Official legal sources are the starting point for checking a procurement rule. A source list is useful only when the reader also verifies the version, applicability and interaction between instruments. Our guides link the practical issues to the governing framework.
Federal framework
Part 4 GWB contains the central above-threshold procurement and review provisions. The VgV governs many classical supply and service procurements, with other instruments for utilities, concessions, defence and works. Read the relevant provision together with its definitions, exceptions and cross-references.
State and below-threshold rules
The UVgO and VOB/A do not answer every question without examining how the competent authority has introduced them. State procurement acts, budget rules and administrative provisions can matter. A federal simplification may not automatically apply to a municipality in another state.
EU materials
EUR-Lex provides directives, regulations and CJEU judgments. TED is the European publication platform for procurement notices. Consolidated texts help with reading, while amendment and commencement instruments explain the legal chronology. A judgment’s operative findings and reasoning must be distinguished from a short summary.
Maintain a dependable source record
Record the source, date accessed, provision and applicable version. Check transitions when a procurement spans an amendment. Older copies on this website may serve explanatory or historical purposes; the official source and the law applicable to the procedure should guide the legal assessment.
Four practical examples
The following scenarios are illustrative, not reports of actual client matters. The outcome depends on the documents and circumstances of the individual procurement.
Example 1: Threshold check
An authority checks the EU amendment and its effective date rather than copying a figure from an old presentation.
Example 2: State procedure
A municipality consults its state’s introduction rules before assuming the UVgO applies in full.
Example 3: Judgment research
A bidder follows a case reference to the official judgment and reads the facts as well as the operative result.
Example 4: Historic procurement
An audit concerns a procedure begun before a reform. The team retrieves the version relevant to that procedure, not only today’s consolidated wording.
Related topics
German and EU public procurement law · The GWB procurement framework · The German Procurement Ordinance: VgV · EU Public Procurement Directive 2014/24/EU · State procurement rules and collective-agreement compliance
Discuss your procurement
For a review, please identify the authority, contract or lot, current procedural stage and any deadline. We can then clarify the scope of the requested work. Contact our team. An enquiry does not itself create a retainer or preserve a legal deadline.
Legal sources
Official legislation and materials, some in German: Gesetz gegen Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen (GWB) · Vergabeverordnung (VgV) · Sektorenverordnung (SektVO) · Konzessionsvergabeverordnung (KonzVgV) · Vergabeverordnung Verteidigung und Sicherheit (VSVgV) · Richtlinie 2014/24/EU
Updated 13 November 2026. Illustrative guidance on German and EU procurement law.