The Covid-19 crisis as critical juncture for EU's policy on public procurement

This article investigates whether the Covid-19 crisis constitutes a critical juncture for the EU’s policy on public procurement. In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the European Commission released new guidance for public buyers to purchase medical supplies and personal protective equipment. However, these new guidelines have the potential of both strengthening and undermining the already established EU’s policies on public procurement and their application in the EU member states. While the aim behind the new guidelines is to ensure more flexible procurement solutions, they also have the potential of increasing political corruption by accelerating procurement procedures and by a lack of transparency due to the introduction of negotiated procedures without prior publication. Moreover, there is a risk of increased waste of taxpayer's money to overpriced equipment or substandard services. By analysing the EU’s public procurement regime through the lenses of historical institutionalism, I argue that the Covid-19 crisis and the EU’s response to it have built a turning point in the EU policy on public procurement and, in particular, its application. The driving forces for this critical juncture were the questioning of legitimacy and the increased politicisation of the EU coupled with the capability of the European Commission to act as a policy entrepreneur. This, in turn, may substantially alter the application of public procurement rules in Europe.