Public procurement and
competition law are both important fields of EU law and policy, intimately
intertwined in the creation of the internal market. Hitherto their close
connection has been noted, but not closely examined. This new work is the most
comprehensive attempt to date to explain the many ways in which these fields,
often considered independent of one another, interact and overlap in the
creation of the internal market. In this process of convergence between
competition and public procurement law , the need for this joint study is
clearly apparent. As such the book asks whether competition law principles
inform or condition public procurement rules, and whether they are adequate to
ensure that competition is not distorted in markets where public procurement is
particularly significant. The book moves away from the classical focus of public
procurement on the activities of private actors, developing instead an
analytical framework for the appraisal of the market behaviour of the public
buyer from a competition perspective. The analysis is both legal and economic.
Proceeding through a careful assessment of the general rules of competition and
public procurement, the book constantly tests the efficacy of the rules in
competition and public procurement against a standard of the proper functioning
of undistorted competition in the market for public procurement.
