The Commons Transport Committee held a one-off evidence session on rolling stock procurement on September 7, examining a range of witnesses which culminated with Transport Secretary Phillip Hammond. Other witnesses included representatives of Siemens and Bombardier, academics, trade union Unite, the European Commission and the Railway industry Association. Hammond reiterated his belief in a 'level playing field' when it came to procurement, adding: 'we need to consider how socioeconomic factors are taken into account in other EU member states while being fully compliant with EU procurement law'. The government also needed to look at 'how other member states seek to take into account their strategic national interests without breaching EU procurement law and see whether there are lessons that we can learn for the way we do public procurement in the UK'.RBI notes that national preference is likely to be based on longstanding tacit agreements between national operators and their suppliers, rather than formal procedures under EU Drocurement aw.
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