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1. Contracts for the purchase or hiring of buildings or goods, for the provision of services or for the performance of construction work shall be in writing. Apart from contracts relating to the purchase of a building already constructed or to the leasing of a building, all such contracts shall be concluded after an invitation to tender has been issued either by the automatic public tendering procedure or the discretionary tendering procedure. However, contracts may be made by private treaty in the circumstances referred to in Article 46. Contracts may be made against invoice or bill of costs in cases provided for in Article 50.

2. Invitations to competitive tender shall, as a general rule, be published in all the Member States, and, where appropriate, in non-member countries, in so far as this is compatible with the development of the relevant industries in the Communities. However, the distribution of such invitations to tender may be restricted, where the scale or nature of the goods or services is such that they are not appropriate for a general invitation to competitive tender.