Opening up EU public procurement markets is an important lever for economic growth, but transparency is a prerequisite for businesses to be able to seize the opportunities on offer.

Germany has one of the lowest values of contract notices published in TED under EU public procurement legislation. Including utilities, these contracts only make up 1.6% of GDP, compared to the EU average of 4.14% (2017 data). This may hinder the effective spending of public money and cause German and European companies to miss out on business opportunities.

As data on public procurement is scarce, the causes of this comparatively low value are difficult to determine. This study explores the reasons for the lack of transparency, as better information can enable a more targeted policy approach when it comes to opening up the German public procurement market.