Sustainable Public Procurement in the European Union

The document argues that current EU public procurement policy, particularly the voluntary approach of the 'Classic Directive', is ineffective at achieving sustainability goals. It recommends a dual approach: introducing binding targets, procedural requirements, and monitoring in horizontal legislation, while implementing sector-specific mandatory minimum requirements in sectoral legislation. The briefing highlights that public procurement represents 14% of EU GDP and 15% of its global greenhouse gas emissions, making it a critical lever for the green transition.

• EU public procurement has significant economic and environmental leverage, with an estimated annual purchasing power of EUR 2 trillion (14% of EU GDP) and an estimated contribution of 15% of the EU's global greenhouse gas emissions.
• The 'Classic Directive' (Directive 2014/24/EU), which serves as the primary horizontal legislation for EU public procurement, is considered largely ineffective because it treats Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) as purely voluntary.
• Voluntary Green Public Procurement (GPP) uptake is low and inconsistent across the EU; in the most ambitious Member States, GPP did not exceed 16% of all public procurement between 2006 and 2017.
• Sectoral legislation is generally more effective than horizontal legislation because it often prescribes substantive requirements, as seen in the Clean Vehicles Directive (Directive 2019/11/61) and the Energy Performance Directive (Directive 2010/31/EU).

APA

ClientEarth (2024). Sustainable Public Procurement in the European Union. https://www.clientearth.org/media/l0lfzelu/briefing-competitive-eu-public-procurement.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. Sustainable Public Procurement in the European Union. 2024. https://www.clientearth.org/media/l0lfzelu/briefing-competitive-eu-public-procurement.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=ClientEarth |title=Sustainable Public Procurement in the European Union |date=June 2024 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/l0lfzelu/briefing-competitive-eu-public-procurement.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{clientearth2024sustainable, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Sustainable Public Procurement in the European Union}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2024}, month = jun, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/l0lfzelu/briefing-competitive-eu-public-procurement.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }