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The EU simplifies public procurement and promotes "Buy European"
Economy
On Wednesday, the European Commission unveiled new rules to establish a unified public procurement platform within the EU.
The initiative aims to cut red tape and empower governments to reject bids that fail to meet requirements regarding the share of European content.
The proposal is part of the Commission's broad efforts to strengthen the single market, enhance supply chain security and resilience, and address concerns about industrial decline raised by former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta.
Public procurement accounts for approximately 15% of the European Union's gross domestic product, with the volume reaching around €2.5 trillion ($2.91 trillion) in 2025. Critics, including Draghi and Letta, have pointed out that the bloc is not fully leveraging public procurement to realize its collective potential.
Currently, companies must navigate a maze of complex templates, language barriers, and overlapping requirements across the bloc's 27 jurisdictions—ranging from the federal to the regional level.
The new rules will streamline the tendering process and make it more difficult to award contracts based solely on price. This shift is designed to counter dumping by Chinese companies that may benefit from state subsidies.
"This is a radical simplification: we are moving from three directives to a single regulation," Commission Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné told reporters.
"We believe that part of the economic response and the transformation of Europe's economic model lies in the internal market and its strengthening... It is a strategic lever at a time when China, India, the United States, and all major powers are actively using it in their industrial and economic strategies," Séjourné added. The regulation will replace three existing EU directives on public procurement, reducing member states' discretion in applying the rules. The new standards will cover all sectors except defense.
Public authorities will be encouraged—and in some cases required—to consider risks related to critical infrastructure, cybersecurity, supply chain disruptions, strategic dependencies, and foreign influence when awarding contracts.
Contracts must be awarded based on the "best price-quality ratio": quality criteria must account for at least 30% of the total evaluation, or at least 50% for labor-intensive contracts.
The measures do not mandate an unconditional "Buy European" policy; however, they will allow European public authorities to reject bids for public contracts where the European content accounts for less than 50% of the total value, restrict access to EU-based operators only, and prioritize European companies in strategic sectors. Countries with which the EU has trade agreements and reciprocal public procurement arrangements will not be excluded.
A new pan-European digital procurement system will incorporate electronic business credentials, rules for platform interoperability, and both national and EU-wide procurement data spaces designed to enhance transparency, oversight, and cross-border access to contracts.
"This is a very simple solution for businesses and SMEs alike: a single registration on the platform suffices, replacing the need to register separately for every tender they wish to pursue," Séjourné emphasized.