Brussels weighs quotas, local content rules and other ways to favour EU products
The European Commission is set to unveil new public procurement rules, but a question that has long flummoxed economic policymakers in Brussels remains: Should Europe prioritise buying European, and if so, how?
It’s a debate that gets to the heart of where Europe – a bloc built on tearing down barriers to trade – wants to position itself in a world where superpowers increasingly rebuild them.
Currently, the debate seems to be swinging in favour of what’s known as a “European preference.”
“Everyone has become more French,” Zach Meyers from the Brussels-based think tank the Centre on Regulation in Europe (CERRE) told Euractiv, referring to France’s longstanding position in favour of buying European.
