Bridging EU competitiveness and sustainably goals through strategic public procurement

This document presents ClientEarth’s response to the European Commission’s consultation on the revision of the EU Public Procurement Directives. Public procurement – worth an estimated EUR 2 trillion annually and representing 14–19% of EU GDP is a powerful tool for advancing sustainability. As it accounts for roughly 15% of the EU’s global greenhouse gas emissions, procurement choices can significantly influence the demand for and production of sustainable goods and services.

ClientEarth urges the Commission to use this revision to strengthen strategic public procurement and better align the EU’s competitiveness and sustainability objectives. Our submission highlights four key priorities:

1. Preserve a coherent legal framework, maintaining the clear division between the horizontal procedural rules in Directive 2014/24/EU and the substantive requirements set out in sector‑specific legislation.
2. Embed sustainability as a fundamental principle of public procurement – on par with transparency, non‑discrimination, equality, and proportionality – and establish it as an explicit strategic objective defined robustly to prevent greenwashing.
3. Remove barriers to sustainable procurement by revising the subject‑matter requirement, limiting the use of lowest‑price‑only awards, and strengthening sustainability‑related exclusion grounds.
4. Streamline the fragmented procurement landscape by clarifying definitions, aligning horizontal and sector‑specific rules, improving cross‑references, resolving inconsistencies, and advancing digitalisation – without weakening existing sustainability standards.

ClientEarth’s full response, including detailed legal analysis and recommendations, is available via the link provided.