Want to sell to the EU government?

Soon, price alone may not be enough. Your product may also need to be “European enough.”

The European Commission has proposed a major overhaul of public procurement rules across the EU.

One of the most interesting changes: public authorities could be allowed to exclude bids with less than 50% European content by total value and, in strategic sectors, favour European suppliers. Countries that have procurement-access agreements with the EU would generally be protected by reciprocity rules.

This matters because EU public procurement is enormous — around €2.5 trillion a year, or roughly 15% of EU GDP.

The proposal also shifts tenders away from simply choosing the cheapest offer.

Contracts would generally need to use a best price-quality ratio, with quality accounting for at least 30% of the score, and authorities would be encouraged — or sometimes required — to consider things like supply-chain resilience, cybersecurity, strategic dependencies and foreign influence.

So for international suppliers, the question may increasingly become:

Can we sell in Europe?

and then:

Can we sell to Europe?

Those are two very different market-access questions.

Because entering a market is not always about obtaining permission to place a product on the shelf.

Sometimes access depends on where the value was created, how the supply chain is structured, and who the buyer is.

The proposal was published by the European Commission on September 9 and would replace the EU’s three existing procurement directives with a single regulation. It still has to go through the EU legislative process.

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