Sustainable Public Procurement Under Eu Law

This book evaluates the 2014 EU public procurement law reform from a sustainability perspective.

Public institutions, companies and governments in the EU and around the world are increasingly engaging in sustainable public procurement – a broad concept that must consider the three pillars of economic equality, social welfare and public health and environmental responsibility when designing public tenders and finalizing government contracts. This book contributes to the development of life-cycle criteria tools and methodologies for public procurement in the EU. It collects both sector-crossing contributions analysing the most relevant theoretical and legal aspects, including both EU law and contract theory, and sector-specific contributions relating to some of the most important sustainable goods and services markets. The book starts with a chapter that discusses the different approaches to including sustainability considerations in buying decisions by both private and public purchasers, and then goes on to examine the EU law on LCC and how it is implemented in different Member States. These chapters address the challenges in balancing economic and sustainability objectives under EU internal market law. One chapter develops the analysis with specific reference to public-private partnership. Another chapter elaborates how multi-stakeholders’ cooperation is necessary to develop LCC, based on a case study of a lighting services procurement. Three sector-specific studies relating to social housing, textile and clothing and IT close the book. With contributors from a range of backgrounds including law, business, management, engineering and policy development, this interdisciplinary book provides the first comprehensive study on LCC within the framework of EU public procurement law.

This book evaluates the 2014 EU public procurement law reform from a sustainability perspective.

The main objective of public procurement regulation is to provide a government with the supplies and works it needs to operate. This primary objective is connected to the principle of value for money, and for the European Union, with the aim of ensuring the functioning of the internal market in public procurement. However, other objectives related to environmental and social concerns have always played a role as well. These range from the award of contracts, to workshops for the disabled, to strict environmental specifications. These 'secondary' or 'horizontal' objectives, also referred to as 'green procurement' or 'social procurement, ' are the subject of this book. The analysis covers the EU internal market law of green and social procurement, with emphasis on the interpretation, implementation, and practice, in a range of Member States of the EU, and includes a comparative study

This book analyses many aspects of the present EU regulatory framework for public contracts, especially public procurement, taking the ongoing reform process into account. First, several chapters discuss the regime of the Public Sector Procurement Directive 2004/18/EC governing the procurement activities of the EU Member States, the coverage of the Directive, qualification and technical specifications, procurement procedures, and award criteria. A specific chapter describes the EU principles applicable to contracts not covered or partially covered by the Directive, which have been the subject of relevant developments in the case law of the European Court of Justice. Another chapter covers sustainable procurement. Second, three chapters are devoted to special procurement regimes, namely public private partnerships, defence and utilities. Third, the review and remedies regime for public procurement is covered in two chapter. Fourth, one chapters goes beyond public procurement and looks at the effect of EU law on the contract management of public contracts, after their conclusion. Fifth, three chapters go beyond the regulation of the Member States and look at the EU law regime applicable to contracts of the EU institutions. Sixth and finally, a concluding chapter provides a critique of the EU legal framework by an author from outside the EU.

This volume addresses different issues related to green innovation procurement as well as exploring the challenges involved in public procurement. It offers a broad array of perspectives, addressing both general, abstract problems of optimal public procurement and concrete cases of national or even local public procurement systems.

This book provides the first comprehensive appraisal of the paradigm shift towards mandatory sustainability requirements in EU public procurement law. Traditionally, EU public procurement law focused on 'how to buy', dictating procedural rules so that public buyers in the Member States did not discriminate against suppliers and service providers from other Member States. Mandatory green and social requirements mean that, with a view to achieving sustainable development goals and mitigating climate change, the EU will limit this discretionary power for public buyers, pushing them to acquire more sustainable goods and services. Based on legal analysis informed by economic perspectives, the book aims to contribute to an understanding and critical discussion of the EU legislator's move towards regulating 'what to buy'. The book discusses the role of the Public Procurement Directives in relation to this paradigm shift, as well as various other sectoral legislative instruments that have been revamped or newly introduced in light of the European Green Deal. The paradigm shift is analysed from different perspectives, including subsidiarity, alternative regulation, economics and public purchasing. The book includes novel sectoral studies on transport, food, clothing, and construction, discussing how change is taking place and what its major challenges are for the future. Chapters on Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and more, offer case studies of Member States that have already introduced mandatory requirements and highlight lessons learnt. This is an essential book for professionals working with public procurement law in academia and practice, and to those engaged in achieving public policy objectives in light of climate change and social injustice.

The EU public procurement regime has recently undergone an overhaul and now allows Member States and their contracting authorities to pursue strategic goals via public procurement, including environmental and social objectives. The extent to which such interests may be accommodated in the procurement process is ultimately determined by the broader legal context in which the EU public procurement regime exists, which raises pressing questions regarding the scope and limits of Member States' discretion. This volume scrutinises these new legal acts – particularly Directive 2014/24/EU – focusing on discretion and engaging with questions central to the public procurement regime against the EU legal backdrop, including internal market law and environment law, as well as law beyond the EU.