UK finance chief demands EU contracts shake-up

UK companies are missing out on European public contracts because of unfair discrimination by continental governments in favour of their own companies, according to UK finance chief Gordon Brown.

The chancellor is calling for a shake-up of EU single market rules after a review commissioned by him from Alan Wood, chief executive of engineering and electronics giant Siemens, found "significant obstacles" to competition in European markets.

The report was commissioned last December to determine whether UK companies are at a disadvantage when seeking public sector contracts.

It reveals that fair competition for government contracts  - worth an estimated £1,000 billion  - is being held back in many member states and "penalising enterprising and innovative companies".

And the study concludes that the EU internal market has big failings including complex public procurement procedures, unfair national preference and "wavering commitment to competition and market liberalisation".

"Europe needs to do more to create a genuine single market in public procurement, in which European and international rules are fairly applied, and to allow businesses to compete and create jobs across the EU," Brown said in a statement.

"People right across Europe will want to know why their governments are paying over the odds for services and equipment simply because they have refused to open up their markets and promote competition to achieve better value for money and a better quality of service."

Brown is expected to raise the issue with EU finance ministers at meeting in Brussels on Tuesday.

 

 

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