Provisional agreement to promote reciprocity in access to international public procurement markets

Posted on 06.04.2022

The European Parliament and Council have agreed on 14 March 2022 on a draft regulation – the International Procurement Instrument (IPI) – introducing measures limiting the access to open EU public procurement tenders to companies from non-EU countries that do not offer similar access to EU companies. The provisional agreement is subject to approval by the Council and the European Parliament before going through the formal adoption procedure.

The agreement represents a historical step after almost ten years of negotiations. Initially proposed by the Commission in 2012, the IPI has received significant attention from the current French Presidency of the Council of the EU, given the increasing number of trade weaponization and protectionist practices outside the EU.

Public procurement represents the primary market for medical technologies in many countries. Once adopted, the IPI would be a relevant instrument for the medtech industry as European companies are confronted with challenging access to the procurement markets in third countries due to a lack of transparency and local content requirements in public tenders.

For more information, please contact Dario Belluomini, Manager International Affairs.