BusinessEurope urges for progress on public procurement in TTIP

On July 16th at the stakeholder event organised during the TTIP 6th round of negotiations, BusinessEurope asked for progress to be made on public procurement. Stressing the importance of maintaining a high level of ambition, BusinessEurope called the negotiators to go further than the existing WTO Government Procurement Agreement and seek to obtain improved commitments both at federal, state and public entities level. The agreement is also a golden opportunity to improve transparency and predictability in the procedures improving the conditions, in particular for SMEs, to be applied to public tenders. The main objective for EU business is to ensure that EU operators are treated similarly as US ones, being able to bid for public contracts without fears of being discriminated. Ultimately, this will contribute to a more rational and efficient use of public resources allowing also a wider choice of goods and services.