Public purchasing
EU directives demand EU-wide tendering for public and semi-public purchases over a certain amount. Thus, all larger public purchases and contracts in the Member States must be advertised at the EU level to enable bidders or contractors in other EU countries to apply for them.
This prevents a nation state from using public purchasing to discriminate in favour of its own economy and firms or economic actors within its own borders. Public purchasing tenders are published in a special edition of the Official Journal.