Regulatory governance of public procurement in the EU

Abstract

State’s procurement is one of the major strategic instruments that states have ever had. In many sectors such as energy, transport, waste management, social protection and the provision of health or education services, public authorities are the principal buyers in EU member states. Operating under EU public procurement legislation they spend around 14% of GDP (around €2 trillion per year) on the purchase of services, works and supplies. With such leverage, procurement is a powerful policy instrument and an important entry point into understanding trends and transformations of EU regulatory governance. The panel combines theoretical and empirical papers on Eu public procurement regulation that contribute to three sets of questions. Firstly, we are interested in governance patterns and regimes in EU public procurement. What are instruments and actors, conflict structures and interaction modes? Secondly, we seek to understand the development of EU public procurement policy regarding legislation and supervision as well as cooperation between member states. Is public procurement becoming more uniform, centralized, and supranationalised? Does EU soft law in the area lead to a situation where member states can opt in or out of EU rules and policies? Do developments in the field from market regulation and competition to social and environmental protection still leave space for the accommodation of national diversity? Thirdly, we look at outcomes in specific sectors and over time. How far has the EU been able to balance or combine economic and non-economic aims in regulating public procurement working towards a Single Market that is more innovative, resource and energy efficient, and socially-inclusive? How does public procurement in the EU fare in terms of problem-solving capacity, effectiveness and legitimacy?

Title	Details
Emerging Challenges to Public Procurement: Covid 19 and Regulatory Approaches to Public Contracting in the EU, United Kingdom and France	View Paper Details
How States Procure? A framework to analyse Governance of Public Procurement and its Strategic Challenges across Countries and Sectors	View Paper Details
Regulating for decent work in the public supply chain: Experimentation under contradictory trends	View Paper Details
The Covid-19 crisis as critical juncture for EU's policy on public procurement	View Paper Details
This investment is mine. Domestic state-industry relations and European Investment Screening Mechanisms	View Paper Details