On 31 January 2023, the European Commission published a Staff Working Document (SWD) that presents the vision for the concrete implementation of the Public Procurement Data Space (PPDS) and the expected benefits for companies, SMEs, public buyers, policymakers and citizens. As this holds high value for the Single Market, the present SWD is furthermore paving the way for the communication “Single Market at 30”, as it showcases the expected benefits for companies, SMEs, public buyers, policymakers and citizens which holds high value for the Single Market.

Every year in the EU, over 250 000 public authorities spend around EUR 2 trillion (around 13.6% of GDP) on the purchase of services, works and supplies. Recent developments have highlighted once more the importance of public investment in Europe to support the recovering economy, to accelerate the twin transitions, enhance social cohesion, and to strengthen the resilience of the EU and Member States. The announcements made by President von der Leyen in her address on the State of the Union, on the need of the Union to become stronger in supporting SMEs and fight against corruption, also confirm the relevance of initiatives related to public procurement.

The PPDS aims to harness the power of procurement data by making it accessible in one single place. Today, data from only 20% of all calls for tenders is available and searchable for analysis, in the EU database Tenders Electronic Daily (TED), while data from the remaining 80% (calls below the thresholds in the Public Procurement Directives, but still of great importance locally) is spread in different formats in multiple systems across the Member States. The Commission already underlined in its 2020 Communication ‘A European strategy for data’ the need to unlock the wealth of EU public procurement data.

As a single point of access to procurement data across Europe, the PPDS will be of great benefit for businesses, public buyers, policymakers and interested citizens alike:

• Companies will have access to a much greater number of calls for competitions (or public procurement procedures) with better data quality across Europe, which is especially important to create a level playing field for SMEs. They will also be in a better position to understand the practice of public buyers and be able to approach them more proactively.
• Public buyers in Member States will get better value for money and more tools to target public funds towards policy priorities. The PPDS will also cut possible blocking points for public buyers and Member States when complying with various reporting obligations.
• Policy makers at EU, national and regional level will gain a wealth of insights that will enable them to predict future trends.
• Citizens, civil society, taxpayers and other interested stakeholders will have access to much more public procurement data than before, thereby improving transparency and accountability of public spending

Member States have reiterated at numerous occasions their support for the PPDS. At the same time, they have been asking for an official document from the Commission to help them kick-start the implementation and connection to the PPDS at their level. The SWD now published is that document and aims at guiding the implementation of the PPDS at EU and national level.

The initiative on the Public Procurement Data Space (PPDS) stems from the Communication ‘A European strategy for data’ from February 2020. Given the strategic importance of public buyers and public investment for the Single Market, the economy and economic operators, including SMEs, and for many public policy objectives such as the green transition and EU strategic autonomy, the Commission highlighted the need to unlock the wealth of EU public procurement data.