Abstract
The aim of this paper is to analyze the inclusion of Green Public Procurement (GPP) requirements in the EU public procurement regime. The debate about moving towards greener public purchasing has been fueled afresh in the wake of the EU Green Deal, which highlights the significance of a public procurement regime in pursuing the existing environmental policy goals at EU level. This is also reflected in other key EU policy documents, such as the Circular Economy Package, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as the climate change legislation implementing the Paris Agreement. In this context, this paper aspires to map the intersections between the public spending decisions of contracting authorities and their discretion in inserting environmental considerations through the lens of increasing compliance with the adopted environmental targets.
Highlights
Government expenditure on works, goods and services represent around 19% of EU GDP, accounting for roughly EUR 2.3 trillion annually.1 Due to this massive value B K
The debate about moving towards greener public purchasing has been fueled afresh in the wake of the EU Green Deal, which highlights the significance of a public procurement regime in pursuing the existing environmental policy goals at EU level
This paper focuses on mapping the misbalance between the discretion assigned to contracting authorities within the existing voluntary Green Public Procurement (GPP) regime and the role of the public procurement as a mechanism to increase compliance of MS with environmental objectives
Summary
Government expenditure on works, goods and services represent around 19% of EU GDP, accounting for roughly EUR 2.3 trillion annually. Due to this massive value. GPP is still a voluntary instrument meaning that it is up to the Member States (hereafter: MS) and their contracting authorities to implement it In this context, the EU GPP criteria sets developed by the European Commission for 20+ priority products are non-binding and not formally adopted as a legal act. The effectiveness of the relevant legislative provisions is called into question due to the discretion allocated to contracting authorities in inserting environmental consideration in their spending decisions In this context, this paper focuses on mapping the misbalance between the discretion assigned to contracting authorities within the existing voluntary GPP regime and the role of the public procurement as a mechanism to increase compliance of MS with environmental objectives. In the sixth and final sections some concluding remarks are briefly formulated
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