Introduction

As chapter 1 explained, the main effect of the procurement directives on horizontal policies in public procurement is to restrict Member States' discretion to pursue their own policies because of the effect such policies have on trade. As discussed in earlier chapters, in particular in chapter 4, there is much debate over whether some of these restrictions can be justified, and some commentators argue that Member States should enjoy broader powers to pursue horizontal policies. This argument can be made both for policy areas of concern to the EU itself, and for areas of purely national concern.

In addition, as chapter 1 elaborated (in section 5.3), there have been calls for the EU not only to provide Member States with more freedom, but also itself to harness the power of public procurement in a proactive way to support the EU's own policies, and some steps have now been taken in this direction.

In this respect the 2004 procurement directives constituted a ‘first’ in including two sets of provisions that do this for the first time. One set of provisions is that requiring procuring entities to consider issues of accessibility for all users, including disabled persons, in designing specifications. This is considered further in chapter 7 on disability issues.