A draft of the European Commission’s long-awaited Public Procurement Act has been seen by several major outlets, including Reuters, Euronews, Bloomberg and MLex, offering the first detailed look at a reform that could reshape how public money is spent across the EU’s 27 member states.
What the leak confirms
The most significant confirmation is the choice of legislative instrument. Rather than a revised Directive, the form used for the current 2014 framework, the Commission is proposing a single Regulation that would replace the three existing procurement directives (2014/24/EU on the public sector, 2014/25/EU on utilities, and 2014/23/EU on concessions). Unlike a Directive, a Regulation applies directly in all member states without requiring national transposition, which would reduce the discretion countries currently have in how they apply EU procurement rules.
The proposal is still in draft form, is being reviewed internally by Commission departments, it will then need to go through the EU legislative process, involving negotiations and approval by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, before it can become law. Publication is now expected on 9 September 2026, having originally been penciled in for 1 July. No official reason has been given for the delay.
A shift toward “Buy European”
The draft introduces measures that stop short of a blanket “Buy European” requirement but would give contracting authorities new tools to favour EU-based suppliers. Under the proposal, authorities could reject bids for major contracts where less than 50% of the content originates in Europe, and could apply a European preference in strategic sectors, though this would not be mandatory. The draft frames public procurement, which the Commission estimates at roughly 14-15% of EU GDP (around €2.5 trillion annually), as a strategic economic tool rather than a purely administrative process.
Security and foreign interference
A second strand of the draft addresses economic security, contracting authorities would be able to assess whether a bidder’s ownership, control or financing structure poses a risk of foreign interference, and to consider whether a company is subject to third-country laws that could compel it to disclose sensitive information. According to Euronews, the sectors explicitly covered include energy, water, transport, postal services, and gas and oil extraction. The context includes rising concern in Brussels about data transfers to non-EU jurisdictions and dependence on foreign suppliers for critical materials and technology.
Moving away from lowest price
One of the most notable changes proposed in the draft is a stronger focus on value for money rather than cost alone. Contracts would be awarded on the basis of the “best price-quality ratio”, with quality criteria required to account for at least 30% of the overall evaluation score, rising to 50% for labour-intensive contracts.
This would represent a significant shift in approach. While the current EU procurement directives already allow contracting authorities to consider factors beyond price, including quality, sustainability and innovation, the draft would introduce clearer minimum requirements to ensure that non-price considerations play a central role in award decisions.
The change reflects a broader move towards using public procurement as a strategic tool, recognising that the lowest-cost offer does not always deliver the best outcome over the lifetime of a contract. Contracting authorities would be expected to give greater weight to factors such as service quality, technical performance, resilience, sustainability and long-term value when selecting suppliers.
Digital procurement infrastructure
The draft also proposes a more integrated digital framework for public procurement across the EU. It would introduce electronic business credentials to allow companies to reuse verified information when bidding across Member States, reducing administrative burdens, particularly for SMEs.
The proposal would also strengthen interoperability between national procurement platforms and develop national and EU-level procurement data spaces to improve transparency, cross-border access to opportunities, and the use of procurement data for market analysis, monitoring and strategic decision-making. For suppliers, the aim would be a more accessible European procurement market; for contracting authorities, a more connected and data-driven procurement system.
What this means for contracting authorities and suppliers
None of this is final as the Commission itself has indicated the text could still change before formal publication, and the subsequent legislative process, negotiation with the Parliament and Council, typically takes years before a Regulation of this scope enters into force. For public buyers and suppliers, however, the direction of travel is now clearer than it has been at any point since the reform was first announced: greater weight for quality and strategic criteria over price, closer scrutiny of foreign ownership and supply chains, and a more centralised, less nationally fragmented rulebook. Organisations that rely on public contracts across Europe would be well advised to start monitoring the September publication closely.
Background Reading and Additional Sources:
Reuters, “EU drafts ‘Buy European’ rules for public tenders to curb foreign dependence,” https://live.euronext.com/en/financial-news/eu-drafts-buy-european-rules-public-tenders-curb-foreign-dependence
Euronews, “Commission to tighten access to EU market as foreign interference concerns rise,” https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/07/09/commission-to-tighten-access-to-eu-market-as-foreign-interference-concerns-rise
MLex, “EU public-procurement revamp targets origin, green requirements in draft law,” https://www.mlex.com/mlex/trade/articles/2498952/eu-public-procurement-revamp-targets-origin-green-requirements-in-draft-law
Bloomberg, “Revamp of EU Public Procurement Rules Drives Made in Europe Push,” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2026-07-09/revamp-of-eu-public-procurement-rules-drives-made-in-europe-push
European Parliament, Legislative Train Schedule – Public Procurement Act https://www.europarl.europa.eu/legislative-train/theme-a-new-plan-for-europe-s-sustainable-prosperity-and-competitiveness/file-public-procurement-act
