Public Procurement: A 2014 Updated Overview of EU and National Case Law
Forthcoming 2nd edn at e-Competitions (2014) (1st edn: e-Competitions: National Competition Laws Bulletin, No. 40647, December 8, 2011).
15 Pages Posted: 5 Dec 2011 Last revised: 31 Mar 2014
Date Written: March 31, 2014
Abstract
This revised foreword to a special issue of e-competitions explores the EU competition law implications of public procurement activities. More specifically, it tries to highlight how bid rigging seems pervasive in the public procurement setting despite increased enforcement efforts (a situation that should come as no surprise to economists) (Part I), how there are very significant limitations and almost absolute difficulties in curving the market behavior of power public buyers (Part II) and how other issues, such as the treatment of mergers or State aid in public procurement markets may require more refined analyses than those applied so far (Part III). References to EU and national case law are used to color the depiction of the current situation in the enforcement of EU competition law in the public procurement setting, but the selection of cases or jurisdictions considered does not attempt to be exhaustive. This second edition is updated to the content of Directive 2014/24 on public procurement and includes some recent cases in selected jurisdictions.
Keywords: public procurement, competition law, state aid, bid rigging, comparative review
JEL Classification: K21, K23
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation