Under the impetus of the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, talks between Member States to draw up a European instrument on international public procurement continued at a sustained pace in the second half of 2019, but they are not yet close to conclusion, national experts meeting on Friday 6 December in the EU Council's Trade Policy Committee ('TPC') admitted.
Last March, in the context of debates on Sino-European relations (see EUROPE 12220/1), European leaders asked the EU Council to resume its work on an instrument whose main objective would be to serve as leverage for the EU to achieve greater reciprocity in the opening of public procurement in non-Member States - China, but also Russia and Indonesia (see EUROPE 10579/1).
The discussions at the EU Council were organized around four clusters: - credibility and effectiveness; - administrative burden for authorities and business; - structure of the investigation; - consultation process.
But, eight months after the Heads of State's call, and despite the Commission's hopes for a conclusion by the end of 2019, these talks are still far from being concluded, a European source noted.
The College of European Commissioners could also raise this issue at its meeting on Wednesday 11 December. (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)