Survey on barriers in public procurement for EU companies when competing in non-EU markets
What are the barriers in public procurement for EU companies when competing in non-EU markets?
This was the topic of an open survey that the European Investment Bank (EIB) conducted earlier this year as part of ongoing efforts to promote a level playing field for competition on EU- and/or EIB-financed in the non-EU market. EIC has promoted the survey via its Member Federations with European international contractors.
Now the “EU Bank” has published the results of its survey on its website. A large majority of the ore than 100 respondent companies (contractors, suppliers and consultancies) affirmed an interest in competing for procurement contracts outside the European Union. It appears that the three most significant barriers to procurement participation are:
Competing against abnormally low tenders
Delayed payments
Unfair risk allocation in contracts
When identifying reasons for not participating in or winning procurement contracts outside the EU, respondents mostly referred to the lowest price mantra, which does not consider quality weightings, and complex and restrictive tender requirements.
Asked about potential remedies to introduce higher procurement standards, more than 80% of respondents perceive non-EU markets as open to a certain extent to innovative technologies, and high-quality solutions.
Overall, the results of the EIB survey shed some light on a key part of the efforts to be undertaken in strengthening EU competitiveness and international cooperation.
Link to the EIB News article: https://www.eib.org/files/procurement/project-procurement-survey-results-2025.pdf