On September 9, the European Commission presented the Public Procurement Act – a new regulation for public procurement. It will allow customers to reject bids if the value of European goods, works, and services in the contract is less than 50%. The rule is especially important for the public transport market, where Chinese manufacturers actively compete with European brands.
The electric bus market is indicative. In the first half of 2026, 8141 such buses were registered in Europe – a 49% increase year-on-year. The leader was Chinese Yutong with 1636 vehicles, all supplied from China. BYD took fourth place with 681 buses, but has a factory in Komárom, Hungary.
The origin of components will be the main technical issue. The mere fact of assembling a bus in Europe does not guarantee passing the 50% threshold: the European Commission will have to determine how to account for batteries, power electronics, and other imported components.
The new system also requires evaluating procurements not only by price: at least 30% of the criteria must be for quality, and for labor-intensive contracts – 50%. However, the document is currently a proposal and must be approved by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU.