Sustainable Procurement: Legislative Requirements And Practical Challenges

Sustainability is one of the key objectives of public procurement. The Public Procurement Act is currently undergoing reform, and the proposal for the new Act will soon be submitted to Parliament. One of the goals is to further emphasise sustainability by specifying that the regulation aims to achieve ecologically, socially and economically sustainable procurement. In addition, certain serious environmental offences will be added as mandatory exclusion criteria for tenderers.

But what are the legal sustainability requirements for procurement? What needs to be taken into account when planning and implementing sustainable procurements?

If we only look at procurement legislation, it is up to the contracting entity to set the sustainability criteria. This is something that the current Procurement Directives have received criticism for – discretion is not deemed to steer procurements in a more sustainable direction sufficiently enough. At the same time, there are also