New t33 study explores the impact of EU Public Procurement rules on regions and cities

Written By Alessandro Valenza
Publishing 27 June 2025

The Committee of the Regions has commissioned t33 and Spatial Foresight to carry out the study “How EU public procurement rules affect regions and cities.”

As local and regional authorities (LRAs) are responsible for 45.2% of all public procurement expenditure in the EU, the study assesses the legal and operational environment in which they operate, with a focus on the challenges encountered in implementing public procurement processes.

In view of the European Commission’s intention to revise the EU procurement framework, the study aims to contribute to the ongoing policy debate. Rather than advocating for a comprehensive reform of the legislative framework, it identifies areas where targeted improvements could enhance the effectiveness of procurement practices. This is supported by the exploration of possible future scenarios for the evolution of public procurement and their implications for local and regional authorities and other key stakeholders.

Indeed, the EU public procurement framework is centred on the 2014 Public Procurement Directives (PPDs), namely Directives 2014/23/EU, 2014/24/EU and 2014/25/EU, which define the main principles, procedures, and governance rules for public procurement. However, the regulatory environment extends beyond these core directives to include approximately 50 sectoral regulations that impose additional obligations on contracting authorities. These often introduce further requirements on selection and award criteria, exclusion grounds, or qualitative standards, particularly in highly regulated sectors such as energy, health, construction and transport.

A key finding of the study is that the main difficulties experienced by LRAs arise not from the content of the directives themselves, but from the complexity and fragmentation of the broader regulatory framework and its implementation. National variations in the transposition of EU rules, including instances of "gold-plating", frequently hinder the consistent and effective application of the legislation.