Openness of public procurement markets in key third countries

Please note: Each EPRS Study is assigned a DOI (digital object identifier), which is a safe and long term way of ensuring a hyperlink to the full text of this report. However, when ESO creates this record, on occasion the DOI still has not been activated by the EU Bookshop. If you find the source url hyperlink does not work please use the alternative location hyperlink listed as a related url.This report assesses the openness of public procurement markets in key third countries of interest to the EU. It provides a comparative overview of the regulatory and market access characteristics of the US, Brazil, India, China, Japans’ procurement markets, with reference to the procurement regulation and enforcement within the EU.

The report assesses the available data on both the de jure and de facto levels of openness of these markets to put forward some conclusions of value to policy making both within the EU and in its trading relations with key third countries.

This assessment concludes that the lack of comprehensive comparable data on procurement contract awards, particularly at the sub-central level, is not a trivial challenge for policy makers. Nevertheless, it is evident that the liberalisation of procurement markets continues to take place on a strictly reciprocal basis – linked to the offensive interests of governments.

Given the slow-down in negotiating mega-regional agreements with comprehensive procurement chapters, the WTO Government Procurement Agreement remains the most efficient and transparent forum for undertaking further liberalisation in public procurement.

European Parliament: European Parliamentary Research Service: Study, July 2017: Openness of public procurement markets in key third countries http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2017/603840/EXPO_STU(2017)603840_EN.pdf

WTO: Trade Topics: Government procurement: Agreement on Government Procurement https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/gproc_e/gp_gpa_e.htm

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