An economic operator is a business or other organisation which supplies goods, works or services within the context of market operations. The term is used in

public procurement Government procurement or public procurement is the procurement of goods, services and works on behalf of a public authority, such as a government agency. Amounting to 12 percent of global GDP in 2018, government procurement accounts for a sub ...

to cover suppliers, contractors and service providers. The term is defined in the UK's Public Contracts Regulations as: :"any person or public entity or group of such persons and entities, including any temporary association of undertakings, which offers the execution of works or a work, the supply of products or the provision of services on the market". Early

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

legislation on public procurement was contained within three separate Directives on purchasing of services, goods and works, but once a single directive was adopted in 2004, a term was needed which would cover suppliers, contractors and service providers without implying or being limited to private sector operations. The terms 'business' or 'undertaking' would therefore have been inappropriate and the term 'economic operator' was therefore adopted. In introducing the new term within the 2004 Directive, the text explained that the terms "contractor", "supplier" and "service provider" (as used within the Directive) would mean 'any natural or legal person or public entity or group of such persons and/or bodies which offers on the market, respectively, the execution of works and/or a work, products or services' and the term "economic operator" shall cover equally the concepts of contractor, supplier and service provider. It is used merely in the interest of simplification.'European Union, Directive 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts, Article 1.8

References

{{reflist European Union European Union Law Government procurement in the European Union