The European Commission has opened the first formal review of the EU’s International Procurement Instrument as it assesses whether the trade measure is effective in countering restrictions faced by European businesses in overseas public-sector markets.
The 12-week consultation runs until 27 November and will examine the scope, operation, and efficiency of a regulation introduced in 2022 to strengthen the EU’s leverage where companies face barriers to public procurement outside the bloc.
The International Procurement Instrument allows the Commission to investigate measures or practices that restrict EU companies, goods, or services in non-EU procurement markets and to consult with the government concerned.
Where those discussions fail to resolve the problem, Brussels can adopt measures restricting access to EU public procurement for businesses or products from the country involved.
The review will examine areas including the instrument’s scope, rules for determining origin, complaint procedures, thresholds for intervention, the form and scale of potential measures, obligations on successful tenderers, and available exceptions.
The Commission said growing barriers in non-EU procurement markets had increased the value of gathering evidence on how the instrument operates in practice.
Its first major test involved medical devices from China. The Commission opened an investigation in April 2024 into measures it concluded discriminated against European medical-device producers in Chinese public procurement.
The EU subsequently adopted its first International Procurement Instrument measure in June 2025, introducing restrictions relating to Chinese medical devices in specified European public procurement procedures.
That experience now provides evidence for the wider review, including how contracting authorities and businesses have applied the rules and whether the instrument creates meaningful leverage to improve reciprocal market access.
Public procurement represents a significant market for sectors including healthcare, infrastructure, transport, technology, energy, and professional services. Restrictions overseas can materially affect companies whose ability to scale depends partly on government contracts.
The instrument sits within a broader change in European trade policy as conventional market-opening tools are supplemented by measures addressing subsidies, procurement barriers, investment screening, strategic dependencies, and economic security.
The result is a more complex operating environment. Restrictions on foreign bidders can strengthen the position of European suppliers in EU procurement, while retaliatory action or differing origin rules can make international tendering harder.
Origin rules are therefore a material part of the review. Modern supply chains can combine components, software, services, financing, and final assembly from several jurisdictions, making it difficult to determine how a product should be treated under trade restrictions.
Thresholds also affect the instrument’s reach. Rules applying only to very large contracts may have limited impact in fragmented markets, while broad restrictions could reduce competition for European contracting authorities and increase project costs.
The consultation will additionally examine the online complaint mechanism available to companies encountering procurement barriers. Effective enforcement depends partly on businesses being willing and able to document restrictions and provide sufficient evidence for an investigation.
Brussels therefore has to balance leverage against closed overseas markets with competition and value for money within European procurement.
The review is required under the 2022 regulation, with the Commission due to report its findings to the European Parliament and Council. No immediate change follows from the consultation, but submissions could shape future thresholds, procedures, or the instrument’s scope.
The Chinese medical-device case has moved the International Procurement Instrument from legislation into active enforcement. Its first formal review will now assess whether that experience supports changes as trade policy becomes increasingly connected with industrial strategy and economic security.
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