Buying AI

The Legal Framework for Public Procurement of Artificial Intelligence in the EU

Edited by Christoph Krönke, Professor of Public Law, Economic Law, Sustainability and Technology Law, University of Bayreuth, Germany and Patricia Valcárcel Fernández, Professor of Administrative Law, University of Vigo, Spain

Publication Date: 2025 ISBN: 978 1 03531 172 9 Extent: 346 pp

This informative book investigates the role of public procurement law in regulating the acquisition of artificial intelligence (AI) systems for use in public administration in EU Member States. It features in-depth analyses of public procurement organisations, procedures and instruments in Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, as well as detailed comparisons of their respective legal frameworks.

This informative book investigates the role of public procurement law in regulating the acquisition of artificial intelligence (AI) systems for use in public administration in EU Member States.

Buying AI highlights the need to ensure that AI systems meet legal and practical requirements such as control, transparency and functionality, exploring the extent to which the existing public procurement laws of Member States can implement these conditions. The book features in-depth analyses of public procurement organisations, procedures and instruments in Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, as well as detailed comparisons of their respective legal frameworks. Expert authors provide a useful toolbox for effectively ensuring that AI systems can be employed in the correct normative and practical contexts of public administration.

Examining the effect of the 2024 European AI Act, this unique book is an essential resource for students and scholars of commercial law, European law, international economic law and trade law. It is also beneficial to law firms and solicitors advising on public procurement.