Procuring things will always present challenges, according to Mark von Wietersheim.
Mark von Wietersheim, the managing director of Forum Vergabe, has highlighted the current state of German procurement law as undergoing significant reforms aimed at simplifying, accelerating, and digitalizing public procurement processes. These reforms, reflected in bills like the "Bill to speed up public procurement" and the Bundeswehr Planning and Procurement Acceleration Act, seek to reduce bureaucratic hurdles, limit legal protection that delays procurement, and promote efficiency to address urgent challenges including competitiveness, infrastructure renewal, and defense capabilities.
The future outlook, as discussed by experts including von Wietersheim, foresees a more flexible procurement framework that balances innovation support, especially for SMEs and start-ups, with faster, streamlined procedures particularly important in the defense sector. The Bundeswehr legislation extends procurement simplifications until 2035, emphasizing that national defense and security interests now take increased priority. This includes faster contract awards, fewer formal tendering requirements in urgent cases, and higher thresholds for procurement procedures to speed up military and civil supply acquisitions.
Von Wietersheim's discussion situates the German procurement reforms as part of a broader European effort to make procurement law more adaptive to current economic and security needs by making it more efficient, digital-friendly, innovation-oriented, and less encumbered by lengthy legal challenges. This includes key legislative steps expected to significantly reshape how public contracts are awarded in Germany over the next decade.
The Forum Vergabe, founded in 1993 in Cologne to promote procurement law, plays a crucial role in these discussions. The organization, which has around 450 members, predominantly from Germany but also from Austria and Switzerland, organizes events like the upcoming "Forum Award Discussions" in Fulda from September 17 to 19. This year's event will focus on procurement law reforms in Germany and at the European level, as well as the further development of award law in light of digitization, sustainability, and supply chain resilience.
Mark von Wietersheim, who has been active as a lawyer since 1996 and has been managing the business of Forum Vergabe in Berlin since 2009, has been following the developments of German procurement law for decades. His insights into the reforms come from both his legal background and his experience working at the German Railway, where he got to know the development of procurement law from the user's perspective.
The Forum Award events have a long history, with the event held in Fulda since 2011. The 16-member board of the Forum Award consists of municipal and state contracting authorities, federal ministries, contractors, lawyers, consultants, and law firms. The experts at the Forum Award have supported legislation with their inputs, such as during the last reform of the award procedure in 2015.
For more information, please contact Wolfgang Leja, a member of the Forum Award, who can be reached at w.leja@our website.
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The following discussions about the future of procurement law in Germany involve a focus on the finance, business, and industry sectors, as experts are aiming to create a more adaptive and efficient system. This system is intended to be more digital-friendly, innovation-oriented, and less encumbered by lengthy legal challenges to accommodate current economic and security needs.
The industry sector, particularly the defense sector, is expected to benefit from faster contract awards, fewer formal tendering requirements in urgent cases, and higher thresholds for procurement procedures due to the extensions provided by the Bundeswehr legislation until 2035.
