Public Procurement Acceleration Act: New requirements and scope for public procurement

Public procurement law has now been reformed to make award procedures faster, more flexible and more practicable. On April 23, 2026, the Bundestag passed the law to speed up the awarding of public contracts. The Bundesrat approved the Procurement Acceleration Act on May 8, 2026.

The previous procurement law was often too slow and too rigid, especially for investments in infrastructure, digitalization and security.

The law promises simplifications in numerous areas, for example through higher value limits, fewer obligations to provide evidence and accelerated legal protection procedures.

The law comes into force on July 1, 2026 and applies to public procurement above the EU thresholds. In particular, it leads to changes in the Act against Restraints of Competition (GWB) as well as in the Public Procurement Ordinance (VgV) and the Sector Regulation (SektVO). The new rules generally apply to procedures initiated from July 1, 2026. Ongoing award procedures will be continued in accordance with the previous law.

Key innovations in the awarding of contracts

The key new regulations include:

• The value limit for direct orders from the federal government is raised to EUR 50,000.
• Suitability and verification obligations are simplified.
• The procurement statistics and the competition register will be adjusted.
• Review procedures under public procurement law will be accelerated, in particular through the elimination of formal requirements and the use of electronic means.
• The principle of awarding contracts in batches will be retained, but will be newly regulated in a new Section 97a GWB and supplemented by a narrowly defined exception that allows for the overall award of contracts for certain time-critical infrastructure projects, in particular from the special fund for infrastructure and climate neutrality.

In addition, the law enables greater consideration of digital sovereignty and cyber security as permissible aspects under public procurement law. At the same time, it creates the basis for more strategic public procurement, for example with regard to lead markets and sustainability.

The new structure of lot awarding in construction procurement law pursuant to Section 97a GWB

With the introduction of Section 97a GWB, the principle of awarding lots, which was previously anchored in Section 97 (4) GWB, is regulated independently and systematically developed further.

Lot allocation as a legal rule

The following also applies under the new law: construction services must always be divided into partial and specialist lots and awarded separately.

For construction contracts, the clear legal stipulation of awarding contracts by trade remains the rule. Overall contract awards continue to require justification.

The classic reasons for deviation still apply

§ Section 97a (2) ARC incorporates the previously recognized deviation options for technical or economic reasons unchanged into the new system.

The upstream right of the contracting authority to determine performance also remains unchanged; in particular, functional specifications with integrated planning and execution responsibility remain a classic rule for overall awards. The new standard neither restricts the right to determine performance nor does it limit the justification on technical or economic grounds.

New time exception for major projects

Section 97a para. 3 GWB. It allows a deviation from the lot principle for time reasons, but only for particularly large-volume infrastructure projects above twice the EU threshold. This includes, in particular, legally defined transport infrastructure projects as well as projects from the special infrastructure and climate neutrality fund. This simplifies the previous practice, according to which time-related reasons had to be translated into technical or economic reasons. The legislator aims to strengthen the conceptual control of major projects and accelerate them overall.

Accompanying protection for SMEs

If an overall award is carried out permissibly, the contractor may be obliged to take particular account of the interests of small and medium-sized enterprises when awarding subcontracts. Mirroring this, the consideration of SMEs’ interests can help to justify an overall award. For construction practice, it will be crucial to make the new requirements specific and contractually enforceable.

New guard rails for IT procurement and digital sovereignty

The Public Procurement Acceleration Act enshrines security of supply and digital sovereignty in public procurement law for the first time. This is the legislator’s response to the growing dependence on global IT providers, cloud lock-ins and geopolitical risks.

Execution conditions

Above all, the law extends the performance conditions: Public contracting authorities may now expressly take into account security of supply and digital sovereignty concerns when executing contracts, Section 128 para. 2 ARC. For IT procurements, requirements can thus be regulated in a legally secure manner, among other things:

• Data localization (e.g. EU or national data storage),
• Exit and migration scenarios,
• Interoperability and open interfaces,
• Transparency of the system architecture and
• resilient operating and support structures.

For procurement practice, this means that such requirements no longer have to be justified indirectly, but now have a clear legal basis.

Security interests

Furthermore, the legislator clarifies that services related to cyber security or digital sovereignty can be classified as essential security interests, Section 107 (2) sentence 3 no. 2 lit. b) GWB. In the case of IT services with particularly high requirements for confidentiality, data availability or integrity, special regimes under public procurement law may therefore be justified in individual cases. However, a substantiated justification always remains a prerequisite.

Award criteria

IT-specific points are also set at the award level: Award criteria may expressly include aspects of digital sovereignty, Section 58 (2) sentence 2 no. 4 VgV.

This means, for example, that they can be relevant to the evaluation:

• Traceability of data processing,
• controllable use of third-party software,
• Protection against access by third countries,
• Use of open standards.

IT services can be actively designed

The innovations will strengthen the possibility of strategically designing IT services and specifically anchoring corresponding requirements in the competition.

Sustainability-related regulations in the Public Procurement Acceleration Act

The Public Procurement Acceleration Act contains only a few explicit regulations on sustainable public procurement.

Authorization to issue regulations on climate friendliness

A new power to issue an ordinance in Section 113 GWB enables the Federal Government to stipulate mandatory climate-friendly requirements for the procurement of services in future. The authorization to issue ordinances is aimed in particular at low-emission raw materials such as steel and cement as well as the creation of lead markets.

This regulation is not yet directly effective, but a legal ordinance must first be issued.

Clarification on market exploration

§ Section 28 (1) VgV and Section 26 SektVO are supplemented by the note that the market exploration may also include social and environmental aspects, such as the circular economy, as well as aspects of quality and innovation. This is merely a clarification, as a corresponding market investigation was already permitted before.

No binding sustainability standard in the award procedure

In contrast to earlier reform considerations, the Public Procurement Acceleration Act does not provide for any obligation to take social or environmental criteria into account in procurement procedures. In particular, no general requirements have been introduced that would stipulate a minimum consideration of sustainable aspects.

It therefore remains the case that sustainable procurement is permissible, but there are no more far-reaching obligations than before.

Options for action despite limited regulations

However, the Procurement Acceleration Act does not restrict the existing scope for sustainable procurement. The approaches provided for in the 2024 draft of the Procurement Transformation Act can continue to be used voluntarily, for example through

• Orientation towards the negative list of the AVV Klima
• Orientation towards planned positive lists for socially and environmentally suitable services
• Anchoring corresponding requirements in internal procurement strategies

Increasing the value limits for direct contracts can also have indirect effects in favor of sustainable procurement, for example by specifically selecting sustainable providers and solutions or by using resources freed up in the awarding office for sustainable procurement.

The new regulation of the lot principle can also favor procurement models that are aimed at sustainable construction and infrastructure concepts, for example through a CO₂ shadow price-based evaluation model or the partnership-based two-phase model.

Legal protection readjusted: Less blockade, more speed

The Procurement Acceleration Act also speeds up legal protection procedures. Review procedures will be further digitalized through more text form, electronic file access and more alternatives to oral hearings in person. The legislator is also making it easier to award a contract following a negative decision by the procurement chamber.

Suspensive effect of appeal against review decision no longer applies

Time-critical projects can no longer be blocked. If a bidder is unsuccessful with its application for review, its immediate appeal no longer has any suspensive effect. The awarding authority can generally award the contract following a negative decision by the awarding chamber. Only if the procurement chamber grants the application for review and prohibits the award of the contract will the previous protection remain in place.

For clients, planning security increases: time-critical infrastructure or IT projects in particular no longer have to wait another six months for a decision by the Higher Regional Court simply because an unsuccessful bidder appeals against the decision of the procurement chamber.

However, the new regulation only affects a very small number of proceedings, as only a few reviews ever reach the second instance.

Risks of damages remain

Unsuccessful bidders will now make more frequent use of secondary legal protection. Errors therefore do not disappear, they shift to the liability level. This makes it all the more important to provide sound reasons for exclusions and evaluation decisions as well as complete documentation.

Proceedings before the public procurement tribunals continue to gain in importance: the quality of the first-instance decision and the reasoning there will be even more decisive in future. It remains to be seen how the awarding chambers will react: If, in cases of doubt, decisions are more frequently made in favor of the applicants, the acceleration effect could be reversed.

Conclusion

The Procurement Acceleration Act does not bring a fundamental change to the system, but rather targeted adjustments to existing structures. For contracting authorities, this means above all: more flexibility in individual, clearly defined areas, such as major construction projects, IT procurements and legal protection under public procurement law. At the same time, the central principles of public procurement law remain unchanged. Acceleration therefore does not occur automatically, but where the new scope is used consciously, well justified and clearly documented.

The law relieves the burden on awarding authorities in certain areas, but at the same time increases the importance of careful procedural design, particularly with regard to justification, documentation and legal protection.