The troubled journey of emergency public procurement

Abstract

Public procurement is an effective tool at the service of Public Administrations to meet the needs of the general public interest, especially those produced by an emergency. In order to respond to these unpredictable situations in an agile and rapid way, an exceptional emergency legal regime is contemplated that, contrary to long administrative procedures and in search of immediacy, dispenses with the need to abide by certain formalities set forth in the law. This paper aims to carry out a brief historical-legal review of this regime, its evolution, content and characteristics, and whose analysis can help us better understand its current and future scope and utility.

Keywords:

Emergency procurement, public needs, legislative evolution, COVID-19, alarm state