(9 February 2010) EPSU took part in a hearing (programme) on 27 January in the European Parliament to prepare an own-initiative report on public procurement and service concessions which is expected shortly by EP rapporteur Heide Rühle (Greens/EFA, Germany). EPSU underlined the need for EU initiatives in support of social procurement, including for example, the long awaited EC Guide on Socially Responsible Public Procurement (see comments on draft Guide below).
A number of speakers in the (...)

(7 September 2009) In an important judgment Commission v Germany C-480/06 of 09 June 2009 the European Court of Justice confirmed once again that the inter-municipal cooperation does not fall under the application of EU rules on public procurement.
The Court reminded its findings from Coditel Brabant case that a public authority has the right to perform the public interest tasks using its own resources and without tendering and that it may do so in cooperation with other public (...)

UNISON has a new webpage on public procurement with a range of materials and training to help unions influence the decisions made in the procurement process, and make sure members’ interests are effectively represented.

For information see: http://www.unison.org.uk/activists/procurement

1) ‘More and better’ jobs – the framework

In the European social model – and Lisbon Agenda – value for money and social and environmental considerations go hand in hand. Even if the EC has chosen to do separate Guides, it is important to link social and environmental issues together. Public authorities should take the full range of economic, social and environmental costs and benefits of public procurement into account - this is what ‘value for money’ means (...)

(18 April 2008) A committee of the International Labour Organisation explored the use of ILO Convention 94 on Labour Clauses in Public Contracts. It publishes a detailed survey. The findings confirm the long campaign of EPSU and members of the European parliament that this convention should be referred to and used in EU procurement directives. The survey says that the EU Directives are compatible with the Convention. The committee argues further: "In the light of the greater impact of (...)

A new report released by UNISON demonstrates Private Finance Initiative (PFI) schemes do not out-perform public sector projects. "A Policy Built on Sand" nails the claim that the extra costs of PFI are offset by increased efficiency and it knocks out another of the Government’s arguments for its continued use to build hospitals, schools and other major public sector projects. Dave Prentis, General Secretary of UNISON and EPSU vice-President said:
"UNISON has always argued that PFI is a (...)

The Swedish government has proposed to make it illegal to give public contracts to companies that have not signed collective agreements. Companies that do not respect this will not be selected for these public contracts. This is a possibility provide for in the European Public procurement directives but seldom used. The initiative follows the blockage of a Latvian contruction company that was building a school but refused to sign a Swedish collective agreement arguing it already had a (...)

EPSU has joined forces with environmental, social and fair trade NGOs, social enterprises, city networks to make sure that EU public procurement directives adopted last year are transposed into national law in a way that social, ethical and environmental considerations can be included in public procurement processes. Governments and public authorities do have scope to promote sustainable development through public procurement - but only if the chose to do so.
EPSU with the other (...)

The City of Amsterdam has developed a guide to assist its procurement officers when buying clothes. The aim is to ensure that the clothes bought are in accordance with Clean Clothes standards, and thus the production and related processes respect appropriate environmental and social standards.
An evaluation of the procurement policies regarding clothes of the City of (...)

Many public authorities have contracts with private sector contractors for supplies, works and services. The European Union has several directives dating back to the 1970s, which apply to these contracts. EPSU has followed the European Union’s procurement policies since 1990, issued several opinions and policy papers EPSU and ETUC positions on Public Procurement, and has established a dedicated Task Force to this end (for more information about this Task Force, please contact EPSU (...)