On Wednesday 10 July, MEPs from four European Parliament groups (EPP, S&D, Greens/EFA, The Left), supported by European service workers (UNI Europa), once again called on the future European Commission “to urgently reform EU public procurement rules in order to strengthen collective bargaining and promote decent jobs”.
Gaby Bischoff (S&D) and Dennis Radtke (EPP) from Germany, Sara Matthieu (Greens/EFA) from Belgium and Per Clausen (The Left) from Denmark are taking over the work of the Alliance for Public Procurement, launched in April (see EUROPE 13397/22).
The current rules, which favour price, “lead to a race to the bottom in terms of working conditions. Instead, we should be using public spending by the EU and other public authorities to drive a race to the top”, commented Ms Bischoff in this press release.
Every year, public authorities in the EU spend 14% of GDP, or around €2,000 billion, on the purchase of goods and services, which is a powerful lever for achieving social objectives such as the 80% coverage of collective bargaining set out in the European minimum wage directive, they add. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)