International procurement: trilogue negotiators aim for end-of-March conclusion

Trilogue negotiations on the long-awaited international procurement instrument are “advancing very well”, a French presidency source recently assured Borderlex. But whether France’s ambition to get the piece of legislation finalised by the end of March – i.e. in four weeks’ time – can be met still remains to be seen.

“We want to finish the whole exercise before the French election campaign starts so that we can conclude something with the French presidency,” said Bernd Lange, the chair of the European Parliament’s international trade committee.

France, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU, is holding presidential and legislative elections in May. After two so-called “political” meetings held in February, the negotiators from the Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament are due to meet again on Tuesday (1 March) and are expected to meet again on several occasions in the following weeks. [...]