In 2015, EuropeAid, the European Commission’s development arm, awarded 909.4 million euros ($974.5 million) in contracts to private sector firms. The total figure includes budget support and financial agreements with international financing institutions and multidonor trust funds, such as 86.4 million euros for the European Emergency Trust Fund for stability and addressing root causes of irregular migration and displaced persons in Africa. These funding instruments stress private sector engagement amid the pivot toward migration as a focal point of aid funding and present potential contracting or subcontracting opportunities.
The bulk of the total contract spend, or 508.5 million euros ($544.9 million), went to three types of procurements: services, works and supplies and represents a decrease of almost 25 percent since 2013 amid a tightening budget environment across the bloc.
EuropeAid awarded 350 contracts to firms of which 148 were for services and spent 303.9 million euros on works — the highest amount across the three different types of procurement.