Abstract

The EU directives on public procurement, both public authority awards and utility undertaking awards, have enabled the legislators of the Member States of the European Union to introduce registers of reliable contractors into their national legal systems. These reliable contractors guarantee performance bonds for their contracts. The conditions for participation in the system of reliable contractors are based on the principle of proportionality. This system facilitates the process of awarding public contracts, contributes to their professionalisation and helps eliminate mistakes made by contracting authorities due to improperly defined conditions of participation in the procedure. The article attempts to evaluate the implementation of EU regulations in Polish and Spanish public procurement law, in terms of regulating the registers and lists of reliable contractors. A comparative analysis of both legal systems in this respect was also carried out, proposing the transfer of proven Spanish legal solutions to the Polish public procurement system.