Hankintamenettelyä

Hankintamenettelyä refers to the legal framework and processes governing the procurement of goods, services, and works by public sector entities in Finland. It is designed to ensure transparency, equal treatment, and efficiency in public spending. The primary legislation governing these procedures is the Public Procurement Act (Julkiset hankinnat laki).

The core principle of hankintamenettelyä is that public organizations must obtain goods, services, or works through competitive bidding processes, where feasible. This involves defining the need, preparing tender documents, advertising the opportunity, evaluating the submitted bids based on predefined criteria, and awarding the contract to the most economically advantageous tender.

There are different thresholds and procedures depending on the estimated value of the procurement. For lower-value procurements, simplified procedures may be used. For higher-value procurements, especially those exceeding EU thresholds, more formal and extensive procedures are mandated, often requiring advertising in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The objectives of hankintamenettelyä include preventing corruption, ensuring the best possible value for taxpayer money, promoting competition among suppliers, and supporting economic development. Entities are expected to act impartially and to avoid any conflicts of interest. Protests and appeals against procurement decisions are possible and are handled by specific review bodies.