The public procurement market in the EU is huge. Every year more than a quarter of a million public institutions and authorities in the EU spend around 14% of GNP on acquiring services, construction works and goods of all kinds.

This is an important channel for public spending and provides a market for goods, services and construction works from both domestic and foreign companies.

In recent months, EU member states have stepped up their efforts to implement new procurement directives:

Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement (known as the 'classic directive'), Directive 2014/25/EU on procurement by entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors (the 'sector specific directive'), and Directive 2014/23/EU on the award of concession contracts. To give you a clear picture of the various public procurement markets in the EU, we provide brief overviews of the legal systems in the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain and England, Wales & Northern Ireland. For each country, we answer four questions:

  • Have the said Directives been implemented into the local legal system and if so, when?
  • Which pieces of legislation regulate public procurement in those countries?
  • What thresholds trigger public procurement procedures and where to look for invitations to tender, both in EU tenders and those 'below the EU thresholds'?
  • What legal protection can contractors expect in public procurement procedures?

The publication can be downloaded here.

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