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Hungary: more flexibility in amending public contracts

Hungary
11/01/2013
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There is now greater flexibility to change certain aspects of public contracts.

This change to the Public Procurement Act came into force on 1 January 2013. Although the strict rules on amendment (PPA s 132) will continue to apply in most circumstances, it will be possible to amend the terms of a public contract where the conditions and content of the changes are defined clearly and made known to each bidder or applicant in advance. The changes may not alter the subject matter of the contract.

This is certainly a big step forward even though no official reasoning has been provided to explain how it will work in practice. Nevertheless, it offers greater flexibility for parties to adjust a public contract to their changing needs without violating mandatory PPA rules.

The use of conditional public procurement is also being encouraged, to accelerate the use of subsidies in the current programming period (ie until the end of 2013). It has been made clear that contracting authorities are permitted to launch a public procurement procedure before applying for the subsidies it would need to finance the contract. This means that more conditional public tenders are expected this year, which can be lawfully annulled if the contracting authority’s subsidy request is refused.

Legislation: Act CVIII of 2011 on Public Procurements

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