After concluding in January that China was discriminating against European medical devices in its public procurement contracts (see EUROPE 13557/7), the European Commission has proposed a number of response measures. Under the International Public Procurement (IPP) Regulation, the European Commission can retaliate when a third country restricts access for European companies to its public procurement. It therefore submitted an implementing regulation to the Member States on Monday 2 June, detailing the measures to be taken to rebalance the situation between the EU and China under the comitology procedure.
The European Commission would like to exclude the majority of Chinese candidates from public procurement contracts that are worth more than €5 million in the field of medical equipment, a European source has confirmed. The EU27 have given the green light to this measure, which must now be approved by the college of Commissioners in the coming weeks.
Discussions with China to try and find an amicable solution have not been successful, leading the Commission to take the strongest measure possible. The IPP regulation also provides for the possibility of adjusting the score of Chinese applicants so that they are less attractive than their competitors.
For the Chinese Chamber of Commerce to the EU, the use of the IPP “sends a troubling signal - not only adding new complexity to China-EU economic and trade relations, but also contradicting the EU’s stated principles of openness, fairness and non-discriminatory market access”. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)