The European and International Booksellers Federation (EIBF) is pleased to announce the publication of our position paper on public procurement, highlighting key concerns and recommendations to ensure a fair and competitive environment for small and independent bookshops across Europe. This paper has been developed in response to the European Commission’s evaluation of the 2014 EU Directive on Public Procurement, which EIBF will answer to as it is a crucial opportunity to address existing challenges and improve access to public contracts for SMEs in the bookselling sector. Your actual content will go here. Edit this to include your own information.
Public procurement plays a significant role in the bookselling industry, particularly in the relationships between bookshops, schools, and public libraries. Supplying books to these institutions not only supports the financial sustainability of bookshops but also strengthens local communities by fostering literacy, cultural engagement, and economic reinvestment in the local community. However, current procurement processes often create barriers that disproportionately impact small and independent booksellers, limiting their ability to compete with larger distributors and online retailers.
EIBF’s Key Recommendations:
- Simplify procurement procedures: Reduce bureaucratic obstacles and facilitate participation of SMEs.
- Encourage breaking down large orders: Dividing contracts into smaller lots makes it easier for bookshops to compete while maintaining efficiency.
- Promote holistic evaluation criteria: Encourage contracting authorities to prioritise qualitative factors like local relevance and cultural added value over price alone.
- Improve awareness among public authorities: Provide better training and guidelines to procurement bodies on the impact of their decisions on the book sector and local economies.
- Address specific needs of fixed-price markets: Where competition on the price of books is not allowed, introduce clearer criteria to prevent harmful practices such as random allocation of contracts.
- Increase procurement thresholds: Allow direct purchasing from local bookshops by raising financial thresholds for tenders.
EIBF strongly believes that these measures will enhance fair competition, sustain independent bookshops, and foster vibrant literary ecosystems across Europe.
In line with this, EIBF is also actively participating in the European Commission’s public consultation on the evaluation of the Public Procurement Directives. This initiative provides a crucial opportunity to advocate for meaningful reforms that will support the bookselling sector. We encourage members and stakeholders to engage in this consultation, which can be accessed here.
You can read EIBF’s full position paper by downloading it below.
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| EIBF Position Paper - Public Procurement Directive.pdf | 169.65 KB |