EU conditionality on public procurement reforms: convergence or divergence in candidate and member states? The case of Romania, the Czech Republic, Albania and Croatia

Objective: This paper analyses the impact of European Union (EU) conditionality on public procurement reforms in Romania, the Czech Republic, Albania, and Croatia. In the paper, public procurement is considered as both a significant fiscal instrument and a governance test, where EU legal harmonization meets domestic institutional realities. Method: Using EU directives, acquis requirements, European Commission reports, EU Innovation Procurement Observatory benchmarking results and as well national case studies, the study compares legislative alignment, institutional capacity, digitalization, and anti-corruption measures. Directive 2014/24/EU, the European Single Procurement Document (ESPD), exclusion provisions, and green and digital strategies are examined as core reform drivers. Results: Findings indicate strong formal convergence across all cases, but persistent divergence in implementation, shaped by administrative capacity and political will. The Czech Republic shows high compliance, Romania and Croatia mixed but improving performance, while Albania, still in accession talks, advances in digitization yet struggles with fair competition. The analysis concludes that EU conditionality fosters legal convergence, but requires targeted support to reduce the implementation gap.