Portugal Colonial - EU wants to edge out China in public contracts

The reform is part of efforts to favour European firms and boost the 27-country bloc's key industries against rivals in China and the United States.

The sums involved are huge: public procurement is worth 2.6 trillion euros ($3 trillion) a year in the EU, equivalent to 15 percent of the bloc's economic output.

Of that total, around 600 billion euros in public contracts are put out to tender across the 27-nation EU each year.

"Public procurement is both a strategic tool and a powerful policy lever at a time when China, India, the United States and other major powers are using it to advance their industrial and economic strategies," EU industry chief Stephane Sejourne told journalists.

The EU executive unveiled a proposal to reform current government procurement rules -- which it says will cut the number of pages of rules "from 900 to 200" -- and create a single European platform dedicated to public tenders.

Brussels believes the one-stop shop will make it easier for smaller companies to bid for public tenders as there will be less paperwork.

The reform will allow local authorities to focus on different criteria when assessing providers, like security of supply, sustainability and "European preference" considerations -- and not just the price on offer.

Companies often win contracts because they offer a more competitive price, but the EU wants to prioritise the wider benefit of a bid to the European economy.

Sejourne said many local authorities were not making use of the existing provisions which allow them to choose European companies over foreign firms.

"It will therefore be up to local authorities, national governments, municipalities and regions to set those criteria, apply them and choose to buy European or local products," he added.

As an example, Sejourne said that Brussels could no longer be blamed if local authorities opted for Chinese buses. "We are now giving them the means to favour European buses," he said.

S.Pimentel--PC