21 December 2011

The European Commission has released its legislative proposal for the revision of the Public Procurement Directive.

The Commission has stated that this aims to clarify how the purchasing power of Europe’s public bodies can contribute to the promotion of sustainable development and environmental protection. In October ClientEarth released a briefing series, Identifying Opportunities for Sustainable Public Procurement, which identified how the revision could address this challenge.
 
Janet Meissner Pritchard, Senior lawyer at ClientEarth, said:

“Overall, the proposal indicates that the Commission intends to be true to its stated objective to revise the legislation to enable more sustainable public procurement. In particular, we are pleased to see that the proposed legislation allows public bodies to specify what must or must not have happened at the production stage. This clarification was sorely needed, since many environmental and social impacts happen at this stage. As the legislative process progresses, it will be essential to ensure that legal clarity is achieved on this point so that such impacts can be taken into consideration through appropriate technical specifications and award criteria. 

“The proposal could have done more, however, to ensure that public procurement promotes sustainable development goals.  Existing legislation skews procurement decisions towards the cheapest possible options at the point of sale. The revision has not satisfactorily addressed this issue and so leaves the door open to short-term thinking.

“Member States should be encouraged to make choices that are good value in the long-term and compatible with wider policies. This proposal suggests that the Commission is heading in the right direction, but has missed the opportunity to require public bodies to always consider what ‘best value for money’ really means.”

ENDS
 
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Notes to editors
 
To find out more about ClientEarth’s work on public procurement click here
 
In 2009, the value of calls for tender published in the Official Journal of the European Union represented approximately €420 billion for the 27 Member States.

The current public procurement Directive is Directive 2004/18/EC of 31 March 2004 on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts, OJ L 134, 30.4.2004, p. 114.  That Directive governs procurement procedures above a certain value threshold by public bodies. Procurement procedures of entities in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors are governed by another Directive.