The Single Market Act was adopted in April 2011 in order to boost the European economy in the wake of the financial crisis.
Reform of public procurement legislation has been identified as one of the 12 priority actions in the Single Market Act to generate growth and employment. The consultation process conducted by the Commission on the Green Paper on modernisation of EU public procurement legislation has revealed that the Directives on EU public procurement have improved the quality of procurement outcomes, reduced costs by approximately 4% and generated savings reaching €20 billion.
Simplification, streamlining procedures, improving market access notably for SMEs and fostering innovation have emerged from the consultation as being the main objectives of reform strongly supported by the stakeholders. The Commission will draw on the insights obtained from stakeholder consultation, to prepare its legislative proposals before the end of 2011.
