All public procurement procedures must comply with the EC treaty. The relevant principles of the treaty from a public procurement point of view are the free movement of goods and services and non-discrimination on the grounds of nationality. This legislation is designed to ensure that all public procurement across the European Union is fair, transparent and non-discriminatory. This means that the MOD cannot specify that it will buy goods solely from a particular country or locality, as that would discriminate against producers from other EU member states.
However, the Government are committed to increase opportunities for small and local suppliers to tender for contracts, thus increasing competition and securing better value for money.