Although the European Union (EU) public procurement framework was originally designed to establish a level playing field for all EU companies as well as to ensure competitiveness and efficiency of the public sector, the ongoing shift of the EU strategic priorities towards circular economy also calls for the inclusion of an extra-economic rationale in the award and execution of public contracts. In this regard, the Strategic Public Procurement, an all-embracing concept designed to reconcile economic, social, environmental, and innovation factors within the procurement system, provides an alternative framework that is inspired by the broader Europe 2020 strategy. The growing political interest in the concept from international organisations (e.g. OECD) and individual Member States is vindicated by the concept’s intrinsic potential to create new market opportunities (particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises – SMEs), and stimulate growth and innovation while fostering broader socio-economic objectives of the EU.