This paper analyzes the rules and administrative practice concerning the selection, weighting and application of award criteria in public procurement procedures under Spanish law. It also touches upon the issue of challenges against award decisions, and the screening of abnormally low bids after...

This revised foreword to a special issue of e-competitions explores the EU competition law implications of public procurement activities. More specifically, it tries to highlight how bid rigging seems pervasive in the public procurement setting despite increased enforcement efforts (a situation...

The development of a more competition-oriented public procurement system is possible, on the basis of the principle of competition that is embedded in the EC public procurement Directives. This paper explores the existence of the principle of competition, roughly delimits its scope, and broadly...

On February 7, 2011, the Spanish National Competition Authority (Comisión Nacional de la Competencia, CNC) published its Guide on Public Procurement and Competition with the goal of offering practical recommendations that contribute to the promotion of effective competition in public...

Competition is the best means to ensure efficient allocation of resources. Hence, the achievement of value for money depends crucially on the development of public procurement activities in highly competitive markets. However, public procurement can generate significant (negative) effects on...

Procurement activities conducted by the public buyer are very relevant for the proper working of the markets. Hence, the market activities of the public buyer should comply with the requirements of competition law - ie should not restrict or distort competitive outcomes derived from free market...

This paper offers some reflections on the position advanced by the EFTA Court that a simple breach of EU public procurement law is in itself sufficient to trigger the contracting authority's liability in damages (Fosen-Linjen). I argue that this position is flawed because it deviates from...

In this short paper, I reflect on the way in which digitalisation can foster more sustainable procurement in the EU context. I stress the sine qua non importance of building an enabling data architecture and point at areas for further research

This paper assesses the risks, rationale and justification for the rules on centralisation and aggregation of public procurement in Directive 2014/24. The paper explores the justifications advanced for the aggregation of purchasing and the countervailing risks it generates. In both cases, it...

This chapter takes a comparative view on the rules applicable to the exclusion of economic operators from public procurement procedures covered by the EU rules. It focuses on seven Member States (France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Spain and the United Kingdom) and in their law,...