British companies have been discriminated in winning lucrative public contracts in European Union countries, according to a report on Monday commissioned by the Treasury.

The review, ordered by British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, claims that British firms are unfairly shut out of a market worth about 1,000 billion pounds or 1,800 billion US dollars.

The report supported a view long held by British business leaders that they faced an uneven playing field in Europe.

At the same time, Brown urged the European Commission, the EU's head office, to investigate how governments awarded the contracts.

"We're losing out substantially in terms of contracts," the chancellor of the exchequer told British Broadcasting Corp. radio.

"What we must do is expose the fact that not enough is being done to open up these markets for public purchasing," he said.

The report by author Alan Wood, chief executive of the British arm of German company Siemens, showed that contracts are on average 30 percent cheaper when awarded openly and under the correct rules, Brown said.

"I'm hoping that we'll get a series of market investigations, that the Commission will clamp down on this practice that is happening in other countries," he said.

Brown said Wood's report mentioned France and Spain, but the chancellor refused to comment on any specific contracts.

Wood said in the report that "we found a fairly consistent picture of British firms finding barriers and difficulties in their way."

The BBC said Brown will use the report to push for reform in Brussels on Tuesday, urging other countries to open up their markets to fair competition.