How to ensure that public procurement is wisely directed towards a more sustainable economy ?
Based on our work on Industrial policy and ecological transition, we welcome the initiative of the Commission to align public procurement directives with broader social, environmental and strategic goals.
Public procurement should be fully recognised as a strategic policy instrument at the heart of the European Unions ecological, social and industrial transition.
The revision of EU public procurement rules is a decisive opportunity to :
- make green and socially responsible public procurement the default option across the EU ;
- integrate total cost and life-cycle approaches, rather than price-only criteria ;
- better connect public procurement with industrial strategy, innovation and employment objectives ;
- facilitate cooperation, mutualisation and coordination at European and territorial levels.
Given its scale and market-shaping power, simplification of procurement rules must not lead to weaker standards, but rather to greater legal certainty, clearer expectations for contracting authorities and bidders, and stronger implementation capacity.
By making sustainable procurement the default through genuine simplification, systematizing life-cycle approaches, explicitly connecting procurement to industrial strategy, enabling multi-level mutualisation, and introducing progressive EU content requirements linked to sustainability, the EU can transform €616 billion in annual spending into a powerful engine of transition, and pretend to even more impact through lower levels of procurement.
The revision of EU public procurement rules is a critical juncture to align public spending with the Union’s ecological, social and industrial ambitions. The current moment—with the Clean Industrial Deal, Industrial Decarbonisation Accelerator Act, and clear political commitment to strategic autonomy—offers unprecedented opportunity for transformation to the benefit of citizens, workers and future generations.
Photo de Waldemar Brandt sur Unsplash