The negotiated procedure in Belgian public procurement

Three names, not one procedure

In Belgian public procurement, “negotiated procedure” is not a single regime. The law of 17 June 2016 on public procurement names three procedures that sound alike in ordinary speech, and that do not give a company the same rights.

The law as a whole is explained here: Guide to the law of 17 June 2016 The official text is on Justel. The amounts for 2026 and 2027 are in the thresholds guide. The open procedure and the restricted procedure, which are not negotiated procedures, are here: Open procedure Restricted procedure

The French text, which was read for the article numbers below: Law of 17 June 2016 (Justel, French) The Dutch text: Law of 17 June 2016 (Justel, Dutch)

Which procedure is in front of you

The type is on the notice, when a notice exists. On a TED notice it is at point 2.1, “Procedure type”. Without a notice, the procedure is the one in the invitation.

What the law of 17 June 2016 says

Article 41, § 1, limits the direct negotiated procedure with prior publication to supplies and services whose estimated amount is below the corresponding European threshold, and to works whose estimated amount is below 750,000 euros. Paragraph 2 says that any interested economic operator may submit a tender in response to a contract notice. The minimum period for receipt of tenders is twenty-two days from the date the notice is sent. Paragraph 3 allows the buyer to negotiate the initial tenders and later tenders, except the final tenders. The minimum requirements and the award criteria are not negotiated. Paragraph 6 adds that, where the buyer decides not to negotiate, the initial tender stands as the final tender. The sentences in this paragraph are an English rendering of the French text.

Article 42, § 1, opens, in the French text, with this sentence: “Il ne peut être traité par procédure négociée sans publication préalable, mais si possible après consultation de plusieurs opérateurs économiques, que dans les cas suivants”. The sentence is left in French. It says the negotiated procedure without prior publication may be used only in the cases that follow, and if possible after consulting several economic operators. Among those cases: the expenditure to be approved, excl. VAT, is below the amounts set by the King; extreme urgency results from events the buyer could not foresee and is not attributable to the buyer; no suitable tender or request to participate was submitted after an open or restricted procedure; only one operator can supply the works, supplies or services, for a unique work of art, for technical reasons, or because of exclusive rights. Further cases follow in the same article, including the repetition of similar works or services. The article’s text prevails over this summary.

The amounts the King set for the procedure without prior publication, for 2026 and 2027, are in the thresholds guide: €140,000 and €216,000 excl. VAT, depending on whether the buyer is a federal authority or another contracting authority. The same guide states the ceiling of €750,000 excl. VAT for works in the direct negotiated procedure with prior publication. Thresholds 2026-2027

Article 92 says that contracts whose estimated amount is below 30,000 euros are subject only to part of the law, and that they may be concluded by an accepted invoice. That is not the same regime as article 42: the amount is written in the law, not left to the King.

The competitive procedure with negotiation is article 38. It often has two steps. The deadline may be for the request to participate, not yet for the price tender. That case is already explained here: Request to participate

TED, the directive, the Belgian platform

Above the European thresholds, a notice sent to the Official Journal of the European Union is read on TED: TED Directive 2014/24/EU provides, in article 29, for the competitive procedure with negotiation and, in article 32, for use of the negotiated procedure without prior publication in limited cases. The direct negotiated procedure with prior publication in article 41 is a Belgian procedure, below the European threshold for supplies and services. Text of the directive: Directive 2014/24/EU

Without a contract notice, the procedure in article 42 does not appear among the TED notices that are still open. Where Belgian contracts that are not on TED are published is explained here: Markets not on TED The place of submission remains the one the notice or the invitation states. The federal platform is e-Procurement The BOSA page on that platform: BOSA, e-Procurement

What an SME checks before replying

Negotiation does not remove the need to read the notice and the procurement documents. The minimum requirements and the award criteria remain the ones that are written.

1. Read the procedure type on the notice, in a useful order: How to read a TED notice
2. Check that the deadline TED publishes has not passed: Still open The list of deadlines that are still open is here: Deadlines
3. In a two-step procedure, submit the request to participate before that request’s date. A company that did not do so is not invited to tender.
4. Above the European thresholds, the ESPD is attached to the tender or the request to participate. How to complete it: ESPD guide
5. Read the award criteria and their weighting in the procurement documents before preparing the tender. In the direct negotiated procedure with prior publication, article 41, § 3, excludes them from negotiation. What the law of 17 June 2016 says about them (articles 81 and 82): Award criteria
6. Start from the Belgian enterprise number to see the TED notices still open that match the published activity: Enterprise number

What AOEX does not do

AOEX does not negotiate for the company, does not submit the tender and does not contact the buyer. This page does not say which procedure the buyer had to choose, or who will be selected.

The text to follow remains the latest official notice, the invitation, and the procurement documents.

Common questions

Does negotiated procedure mean there is no publication?

No. The law of 17 June 2016 distinguishes the direct negotiated procedure with prior publication, the negotiated procedure without prior publication, and the competitive procedure with negotiation. Only the second has no contract notice.

Can I submit a tender if the buyer did not invite me?

In the direct negotiated procedure with prior publication, any interested operator may submit a tender in response to the notice. In the procedure without prior publication, the buyer consults operators of its choice. Without an invitation, there is usually no tender to submit.

Is the minimum period of twenty-two days always the tender deadline?

No. Article 41 sets it for receipt of tenders in the direct negotiated procedure with prior publication. The notice may publish a later date. In a two-step procedure, the published date may be the one for the request to participate.

Does AOEX show negotiated procedures without publication?

No, when there is no TED notice. AOEX reads TED notices that are still open. A procedure without prior publication has no such notice. The text to follow remains the invitation and the procurement documents.

Sources

Law of 17 June 2016, French text read on Justel on 26 October 2026: Law of 17 June 2016 (Justel, French) Dutch text: Law of 17 June 2016 (Justel, Dutch) Directive 2014/24/EU: Directive 2014/24/EU