Centralised procurement in the Netherlands: a mixture of procurement autonomy, decentralisation and diversified collaborative purchasing

This chapter explains and discusses the legal framework for CPBs in the Netherlands, and provides insights into how Dutch contracting authorities procure goods, services and works together. Despite early national examples, the Dutch landscape of CPBs is still heavily decentralized, non-obligatory, and diverse in terms of how integrated purchasing activities are. A strong emphasis on the procurement autonomy of each contracting authority exists and is visible in the legislative framework of the Dutch Public Procurement Act 2012 and the Proportionality Guide based on which CPBs appear to use most of the granted legal discretion to purchase collectively in various ways.