The EU wants sustainability, not just price, to decide who wins public contracts
A new European Commission proposal would require sustainability, social impact and resilience criteria to carry real weight in the EU's 2.5 trillion euro public procurement market, not just the lowest price.
The European Commission has proposed new rules that would require environmental, social and resilience criteria to factor meaningfully into how public contracts are awarded across the European Union's roughly 2.5 trillion euro procurement market, which represents about 15% of the bloc's economic output. The proposal consolidates and updates three procurement directives dating to 2014.
Under the new "Best Price-Quality Ratio" standard, quality criteria, including environmental, social, innovation, security and resilience factors, would have to count for at least 30% of the award decision in standard contracts, rising to at least 50% for labor-intensive contracts. The rules are meant to support criteria such as reducing environmental and climate impacts, promoting circularity and resource efficiency, protecting human rights in supply chains, and encouraging disability inclusion and gender equality.
The proposal still needs to be negotiated and approved by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union before it can take effect. Supporters say tying public spending to sustainability and resilience standards could help boost European manufacturing competitiveness alongside the bloc's climate goals.
Based on reporting by Mark Segal for ESG Today. Read the original: https://www.esgtoday.com/eu-to-enable-integration-of-sustainability-criteria-in-e2-5-trillion-public-procurement-contracts/
This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by an editor before publication.
