In Europe, public expenditure on works, goods and services constitutes approximately 14% of the EU's GDP, which corresponds to approximately 1.9 trillion euros per year, 500 billion of which are allocated at the EU level. This amount is a potential to be exploited to stimulate the demand for innovative, green and digital solutions to accelerate the transition by strengthening the competitiveness of European industry, in particular of small innovative companies, writes Ivo Locatelli, Senior Expert of the European Commission, in this article that also illustrates the main initiatives of DG GROW (European Commission) on the subject.