Moving In and Out of the Shadow of European Case Law: the Dynamics of Public Procurement in the Post-Post-Ruffert Era

Bjarke Refslund, Karen Jaehrling, Mathew Johnson, Aristea Koukiadaki, Trine Pernille Larsen, Christine Schröder

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Abstract

Judicial Europeanization, particularly European case law and the Rüffert ruling, has created significant legal uncertainty in the use of labour clauses in public procurement, which may constrain national policymakers. However, national actors find ways to ‘push back’ against Europeanization in order to prioritize domestic policy goals. By analysing the long‐term political dynamic surrounding public procurement in Denmark, Germany and the UK since the implementation of the revised 2014 public procurement directive, we show how both national actors, and actors at subnational level, where much public procurement actually takes place, contest the Europeanization of public policies. Variation in the willingness and ability of actors to leverage the legal uncertainty to adopt labour clauses results in diverging policy trajectories, but also creates a room for policy innovation. This alters the ultimate outcome of the European regulatory agenda and results in a continued divergence of public policies across member states.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1165-1181
Number of pages17
JournalJournal of Common Market Studies
Volume58
Issue number5
Early online date29 Jan 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 29 Jan 2020

Keywords

  • Europeanization
  • Rüffert ruling
  • domestic push back
  • public policies
  • public procurement

Research Beacons, Institutes and Platforms

  • Work and Equalities Institute

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