Pride and envy. Writing this Foreword arouses in me the contradictory feelings of pride and envy. I feel as proud of Albert S?nchez Graells for writing this book as I would if I had written it myself. On the other hand, I also feel envy as he has written a very wellconceived book that I would have liked to write myself. He has chosen an interesting and greatly complex topic and he has done a magnifi cent job of covering most of the background and issues that arise around it in a clear and convincing manner. Public Procurement and the EU Competition Rules is a superb product of academic research and scholarship. It is the fruit of several years of study and refl ection by Mr S?nchez Graells. I had the privilege of accompanying Mr S?nchez Graells during the course of much of his work, and I witnessed the perseverance, care and maturity he has poured into each of these pages. Mr S?nchez Graells addresses in the book the seminal topic of the competition issues pervading public procurement. He follows a coherent and all-inclusive methodology, based on legal and economic grounds (inspired by a sensible functional approach), to build a strong and solid thesis on the limits and requirements that the free competition principle instils in public procurement. Th e reader will fi nd the book both good and original, mastering two diff erent areas of law: competition policy and public procurement. It provides a well-balanced mix of theoretical construction (chapters three, four and fi ve being the backbone of his thesis) with a detailed set of useful practical recommendations or guidelines also for the public buyer (chapter six) and for the European legislatures or governments that might endeavour to correct the shortcomings of current public procurement law (chapter seven). In spite of the aridity and the diffi culties of the topic, the book is clear and well written, using lucid and well-defi ned arguments. Th e reader will follow and discover the path, laboriously constructed by Mr S?nchez Graells, bridging two traditionally unrelated areas of public policy: competition and public procurement. It does so in an articulate and rigorous manner, erecting a persuading construction: that the competition principle/ requirement is embedded in EU public procurement law. Th e work is especially valuable as it is not a mere description of the state of the law in these two areas. Mr S?nchez Graells portrays a novel view of public procurement under the lens of competition based on an extensive and exhaustive analysis of the case law of the European Union’s Court of Justice. Of course, the reader may or may not be persuaded by Mr S?nchez Graells’ clearheaded and convincing arguments. Understandably and despite the coherency of his arguments, if they are followed, they will profoundly overhaul the practice of EU public procurement and that will have economic and political implications. Th erefore, that may condition how far competition is allowed to run in public procurement practice.