Press Release: Public procurement: new Commission guidelines on defence contracts

The European Commission has provided Member States with guidelines on when defence contracts can be exempt from EU rules requiring competitive bidding. The Commission sees these guidelines, which are set out in an 'Interpretative Communication', as a necessary first step towards greater competitiveness, openness and efficiency in EU defence markets. In addition, the Commission is currently assessing the impact of a possible new Directive that would offer new, more flexible rules addressing the specific features of defence procurement. These initiatives were first outlined in December 2005 and are based on responses to a Green Paper on how to open defence procurement to greater transparency and efficiency (see IP/05/1534).

European Commission: DG Communication: MEMO/06/468 http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/06/468&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=fr

European Commission: DG Internal Market and Services: Single Market News, No.44, January 2007, p10 http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/smn/smn44/index_en.htm

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