Part 1: Swedish procurement roundup 2025 – legal changes and ongoing inquiries

The time has finally come for Tendium to present the mini-series "Swedish Procurement Roundup", where we gather the latest in procurement law. The first part covers new procurement rules to keep track of, including the status of ongoing inquiries/commissions. In the second part of Procurement Roundup you'll find a review of interesting case law that has emerged during the year so far. And don't worry – you don't need to be a lawyer to understand the content.

New procurement rules 2025

Clear answers directly in the Swedish Public Procurement Act (LOU)

In brief: the law now states that EU procurement rules can also be used as grounds for a review or a damages claim.

As of 1 July 2025, the procurement rules got clearer answers. The law clarifies that EU rules, not just Swedish rules, can be used as grounds for review and claims for damages. This follows from LOU through the following wording:

• Review: If the contracting authority has breached any provision of this Act or any EU-law provision on procurement, and this has caused the supplier to suffer or risk suffering damage, the court shall decide that the procurement must be redone or may only be concluded once a correction has been made (Chapter 20, Section 6 LOU).

• Damages: A contracting authority that has not complied with the provisions of this Act or EU-law provisions on procurement shall compensate the resulting damage suffered by a supplier (Chapter 20, Section 20 LOU).

What are the consequences of the change?

Previously it was unclear whether reviews and damages claims could be based directly on the EU's procurement rules. Now it has been established that they can. However, the changes don't carry any direct consequences since EU rules are already directly applicable. In other words, the clarification doesn't create any new obligations for contracting authorities.

From the suppliers' side, the changes mainly mean better access to remedies. In general, the change ensures that Sweden actually lives up to its EU obligations. A possible consequence could be an increase in the number of review cases in the courts, which in turn could affect the number of damages cases, though this should decrease over time.

Note: the change only applies to EU rules connected to the procurement process. It does not cover other EU rules, such as GDPR.

Ongoing inquiries 2025

How to stop non-genuine bids

In brief: the Swedish Competition Authority (KKV) has proposed changes that make it easier to disregard abnormally low tenders. Among other things, a rule on mandatory review of tenders more than 30% below the average price has been presented. KKV will present a proposal later this autumn, on 30 November, for an effective method of assessing suppliers' quality level (for example through scoring).

The commission comes from the government and aims to prevent non-genuine and criminal actors from winning public contracts. The inquiry is partly complete – at least the part on abnormally low tenders – which was reported on 30 September.

Why does the inquiry matter?

The problems this aims to avoid include: low-priced tenders being compensated for through later overbilling, ultimately meaning high costs for contracting authorities; suppliers using labour without proper permits and with poor working conditions; and competition on lowest price instead of quality.

Always review tenders more than 30% below the average price

In the report "Proposal to facilitate the handling of abnormally low tenders that are not genuinely intended," the Swedish Competition Authority proposes:

• Introducing an "auxiliary rule" in LOU meaning tenders more than 30% below the average price must always be reviewed;

• The court reviewing a procurement should only consider the explanations behind the abnormally low tender that the supplier has previously submitted – no new explanations during the review process except in exceptional cases;

• Clearer rules on who is responsible for proving a tender's credibility;

• Contracting authorities becoming obliged to reject abnormally low tenders in parts of LOU where this was previously not mandatory;

• The government taking appropriate measures to strengthen contracting authorities' contract follow-up; and

• The Procurement Agency being tasked with developing practical support regarding abnormally low tenders.

These changes are proposed to take effect on 1 July 2026.

The European Commission is evaluating the regulatory framework

In brief: the EU's procurement legislation is being evaluated by the Commission, with the intention of presenting a revised framework by the end of 2026.

There has been talk of a "lost decade" for public procurement, partly due to widespread lack of competition. Since late 2024 the European Commission has been evaluating the EU's procurement rules (the directives). The directives were adopted by the EU over ten years ago – in 2014 – and form the basis of Swedish procurement legislation. The intention is to propose a revised framework by the end of next year.

As part of the inquiry, Sweden has presented its positions, and Minister for Civil Affairs Erik Slottner has, among other things, raised the following points:

• The rules must be simplified, made more flexible, and reduced in scope;

• The rules must support more business-oriented procurement;

• The rules must create conditions for healthy competition and counter corruption;

• The rules must safeguard national security and keep criminal actors out; and

• The rules should allow more room for negotiation.

It should be acceptable to exclude suppliers from outside the EU

In brief: an inquiry is underway into how Swedish procurement laws can better align with EU law and how contracting authorities can exclude suppliers from third countries (suppliers outside the EU and countries without a free-trade agreement with the EU).

The purpose of the inquiry is to ensure procurement laws comply with the requirements that follow from EU law, and to make it possible to exclude suppliers of a certain nationality from procurements. The commission is due to be reported on 2 December.

The background is that Sweden has likely implemented certain EU rules incorrectly, meaning the procurement laws need to change. Swedish rules currently make no distinction between suppliers from the EU/countries with free-trade agreements and suppliers from countries without such agreements. Under EU law, only EU suppliers and countries with free-trade agreements have such rights, which has been established in two EU rulings you can read more about in Part 2 of this mini-series.