Although the EU public procurement market for goods and services is transparent and open to foreign bidders, there is growing lack of level-playing field in world procurement markets. Third countries are increasingly restricting access to their markets while their companies are winning significant contracts abroad – sometimes on unfair pricing terms or by challenging EU public procurement rules. This poses a threat to growth and employment in the EU, as it represents missed opportunities for exports but also increasingly in the domestic market.
Against this background, AEGIS Europe calls on the European Union to take a strong stance on reciprocity and other reforms needed in the field of public procurement. This is key to support the opening of international procurement markets while guaranteeing an adequate level of protection of the EU public procurement market against non-reciprocal and/or unfair competition.
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Joint statement
First quarter 2023 report. Data up to, and including, third quarter 2022
Brussels, 02 February 2023 – All downside factors that have materialised in the first half of last year have persisted, continuing to impact the European steel market. Apparent steel consumption is forecast to see a deeper-than-expected drop of -4.6% for 2022 (previously set at -3.5%). The outlook for 2023 also remains negative (-1.6%), paving the way for the fourth steel demand recession in five years. A modest recovery will be in sight in 2024 (+1.6%), though subject to high uncertainty. Despite a more general resilience of the EU economy, in the third quarter of 2022 apparent steel consumption reached its lowest level after the pandemic.