EU Rethinks Public Procurement to Favor Local Suppliers Over Chinese Rivals

Brussels is preparing to overhaul its public procurement framework, aiming to give European manufacturers an edge when governments buy electric buses, charging infrastructure and other clean transport equipment. Under the proposal, authorities would gain greater leeway to bar bidders from outside the bloc when EU suppliers can meet the demand.

The initiative is widely read as a response to the growing presence of Chinese electric vehicle makers in European public fleets. EU Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné pointed to BYD’s electric buses as a case in point, though he acknowledged that most of those vehicles are actually assembled in Hungary, complicating the picture.

The plan places battery and charging procurement at the heart of a broader debate about industrial sovereignty. If adopted, it could reshape how cities and transit operators source their electric fleets, with European production capacity becoming a decisive factor in contract awards.

The Commission’s proposal still needs to move through the EU’s legislative process, where member states and industry groups are likely to push back on how strictly the new exclusion criteria should be applied.