xii N OT E O N P R O P O S E D NEw EU PROCUREMENT RU L E S n December 2011, as this edition was going to press, the European Commission published proposals for new directives intended to simplify and streamline its procurement rules and replace the current directives on public and utilities procurements referred to in Chapter 2. These proposals have now entered the EU legislative process. The Commission hopes they can be adopted by the end of 2012 and come into force in EU Member States by June 2014. Until that date the rules outlined in Chapter 2 will continue to apply. The principal changes in the new proposals include: I abandoning the distinction between Part A and Part B services,