The relationship between public procurement and State aid control rules had been controversial for a long time. However, a growing academic consensus and, more significantly, the official position of the European Commission, ruled out that the award of a public contract can amount to the grant...

This chapter assesses the use of public procurement to enforce labour standards from a competition and State aid perspective, and concentrates on the establishment of contract compliance clauses under the rules of Article 26 of Directive 2004/18/EC and Article 70 of Directive 2014/24/EU and in...

One of the criticisms against the new rules applicable to the granting of State aid to finance the provision of services of general economic interest in the "Almunia package" is that enforcement is likely to be their weakest point. Similarly, in the more general setting of the "private"...

This paper assesses the risks, rationale and justification for the rules on centralisation and aggregation of public procurement in Directive 2014/24. The paper explores the justifications advanced for the aggregation of purchasing and the countervailing risks it generates. In both cases, it...

This paper focuses on the promotion of R&D&I through state intervention in the economy, specifically by using public procurement and State aid. Innovation is widely recognised as being the key driver of economic growth alongside research and development. As the largest EU Research and Innovation...

This paper aims to assess the likelihood that State aid enforcement can be revitalised in the post-crisis period as a result of the 2012-2014 State aid modernisation process (SAM). The paper takes the view that State aid enforcement was left in a difficult impasse as a result of the...

This Chapter continues unpacking the gatekeeping role assigned to the procurement function in the context of public sector digitalisation. After the analysis of procurement as a regulatory actor in https://ssrn.com/abstract=4351555, the focus is now put on the procedural and substantive...

In recent years, several U.S. government agencies have pioneered the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies to improve the efficiency and accuracy of their 'responsibility determinations' (reviews of, among other things, contractor representations and certifications,...

This current initiative to reform public procurement after Brexit raises the question of how to deal with exclusions (debarment) in the UK legal system. This area has received little attention in the past but Brexit offers both more legal flexibility and a political opportunity to address the...

In this short paper, I reflect on the way in which digitalisation can foster more sustainable procurement in the EU context. I stress the sine qua non importance of building an enabling data architecture and point at areas for further research