The EPP Group in the European Committee of the Regions congratulates Jesús Ángel Garrido Martínez (ES/EPP), Director General for Funds and Relations with the European Union at the Government of La Rioja, on his appointment as CoR rapporteur on the Public Procurement Act. The appointment took place during the meeting of the Commission for Economic Policy (ECON) in Galway, Ireland.
The European Commission presented its proposal for a new Public Procurement Act on 9 September. The new framework is intended to replace the current Public Procurement Directives and will have important implications for local and regional authorities, which use public procurement to deliver infrastructure, public services and investment.
Following his appointment, Garrido stressed that simplification and flexibility should be at the heart of the new framework, while safeguarding transparency and competition. “Simplification and flexibility should be key objectives of the future framework. Public authorities need rules that ensure transparency and competition, but they also need procedures that are workable, proportionate and adapted to the realities of public administration,” said Garrido.
He also underlined the need to look beyond procurement purely as a compliance exercise and recognise its wider role in achieving public policy objectives. “Public procurement should not be seen only as a control mechanism. It should also be a strategic tool for delivering policies, investments and results. We should ask whether the current system always delivers proportionality and genuine added value,” he added.
For local and regional authorities, the upcoming reform provides an opportunity to ensure that procurement rules facilitate effective public investment while maintaining the necessary safeguards. “Public procurement should enable public authorities to deliver. It should not become an obstacle to delivery,” Garrido concluded.
The opinion is expected to be discussed at the ECON meeting in December 2026, with adoption currently envisaged in ECON in February 2027 and subsequently at the CoR plenary session in April 2027.