BusinessEurope welcomes the push for digitalisation and simplification in the newly published EU Public Procurement Act, and stresses that the focus must remain on improving the functioning and competitiveness of the public procurement market. Markus J. Beyrer, Director General of BusinessEurope, said:
"The push for digitalisation, better data collection and transparency is a positive step that has our backing. However, public procurement is not a cure-all for every strategic challenge facing Europe. Our focus must be on boosting competition and finally unlocking a properly functioning cross-border procurement market.
Public intervention via public contracts cannot and should not replace the main prerequisite for economic growth and resilience: the right business and regulatory environment.
Overloading the rules with secondary objectives risks reducing competition and increasing administrative complexity. The data tells a clear story. The European Court of Auditors recently warned that piling complexity onto public procurement is actively driving down market competition across the EU Single Market.
At the same time, the European Commission's own evaluation shows a steady rise in red tape-related costs: the total cost for public buyers and businesses just to run and bid on a single contract has climbed from €34,600 to €43,200. This shows what happens when procurement is treated as a policy catch-all: rather than solving strategic challenges, it layers on administrative burdens that ultimately turn bidders away.
We look forward to working with the EU institutions to ensure that the final rules deliver a competitive, accessible, and functioning European procurement landscape.”
