European Commission Proposes New Public Procurement Act to Simplify Rules and Strengthen European P…
The European Commission proposed a new Public Procurement Act consolidating three existing procurement directives and procurement provisions scattered across sectoral legislation into a single directly applicable regulation, aiming to simplify rules, cut administrative burden and increase legal certainty. EU public procurement spending is about €2.6 trillion a year, around 15% of GDP. The proposal is expected to deliver annual administrative savings of €650 million, including €80 million for public buyers and €570 million for economic operators. The Best Price-Quality Ratio would become the standard award method, with quality criteria weighted at least 30%, or 50% for labour-intensive contr…
Impact and considerations
The procurement rule reform affects companies bidding for EU public projects, including travel, transport and infrastructure suppliers, and the European preference framework could change market access conditions for third-country firms.
Key points
- The European Commission proposed a new Public Procurement Act consolidating three existing procurement directives and sectoral procurement provisions into a single directly applicable regulation.
- EU public procurement spending is about €2.6 trillion a year, around 15% of GDP.
- The proposal is expected to deliver annual administrative savings of €650 million, including €80 million for public buyers and €570 million for economic operators.
- The Best Price-Quality Ratio would become the standard award method, with quality criteria weighted at least 30%, or 50% for labour-intensive contracts.
- The proposal plans a Europe-wide Digital Marketplace linking Member States' eProcurement platforms and applying a once-only principle.
- The proposal introduces a European preference framework clarifying which operators and products are covered by EU international procurement commitments, allowing buyers to exclude offers from non-covered third countries.
- The proposed regulation will be negotiated by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union before adoption and entry into force.
Sources and time
- Primary source
- European Commission
- Other sources
- 0
- First source publication
- 9 Sept 2026, 06:00
- Page published
- 12 Sept 2026, 00:17
- Last updated
- 9 Sept 2026, 06:00
- Original links
- European Commission Press Corner：Questions and answers on the EU Public Procurement Act (opens in a new tab)Primary source · en · Published 9 Sept 2026, 06:00