With a time of overlapping crises, climate breakdown, energy volatility, geopolitical fragmentation, procurement has shifted from a back-office transaction to a critical lever of national strategy. And centralisation is quietly becoming its most powerful expression.
Across Europe and beyond, governments are realising that fragmented procurement models not only waste public money but also dilute the strategic impact of state spending. By contrast, centralised procurement, when structured well, delivers economies of scale, accelerates digital transformation, embeds social and environmental goals, and enhances supply chain resilience.
This article explores how centralised procurement is reshaping public buying, from Italy’s €650 million e-bus megatender to Ireland’s Office of Government Procurement (OGP), while analysing broader trends across the UK, France and the EU single market.
Why Centralise? From Transaction to Strategy
At its core, centralised procurement aggregates demand across government departments or local authorities, allowing states to:
Align purchasing with policy (green, social, innovation, etc.)
Negotiate better pricing via economies of scale
Reduce duplication in sourcing efforts
Improve transparency and control over public expenditure
Yet it’s not only about saving money. Increasingly, procurement is the delivery arm of policy. Climate targets, local economic development, digitalization, these are all affected by what the state chooses to buy and how.
As the OECD notes, “public procurement is the single largest area of government spending, accounting for 12–15% of GDP in OECD countries” (OECD, 2023).
Through these systems, Italy has driven forward sustainable transport under its National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), while offering regional authorities access to streamlined, standardised purchasing routes.
Consip’s approach shows how centralisation enables complex, policy-driven procurements, like e-mobility and hydrogen-ready fleets, without overwhelming individual municipalities.
Case Study: Italy’s Consip and the Strategic Tender
Italy’s Consip, a public joint-stock company owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, operates as the national central purchasing body. Its mandate includes:
High-volume strategic procurements, like the recent €650 million electric bus framework launched in July 2025 for 600 zero-emission vehicles
National framework agreements and dynamic purchasing systems
Public e-marketplace (MePA)
Ireland: Quietly Scaling Its Procurement Muscles
Ireland, while smaller in scale, has invested heavily in centralisation via the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) since its establishment in 2014. OGP now manages over 130 national frameworks and centralised contracts, covering areas from ICT to facilities to professional services.
Recent examples include:
- Multi-supplier frameworks for low- and zero-emission buses, under the NTA
- Centralised energy procurement in Ireland plays a key role in eliminating price differentiation across public bodies. By consolidating demand, it prevents smaller users from being overcharged or treated like SMEs, while still offering a beneficial framework for larger buyers.
- National eTenders platform undergoing digital upgrade aligned with EU Regulation 2019/1780 (DPER, 2023)
While Irish procurement retains some decentralised activity, especially in local authorities and health, it is moving steadily toward more joined-up approaches, particularly in ICT, sustainability and facilities management.
France, the UK, and the European Picture
France
Centralisation in France is largely orchestrated by UGAP (Union des Groupements d’Achats Publics), which functions similarly to Italy’s Consip. UGAP frameworks range from vehicles to IT to medical equipment, and it leverages the Chorus Pro system for invoice and procurement integration.
Crucially, French centralisation is also used to drive industrial policy, with strong emphasis on sourcing from domestic SMEs and supporting green tech.
United Kingdom
Post-Brexit, the UK has moved to reshape its procurement regime under the Procurement Act 2023, due to be fully operational by October 2024. The Act includes stronger powers for centralised buying, allowing entities like Crown Commercial Service (CCS) to manage national frameworks.
The UK is also experimenting with “open frameworks” and “competitive flexible contracts” to allow central buyers to continuously adapt to market changes, a more agile form of centralisation (Cabinet Office, 2024).
EU Trends
At EU level, Directive 2014/24/EU allows, but doesn’t require, central purchasing bodies. The European Commission has increasingly encouraged cross-border and joint procurement, especially in sectors like defence, health (e.g. PPE), and digital tools.
Still, the degree of uptake varies greatly. According to a 2022 report by the European Parliament, only 12% of all public contracts across the EU are centrally procured, a figure expected to rise with digitalisation and ESG pressure.
Risks
Centralised procurement is not without its critics. Common concerns include:
- Over-standardisation that excludes local suppliers or stifles innovation
- Procurement bottlenecks due to single points of failure or bureaucracy
- Reduced autonomy for local authorities with urgent or context-specific needs
The key lies in balance: combining the efficiency of national frameworks with optionality and flexibility at local level.
Frameworks can be multi-lot, SME-friendly, and performance-driven to address these tensions. Ireland, for instance, uses dynamic purchasing systems and multi-operator frameworks to keep competition open.
Procurement as a Policy Engine
Centralised procurement is no longer just about cost savings, it is now the policy engine of national transformation. Whether buying electric buses, retrofitting buildings, or digitising infrastructure, what and how governments buy matters.
Italy’s Consip, Ireland’s OGP, France’s UGAP, and the UK’s CCS all illustrate different models of maturity, scale and political intent, but they share a common vision: using procurement to shape markets, not just react to them.
As the EU sharpens its climate targets, and global supply chains remain volatile, the importance of strategic, centralised procurement will only grow. Procurement professionals across Europe must now ask not just how to buy, but why, and for whom.
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Source:
Droit des marchés publics : les principales évolutions –https://www.economie.gouv.fr/cedef/fiches-pratiques/droit-des-marches-publics-les-principales-evolutions
