A partial amendment to Act No. 137/2006 Coll., on public procurement has been approved by President Miloš Zeman. Among other things, the changes include an increase on the limit on extra work that can be outsourced to an existing supplier from 20% to 30% of the original price in the public contract. In this context, it should be noted that most EU member states apply an even higher limit of up to 50%. According to the Minister for Regional Development Karla Šlechtová, a further increase— up to 50% potentially—is being considered in the preparations for the new Public Procurement Act.
A further change under the new amendment gives the option to expand the assessment criteria to include the organisation, qualifications and experience of persons involved in performing a public contract; this applies so long as these entities will have a major influence on the performance. In this way, lawmakers are hoping to counter the trend of assessments based solely on the lowest bidding price. In another new development, contracting authorities will not be bound to cancel the public procurement process in cases where there is only one bid.
Aiming to increase digitalisation and speed up reviews by the Office for the Protection of Competition, other changes affect communication with the Office by extending electronic communication options. In the future, participants will be allowed to file submissions, lodge appeals and submit other documents in e-form. A rather marginal reform gives applicants the option to submit their college diplomas in Latin without the need for a Czech translation when proving their qualifications.