Public Procurement as a Tool to Promote Sustainable Business Strategies: The Way Forward for the European Union

This paper describes the international and European sustainable public procurement framework. It assesses the relevance of the sustainable solutions and describes how the rules and other legal practices promote green, social and economic goals in the public procurement field. The analysis shows that the outlines of the consolidation of sustainable public procurement, at juridic levels, are emerging in Court decisions and orders from regulatory bodies. The changes affect the whole system of public procurement including the policies, rules and practices which influence business strategies. The paper also provides an overview of the transformation introduced by the 2014 European Public Procurement Directives. It focusses on the instruments available to public buyers and public authorities in order to achieve the European strategic goals included in the 2030 Agenda. Their purchasing power should be used to procure goods and services that foster innovation, respect the environment and fight climate change while improving employment, public health and social conditions, the so-called strategic use of public procurement in response to new challenges. It also examines the rules and provisions to implement Green Public Procurement (GPP) and Socially Responsible Public Procurement (SRPP) existing at EU Member States level. Finally, the paper discusses the level of commitment, the business strategies in place to implement, monitor and review sustainable public procurement as well as showcases ongoing organisational good practices and innovative project.