The establishment of central public procurement policy making and implementing bodies constitutes a major contribution to the successful development and favourable overall position of the public procurement system in a country. To make the public procurement system work at all levels, a set of functions needs to be performed at the central or regional level. SIGMA Brief 26 analyses these key central public procurement functions and the existing structural models in the European Union Member States. The Brief also gives an overview of the potential assets and shortcomings of functions carried out by central public procurement structures.