A very important new piece of legislation was approved by the Portuguese government on 20 September last year. It was published in the official journal on 29 January, 2008, and will come into force by the end of July. The public contracts code (PCC) plays a central role in the public administration’s contractual activity as it not only establishes the regime of public procurement but also rules the performance of public contracts. For the first time in the Portuguese legal order, a single law regulates both these aspects. It is considered a milestone in the evolution of Portuguese administrative law.
In the first instance, PCC aims to comply with European Union Directives 2004/18/EC, on the co-ordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts; and 2004/17/EC, on the coordination of procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors of 31 March, 2004. Nevertheless, the PCC’s scope goes far beyond these directives. In fact, the Portuguese legislator created a complete set of rules on public procurement procedures (including those not covered by EC Directives) along with a comprehensive regime of public contracts performance.
