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Gracia Vara Arribas

EU public procurement law, EU Governance

EU public procurement law, EU Governance, Multilevel governance and decentralisation in Europe. Evaluation of public policies and projects

Professional experience

Gracia Vara Arribas is a lawyer and Lead Expert in Public Procurement and EU Law at the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA). Her areas of expertise include EU public procurement law, multilevel governance and the evaluation of public policies and projects. She has worked for numerous national administrations, EU institutions, including the European Commission, the Committee of the Regions, the European Parliament and the European Court of Auditors, as well as regional and local governments.
Since 2021 she has headed EIPA’s Public Procurement team and is the creator of the EIPA Certification for Public Procurement Professionals, developed on the basis of the European Commission’s ProcurCompEU competency framework. Between 2021 and 2025 she additionally served as Head of the European CAF Resource Centre, coordinating the network of CAF National Correspondents and leading the evolution of the CAF quality management model.
Before joining EIPA, she was a partner in a law firm in Galicia (Spain).

Upcoming courses

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Public procurement

European Public Procurement, Concessions, and Contract Management

6 Nov 2025 - 7 Nov 2025

Barcelona (ES)

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Artificial IntelligencePublic procurement

Buying AI and Using AI in Procurement: Use-Cases

13 Nov 2025 - 14 Nov 2025

Maastricht (NL)

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Public procurement

Competitive Dialogue and Negotiated Procedures Master Class

18 Nov 2025 - 19 Nov 2025

Maastricht (NL)

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Contributions

The institutional impacts of EU legislation on local and regional governments – a case study of the 1999/31/EC Landfill Waste and 2004/18/EC

Vara-Arribas, G. in cooperation with EUKN Nicis Institute (2009), The institutional impacts of EU legislation on local and regional governments – a case study of the 1999/31/EC Landfill Waste and 2004/18/EC. Study commissioned by the High Level Group on Governance and the Dutch Ministry of Interior for the Swedish presidency of the EU 2009, EIPA 2009.

The potential of the Lisbon Treaty, a challenge for the Netherlands and its provinces and municipalities

Vara-Arribas, G., Bourdin, D. (2010) The potential of the Lisbon Treaty, a challenge for the Netherlands and its provinces and municipalities, study commissioned and published by the Dutch Ministry of Interior

The role of regional parliaments in the process of subsidiarity analysis within the early warning system of the Lisbon Treaty

Vara-Arribas, G., Bourdin, D. (2010) The role of regional parliaments in the process of subsidiarity analysis within the early warning system of the Lisbon Treaty, commissioned and published by the Committee of the Regions, ISBN : 978-92-895-0541-3

Scoreboard for monitoring multilevel governance (MLG) at the European Union level 2011

Vara-Arribas, G. and Unfried, M. (2011) Scoreboard for monitoring multilevel governance (MLG) at the European Union level 2011, commissioned by the Committee of the Regions and published by the EU in EN, FR, DE, ES

Scoreboard for monitoring Multilevel Governance (MLG) at the European Union level MLG Fact Sheets 2011-2012

Vara-Arribas, G. and Unfried, M. et al (2012), Scoreboard for monitoring Multilevel Governance (MLG) at the European Union level MLG Fact Sheets 2011-2012 commissioned by the Committee of the regions and published by the EU. Published in EN, FR, DE, ES

Division of powers between the EU, the Member States, and Regional and Local Authorities

Vara-Arribas, G. and Steible, B. (2012), latest revised by the CoR November 2016) Division of powers between the EU, the Member States, and Regional and Local Authorities, study and web page commissioned and published in 2012 by the Committee of the Regions

Methodology for integrating the cross-border dimension into the CoR’s consultative work

Vara-Arribas, G. (2013) Methodology for integrating the cross-border dimension into the CoR’s consultative work, study commissioned by the Committee of the regions and published by the EU ,ISBN 978-92-895-0644-1

The role of regional parliaments in the process of subsidiarity analysis within the early warning system of the Lisbon Treaty

Vara-Arribas, G., Bourdin, D. (2013) The role of regional parliaments in the process of subsidiarity analysis within the early warning system of the Lisbon Treaty, Study commissioned by the Committee of the Regions and published by the EU in 8 different languages.

Cost of non-Europe in the sharing economy: legal aspects

Vara Arribas, G. de Bond, A. and Steible, B. (2016) Cost of non-Europe in the sharing economy: legal aspects, commissioned by the Impact Assessment Unit of the Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value, within the Directorate General for Parliamentary Research Services (DG EPRS) of the General Secretariat of the European Parliament. Published by the European Parliament as a study under no. PE558.777.

Diagnosis in Public Procurement of Innovation

Vara Arribas, G. and Van der Most, J. (2017) Diagnosis in Public Procurement of Innovation / Diagnosis en Compra pública para la innovación, commissioned and published by the Barcelona City Council in ES

Strategic Public Procurement: A Lever for Good Governance and Sustainability in an Evolving Geopolitical Landscape

The Future of Public Procurement: Deploying the new Public Procurement Data Space (PPDS)

Making the Right Choice Between Procedures: Competitive Dialogue and Competitive Procedure with Negotiation

The Future of Public Procurement: the Council Conclusions on the Court of Auditors’ Report on Public Procurement

The Crucial Role of Leaders in Successful Knowledge Sharing for Public Administrations

The Future of Public Procurement: The Impact of the ECA’s special report 28/2023

The Single Market Scoreboard on public procurement as a governance tool: deepening or expanding?

More Court Staff Are Willing to Engage in Transnational Training

The use of KPIs for exclusion on grounds of past performance in public contracts

Study visits to Barcelona

Book chapters

Vara-Arribas, G., (2017) The early warning system in motion – comparing different practices in subnational parliaments, Chapter in the book Subnational Parliaments in the EU Multilevel Parliamentary System: taking Stock of the post Lisbon Era. Edited by Gabriele Abels, Annegret Eppler.

Vara-Arribas, G. and Hogenauer A. (2015), Legislative Regions after Lisbon: A New Role for Regional Assemblies? The Palgrave Handbook of National Parliaments and the European Union pp 133-149 | Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, Editors: Claudia Hefftler, Christine Neuhold, Olivier Rozenberg, Julie Smith DOI: 10.1007/978-1-137-28913-1_6.

Vara-Arribas, G. and Sanchez Cano J., (2010) Redes territoriales y policy-making: los diálogos estructurados con la Comisión Europea, p 232-255 en Procesos de integración regional e internacionalización de los gobiernos locales.

Articles

Vara Arribas, G. and Bourdin, D. What Does the Lisbon Treaty Change Regarding Subsidiarity within the EU Institutional Framework?, EIPAScope, 2012 (2). pp. 13-17. ISSN 1025-6253.

Vara Arribas, G. (2010) A Agrupación Europea de Cooperación Territorial (AECT): unha ferramenta para a gobernanza multinivel en proceso de revisión en Administración & cidadanía: revista da Escola Galega de Administración Pública, ISSN-e 1887-0279, Vol. 5, Nº. 2, 2010, págs. 13-26

Vara-Arribas,G. and Spinacchi G. Eipascope (2009/2) The European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC): New Spaces and Contracts for European Integration?

Vara Arribas, G. (2008) Novedades en el Debate Europeo sobre la Contratación Pública en Revista española de derecho europeo, Aranzadi Thomson Reuters ISSN 1579-6302, Nº. 26, 2008, págs. 115-150

Vara Arribas, G. (2006) Los contratos tripartitos Comisión – Estado – Región: ¿una idea europea revolucionaria o equivocada? En Europa Euskadi, Nº 193, 2006, págs. 5-6

Vara Arribas, G. (2006) Gobernanza multinivel en la Unión Europea y las regiones, con o sin una Constitución en Revista Aragonesa de Administración Pública, ISSN 1133-4797, Nº 29, 2006, págs. 309-332

Vara Arribas, G. (2006) Nuevas herramientas para la gobernanza europea multinivel: los contratos tripartitos por objetivos en Revista española de derecho europeo, Aranzadi Thomson Reuters, ISSN 1579-6302, Nº. 18, 2006, págs. 205-224

Vara Arribas, G. (2006) Novedades en Europa para aumentar la participación regional y local en los procesos de toma de decisión europeos en Unión Europea Aranzadi, ISSN 1579-0452, Vol. 33, Nº 2, 2006, págs. 27-33

Vara Arribas, G. (2005) Presupuestos políticos y jurídicos: La negociación y la adopción de la Constitución Europea en Noticias de la Unión Europea, ISSN 1133-8660, Nº 250, 2005 (Ejemplar dedicado a: La Constitución Europea), págs. 19-29

Vara Arribas, G. (2005) The changing Dynamics of Sub-State participation: The Commission’s proposals for increasing regional and local involvement in European Policy Processes EIPASCOPE N. 2005/2, pp. 19-25.

Vara-Arribas, G. and Carrasco, L. Gender Equality and the EU: An Assessment of the Current Issues EIPASCOPE, 2003 (1). pp. 1-9

Vara-Arribas, G. (2001) La participación de las regiones en Europa en Cuadernos de Alzate: revista vasca de la cultura y las ideas, ISSN 0213-1862, Nº. 25, 2001, págs. 131-142