EU MISSED BUSINESS ON GLOBAL PROCUREMENT MARKET

Some €352 billion of EU public procurement is open to bidders from 15 member countries of the WTO agreement on government procurement (Armenia (Pending), Canada, Hong Kong (China), Iceland, Israel, Japan, Korea, Liechtenstein, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland, Chinese Taipei and the U.S.). The value of U.S. procurement offered to foreign bidders is currently just €178 billion and €27 billion for Japan, whereas only a fraction of the Chinese public procurement market is open to foreign business.

Many third countries are reluctant to open their procurement markets to international competition or to open those markets further than what they have already done. Many countries have also adopted protectionist measures, especially in the wake of the economic crisis. All in all, more than half of the world’s procurement market is currently closed due to protectionist measures and this share is only growing. As a result, only €10 billion of EU exports (0.08% of EU GDP) currently find their way in global procurement markets, whereas an estimated €12 billion of further EU exports remains unrealised due to restrictions.