Key insights from the Public Procurement Partnership Meeting

On 18–19 May 2026, the City of Haarlem hosted the in-person meeting of the Partnership on Innovative and Responsible Public Procurement. The event brought together 36 partners and associates and marked the formal nomination of a new partner. The City of Haarlem has been coordinating the Partnership since 2018.

The evolving EU public procurement landscape

Throughout 2025, the Partnership actively contributed to discussions surrounding the revision of the EU Public Procurement Directives. During the meeting, Chiara Venturini from Eurocities provided an overview of the evolving EU public procurement landscape. The new Proposal for a Regulation of the EU Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework of measures for the acceleration of industrial capacity and decarbonisation in strategic sectors places strong emphasis on the strategic use of public procurement to stimulate demand for EU-produced goods and clean technologies.

For example, according to the proposal, from 1 January 2029, contracting authorities will be required to apply “Made in EU” and low-carbon criteria in public procurement procedures covered by the Public Procurement Directives (2014), particularly when purchasing products in energy-intensive sectors and electric vehicles (EVs). Contracting authorities must ensure that a minimum percentage of procured products originates from the European Union or eligible partner countries.

One of the actions in the Action Plan (Action 1, Capacity Building on Public Procurement as a Strategic Tool) focuses on this objective. Under this action, the Partnership will continue to share knowledge on these topics to strengthen the capacity of public administration officers.

Public Procurement Meeting

During the meeting, one of the key discussion topics focused on market consultation as an essential component of successful procurement procedures. In more complex procurement processes, market consultations can serve as a matchmaking mechanism, helping contracting authorities identify suitable partners and innovative solutions.

In the context of Socially responsible public procurement (SRPP), market consultations can support discussions on fair wage requirements and broader social considerations. Engaging with social enterprises and identifying the most suitable inclusive services can create new opportunities when integrated into a market consultation framework.

AI in relation to public procurement: a successful masterclass

Following the highly successful masterclass on “The Future of Public Procurement” held during the previous in-person meeting, the Partnership decided to further explore the increasingly important topic of artificial intelligence in public procurement.

During the meeting, experts were invited to share their knowledge and provide practical guidance on how AI can be effectively integrated into daily procurement practices.

Informative presentations were given by:

Fredo Schotanus (Prof. of Public Procurement at Utrecht University) focused the presentation on ‘AI as a useful assistant to the public buyer? Three applications’, providing concrete examples of how AI can be used as an assistant in public procurement, including reviewing suppliers, analysing tender documents, and supporting the evaluation of bids;
Richard Lennartz (Director Rijksinkoopsamenwerking) delivered a presentation on ‘AI brings horrible and helpful insights’ and provided additional information about ‘The ideas of Kahneman and the procurement practice’;
Nadia Sava Man (PhD and Researcher in Public Procurement) provided insights into ‘Digital and sustainable public procurement: the role of AI and data management systems’.

All presentations can be accessed here.

The use of data, and particularly big data, will be further explored by the Partnership. As such approaches become increasingly important in public procurement, harnessing these large volumes of information effectively is gaining strategic relevance. However, a significant gap remains between access to it and its practical application in procurement and tendering processes. To address this challenge, one of the planned actions of the Partnership is to map existing tools and practices related to the use of big data in innovation procurement. This work aims to support public authorities in better understanding and applying data-driven solutions within procurement procedures.

On-site visit to the prototype sports pitch

Participants also took part in an interesting site visit to the prototype sports pitch developed in Haarlem. Following introductory presentations on the procurement process and the practical solutions used to create this type of sustainable sports infrastructure, participants visited the site to observe the ongoing construction.

The prototype pitch features six different technical solutions. Once completed, it will be monitored to assess which solution performs best, providing evidence to guide future developments of similar facilities.

To discover more and explore the insights shared during the sessions, access the full meeting report here.

Next steps

The next meeting of the Public Procurement Partnership is scheduled to take place on 10–11 November 2026 in Tallinn, Estonia. Registration will open in September 2026.

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