Brussels, 06/07/2001 (Agence Europe) - On the joint initiative of Commissioners Frits Bolkenstein (Internal Market) and Margot Wallström (Environment), the Commission has just published guidelines for the integration of environmental considerations into public procurement. In a interpretative Communication of Community law applicable to public procurement, it outlined the possibilities provided to the public buyers to "green" their purchases, at all the stages of the public procurement procedures, which represent more than one billion Euro each year (of 14% of the Union GDP) and could thus contribute in a significant manner to the sustainable development of the Union. The proposal for the sixth action programme for the environment also identifies public procurement markets as a sector with a considerable potential with regards to sustainable development, for as much as the buyers use environmental performance as one of the buying criteria.
According to the Commission the main possibilities of "ecological purchases" are situated at the beginning of the process of public purchase when they decide on the object of the purchase - stage that is not covered by the directives on public procurement, but by the provisions in the Treaties relating to the free movement of goods and the free provisions of services. The adjudicating authorities, which are meant to specify what they want to buy, may choose the most ecological options.
Then, for the definition of the contract, the directive on public procurement requires a notebook on technical specifications specifying, for example, the type of material and the type of production process required. On the initiative of the private buyers who may opt for the acquisition of products or services respectful of the environment, public buyers may specify the raw materials and the production process that will be used in the contract by requiring, for example, that the energy used in public buildings is provided by a renewable source or that the food provided by a school canteen be made from organic products.
Concerning the execution of the contract, the margin for manoeuvre to integrate the environmental concerns is smaller, but the adjudicating bodies may define technical specifications linked to the environmental performance of a product in relation to the criteria of the Community ecological label or specify in what conditions a environmental management system may contribute to the technical capabilities of the suppliers and contractors.
In the mind of the Commission, this interpretative Communication of Community law will provide public buyers, keen to contribute to sustainable development, legal options to move down this path. Secondly, the Commission will prepare a practical handbook on green public procurement for the attention, mainly, of the local administrations. This handbook will contain examples of best practices for green public procurement in the Union and guidelines to steer day to day purchases in the two fold respect of the environment and the rules of the internal market.
The Commission Communication may be found of the Commission's Europa web site at the address: http: //simap.eu.int/ and http: //europa.eu.int/comm/environment/gpp.