The EU and it's predecessors have been striving to achieve a single market basically since 1958. Aside of several legislative actions such as the recent directives 2014/23/EU [1], 2014/24/EU [2] and 2014/25/EU [3], the EU took one very practical step towards achieving the (digital) single market was the introduction of the ted (Tenders Electronic Daily) platform [4]. While the EU uses the platform to collect procurement related data [see e.g. 5], there is currently a lack of careful and critical analysis of the existing data [6,7] that could help to understand the effects of EU legislation. 

The major task of the provided thesis topic will be an in-depth, structured analysis of the data according to scientifically accepted standards. This includes but is not limited to finding patterns, correlations and/or clusters and interpreting them in light of existing European legislative actions. A special focus shall be put on the objectives of the EU stated in [...] which include but are not limited to:

• increased participation of SMEs
• increased competition
• GPP

This topic is directed at students who are interested in data science and the analysis of large, real-world data sets. Ideally first experiences in data analytics as well as data visualization - including appropriate software tools (R, Python, Jupyter Notebook, ggplot2) - are present or the applicant is at least willing to actively acquire the required skills.

Language

English

Literature

[1] European Parliament, and Council of the European Union. 2014. “Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the Award of Concession Contracts,” Official Journal of the European Union (L 94), pp. 1–64.
[2] European Parliament, and Council of the European Union. 2014. “Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on Public Procurement and Repealing Directive 2004/18/EC,” Official Journal of the European Union (L 94), pp. 65–242.
[3] European Parliament, and Council of the European Union. 2014. “Directive 2014/25/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on Procurement by Entities Operating in the Water, Energy, Transport and Postal Services Sectors and Repealing Directive 2004/17/EC,” Official Journal of the European Union (L 94), pp. 243–374.
[4] https://ted.europa.eu/TED/main/HomePage.do
[5] https://data.europa.eu/euodp/data/dataset/ted-csv
[6] http://data.europa.eu/euodp/repository/ec/dg-grow/mapps/TED(csv)_data_information.pdf
[7] Kutlina-Dimitrova, Z., and Lakatos, C. 2016. “Determinants of Direct Cross-Border Public Procurement in EU Member States,” Review of World Economics (152:3), pp. 501–528. (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10290-016-0251-3).