Public procurement law governs the purchasing processes of public contracting authorities and sectoral contracting entities. Its purpose is twofold: to protect the contracting authority against anti-competitive collusion between bidders, and to safeguard contractors against the concentrated market power of large public clients. Every year, public authorities across Europe spend substantial sums of money. A procurement system based on the rule of law is therefore essential to ensuring transparency and preventing corruption in a democratic state governed by the rule of law.

Although the second edition was prepared under the Federal Public Procurement Act 2006 (BVergG 2006), this work remains indispensable for both academic teaching and practice, thanks to its comprehensive commentary and in-depth scholarly discussion of fundamental issues in public procurement law.