EU to enable integration of sustainability criteria in €2.5 trillion public procurement market

illuminem summarises for you the essential news of the day, reviewed by our editorial team. Read the full piece on ESG Today or enjoy below:

🗞️ Driving the news: The European Commission adopted its Public Procurement Act proposal on 9 September, requiring public buyers to weigh quality criteria alongside price, including environmental, social, innovation, security and resilience factors
• Quality must account for at least 30% of the evaluation, rising to 50% for labour-intensive contracts
• EU public procurement runs around €2.5 trillion annually, roughly 15% of GDP

🔭 The context: The Act consolidates three 2014 directives into a single regulation
• The Commission cites significant shortcomings in the current framework, notably that price-only awards remain prevalent
• Socially responsible criteria named in the proposal include labour market integration of people with disabilities, gender equality, the social economy, affordable housing and supply chain human rights protections
• Industry Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné says the rules would cover roughly €600 billion of contracts.

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: Public purchasing at this scale sets market conditions rather than merely responding to them
• Requiring environmental performance to carry measurable weight makes decarbonisation commercially material for suppliers seeking public contracts
• The limit is that buyers may still award on price alone where quality is defined through technical specifications

⏭️ What's next: The proposal goes to the European Parliament and Council for negotiation before entering into force, a process not expected to conclude until late 2027. European solar manufacturers have argued the timeline arrives too late for firms already at risk of collapse.

📈 One stat: A minimum 30% weighting for quality criteria, rising to 50% for labour-intensive contracts

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