EU unveils ‘buy European’ public procurement rules to counter China

The European Commission unveiled a sweeping overhaul of EU public‑procurement rules on Wednesday, urging national authorities and public bodies such as schools and hospitals to give preference to goods and services made in Europe. The draft legislation, presented by industrial‑policy chief Stéphane Séjourné, does not impose binding “made‑in‑Europe” quotas but requires purchasers to place a minimum 30 % weighting on quality – including environmental sustainability and local supply chains – when awarding contracts, and a 50 % weighting for labour‑intensive contracts to ensure decent jobs. By shifting emphasis away from the lowest‑price criterion, the proposal aims to give buyers greater legal certainty to favor European bids and to reject offers from countries that lack public‑procurement agreements or do not adhere to international rules.

Public procurement accounts for roughly 15 % of the EU’s GDP, about €2.6 trillion a year, making it a powerful lever that Brussels believes has been underused compared to the United States and China. Officials argue that existing rules are often interpreted as obliging buyers to select the cheapest offer, which can channel funds to non‑European firms. The new framework seeks to embed quality, sustainability and supply‑chain resilience into tender criteria, thereby countering what the Commission sees as China’s economic influence. Recent actions, such as blocking a Chinese rolling‑stock company from a Lisbon metro project and probing the Chinese security firm Nuctech for alleged subsidies, illustrate the broader strategy of limiting unfair competitive advantages from state‑backed foreign enterprises.

The draft regulation, which also proposes to merge three existing procurement laws into a single text, must still be approved by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers and is expected to be amended during the legislative process. Séjourné highlighted that the rules are intended to foster democratic scrutiny of public spending and to make “Buy European” a matter of public discourse rather than a bureaucratic mandate. While the plan has raised concerns in the United Kingdom, the Commission stresses that existing UK‑EU agreements on public procurement will preserve reciprocal market access, and non‑EU nations with similar accords are not expected to face new barriers. An online tool will help buyers identify which countries are covered by EU free‑trade agreements and the World Trade Organization’s Government Procurement Agreement, a framework that excludes mainland China, reinforcing the EU’s broader shift toward strategic autonomy in its supply chains.

⚡ Effects Interpreter