not identified in the original notice cannot simply join later without a new procurement process, as this would undermine the competitive basis on which the framework was established.