EU Inks New Regulation to Help Alleviate Concerns Over Access to Public Procurement Markets
The European Commission announced a new agreement with the Parliament and Council to help the EU negotiate better terms in non-EU public procurement markets for EU businesses. The International Procurement Instrument will permit the EU to start investigations where procurement restrictions have been alleged, undertake consultations with the accused country and restrict access to the EU procurement market as a reciprocal measure, if needed, the commission said March 15. These restrictions would take the form of adjustments for tenders from the country in question or by excluding certain tenders from the country in question, it said.
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“A level playing field is vital for the competitiveness of our companies," EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said. "While the EU has kept its public procurement market open, the same cannot be said for many third countries, where our companies still face unfair barriers. We continue to favour dialogue to resolve such issues. But in the final instance, this new instrument will give us extra leverage to remove these barriers and promote fair competition for the benefit of all.”