Reg. 52 of the Public Procurement Regulations 2015 (PCR215) complements the rules of reg.51 PCR2015 on publication of notices and, this time, focuses on publication at national level. As Pedro has rightly stressed, the main aim of these rules, which transpose Article 52 of Directive 2014/24, is to ensure that publication at EU level comes first or, at least, takes precedence over publication at national level.
Reg.52(1) PCR2015 allows contracting authorities to additional publication of notices beyond the publication in the Official Journal of the European Union on the internet on a buyer profile, which in addition to the prior information notices (PINs) referred to in regulation 48(3)(b) PCR2015, may also include information on ongoing invitations to tender, scheduled purchases, contracts concluded, procedures cancelled; and any useful general information, such as a contact point, a telephone and a fax number, a postal address and an e-mail address [reg.52(2)]. These indications incorporate the content of Annex VIII of Dir 2014/24 into the main text of the regulations and facilitate access to these requirements.
Regs.52(3) to (5) PCR2015 control the timing and content of publication at national level and determine that, as a general rules, notices shall not be published at national level before they are published by the EU Publications Office [reg.52(3)]. However, publication may ake place at national level where contracting authorities have not been notified of the publication by the EU Publications Office within 48 hours after confirmation of the receipt of the notice in accordance with Article 51(5) of Dir 2014/24 [reg.52(4)]. Moreover, in order to ensure consistency and precedence of EU-wide publication, notices published at national level shall not contain information other than that contained in the notices sent to the EU Publications Office or published on a buyer profile, but shall indicate the date of sending of the notice to the EU Publications Office or its publication on the buyer profile [reg.52(5)].
Finally, reg. 52(6) PCR2015 establishes particular requirements for PINs, which if published on a buyer profile, may not be so published before the relevant notice is sent to the EU Publications Office; and shall indicate the date of that sending.