Subsection 1: Central purchasing bodies

A central purchasing body is a purchaser whose purpose is to carry out on a permanent basis, for the benefit of purchasers, at least one of the following centralised purchasing activities:1° The acquisition of supplies or services;2° The award of works, supply or service contracts.

A purchaser who uses a central purchasing body for a centralised purchasing activity may also entrust it with auxiliary purchasing activities, without applying the award procedures provided for in this Book.Auxiliary purchasing activities consist of providing assistance with the award of contracts, in particular in the following forms:1° Provision of technical infrastructure for the conclusion of works, supply or service contracts;2° Advice on the choice, organisation and conduct of award…

A purchaser who has recourse to a central purchasing body for the execution of works or the acquisition of supplies or services is deemed to have complied with its advertising and competitive tendering obligations only in respect of the award and execution operations that it has entrusted to the body.

The purchaser may use a central purchasing body located in another Member State of the European Union, provided that this choice has not been made with the aim of evading the application of national provisions affecting public policy. The law then applicable to the contract is the law of the Member State in which the central purchasing body is located.