How EU public procurement rules affect regions and cities

The EU's public procurement rules are currently spread over a vast number of directives and regulations. Central are the so called 2014 Directives. Over the years, various other directives, and regulations, have entered into force which also contain a number of specific rules on public procurement. Especially during the 2019-2024 term, the number of pieces of legislation comprising public procurement rules has increased. Public procurement has become an important policy tool to achieve the objectives of the Green Deal, the Fit for 55 package, crisis management and -preparedness and the digital transition. The Commission has announced a revision proposal of the 2014 Directives to help ensure security of supply for certain vital technologies, products and services, while simplifying the rules and reducing administrative burden. Its aim will also be to enable preference for European products in public procurement for certain strategic sectors and technologies. An evaluation of the 2024 Directives is already ongoing. Public procurement is of utmost importance to local and regional authorities and they represent an important part of contracting authorities. The CoR sees an opportunity to contribute to the evaluation of the existing EU public procurement rules in the lead-up to the actual revision. The scope of the study is to map the public procurement rules that are relevant to local and regional authorities and to establish how they affect them now and in the future