State aid and public procurement: An overview of EU and national case law

This foreword compares European and national case law involving the use of public procurement processes as a tool within the state aid regime and will in addition hereto touch upon the reverse, namely the effect of state aid considerations on public procurement processes. The general purpose of the public procurement rules is to ensure that the competition for public contracts remains free and open. In order to further develop the internal market within the EU, the public procurement rules aim to ensure that when a contracting authority awards a certain contract it does so on the basis of either the lowest price or the most advantageous economic offer and irrespective of the nationality of the tenderer. Receiving either the lowest possible price or the most advantageous economic offer is