Green public procurement: Analysis on the use of environmental criteria in contracts

Review of European Community and International Environmental Law

Volumn 19, Issue 2, 2010, Pages 250-262

  Palmujoki, Antti ^a   Parikka Alhola, Katriina ^b   Ekroos, Ari ^c  

^a Rantanen and Co Ltd Attorneys at Law in Helsinki   (Finland)

^b FINNISH ENVIRONMENT INSTITUTE   (Finland)

^c UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI   (Finland)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT; ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY; EUROPEAN UNION; NATIONAL PLANNING;

EID: 78650186835     PISSN: 09628797     EISSN: 14679388     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9388.2010.00681.x     Document Type: Article

References (109)

1. Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (Rome, 25 March 1957), Article 36.
2. Treaty on European Union (Maastricht, 7 February 1992), Article 2;
3. Treaty establishing the European Community (Amsterdam, 2 October 1997) (consolidated version), Article 6;
4. Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community (Lisbon, 13 December 2007), Article 2.
5. See, e.g., Communication from the Commission of 16 July 2008 to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, on Public Procurement for a Better Environment, COM (2008) 400 final;
6. Commission Interpretative Communication of 4 July 2001 on the Community Law Applicable to Public Procurement and the Possibilities for Integrating Environmental Considerations into Public Procurement, COM (2001) 274 final;
7. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions of 16 July 2008 on the Sustainable Consumption and Production and Sustainable Industrial Policy Action Plan, COM (2008) 397 final.
8. See also H.A. Nash, 'The European Commission's Sustainable Consumption and Production and Sustainable Industrial Policy Action Plan', 17:4 Journal of Cleaner Production (2009), 496.
9. See Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, n. 1 above, Articles 3 and 28.
10. Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament of 18 June 2003 on Integrated Product Policy, COM (2003) 302 final.
11. C. Erdmenger (ed.), Buying into the Environment - Experiences, Opportunities and Potential for Eco-procurement (Greenleaf Publishing, 2003).
12. See Communication on Public Procurement for a Better Environment, n. 3 above, at 9;
13. J. Edler and L. Georghiou, 'Public Procurement and Innovation - Resurrecting the Demand Side', 36:7 Research Policy (2007), 949;
14. L. Hommen and M. Rolfstam, 'Public Procurement and Innovation: Towards a taxonomy', 9:1 Journal of Public Procurement (2009), 17.
15. K. Larsen and Ö. Svane, Routines and Communities of Practice in Public Environmental Procurement Process, CESIS Electronic Working Paper Series, Paper No 44 (2005);
16. European Commission, GPP - How Green is your Public Procurement? (2 July 2007), available at .
17. See Communication on Public Procurement for a Better Environment, n. 3 above, at 8.
18. See Treaty on European Union, n. 2 above, Article 3.
19. There are a few exceptions, such as defence equipment. See S. Martin et al., 'Public Procurement Directives in the European Union: A Study of Local Authority Purchasing', 77:2 Public Administration (1999), 387.
20. European Parliament and Council Directive 2004/17/EC of 31 March 2004 on coordinating the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors, [2004] OJ L134/1. Specific exclusions are mentioned in Articles 19-26.
21. European Parliament and Council Directive 2004/18/ EC of 31 March 2004 on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts, [2004] OJ L134/114. Specific exclusions are mentioned in Articles 12-18.
22. Both came into force on 30 April 2004.
23. P. Kunzlik, 'Case Law Analysis - Making the Market Work for the Environment: Acceptance of (Some) "Green" Contract Award Criteria in Public Procurement', 15:2 Journal of Environmental Law (2003), 188.
24. The early public procurement directives (European Commission Directive 70/32/EEC of 17 December 1969 on provision of goods to the State, [1970] OJ L13/1;
25. European Council Directive 71/304/EEC of 26 July 1971 concerning the abolition of restrictions on freedom to provide services in respect of public works contracts and on the award of public works contracts to contractors acting through agencies or branches, [1971] OJ L185/1;
26. European Council Directive 77/62/EEC of 21 December 1976 coordinating procedures for the award of public supply contracts, [1977] OJ L13/1) took place in the 1970s focusing on prohibiting hidden protectionism in the form of national public purchasing regimes, and were followed by the public procurement directives issued in 1993.
27. See D.L. McLachlan, 'Discriminatory Public Procurement, Economic Integration and the Role of Bureaucracy', 23:4 Journal of Common Market Studies (1985), 357. The directives of 1993 made all public procurement (except defence) subject to the EU legislation.
28. See S. Martin et al., n. 11 above.
29. Treaty establishing the European Community, n. 2 above.
30. See Directive 2004/17/EC, n. 12 above, Article 55;
31. Directive 2004/18/EC, n. 13 above, Article 53.
32. See S. Martin et al., n. 11 above.
33. See Directive 2004/17/EC, n. 12 above, Article 55;
34. Directive 2004/18/EC, n. 13 above, Article 53;
35. see Public Procurement Act of Finland 2007 (Finnish Statute Series No 348/2007), Section 62.
36. The Finnish version of the directive translates environmental characteristics as 'environmental friendliness'. See Public Procurement Act of Finland, ibid., Section 62.
37. See Directive 2004/18/EC, n. 13 above, Article 53.
38. See Public Procurement Act of Finland, n. 20 above.
39. Public Procurement Act of Sweden 2007, SFS 2007:1091.
40. A. Ekroos, 'EC Legislation on Public Procurement and Sustainable Development', in H.C. Bugge and C. Voigt (eds), Sustainable Development in International and National Law, The Avosetta Series 8 (Europa Law Publishing, 2008), 436.
41. In the legislative process in Parliament, the Environment Committee proposed in its statement to the Economic Committee, that the draft be modified (Finnish Government, Ympäristövaliokunnan lausunto 29/2006, at 4, available at ) as follows. Section 2.1 should be modified so as to direct more strongly the taking of environmental aspects into account. They suggested deleting at the end of sub-item 2 'taking into account environmental aspects' whilst adding a new sentence, 'In public procurements environmental aspects must always be taken into account when possible'. The committee argued that, modified as proposed, the section would guide more effectively to include environmental aspects in procurement.
42. See A. Ekroos, ibid., at 437.
43. J. Hane and P-O. Bergqvist, 'New Legislation on Public Procurement in Sweden', Legal Developments Worldwide - Corporate and Commercial (May 2008), available at .
44. L. Carlsson and K. Åström, 'Court Decisions in Public Procurement: Delineating the Grey Zone', 53 Scandinavian Studies in Law (2008), 407.
45. See J. Hane and P-O. Bergqvist, n. 27 above.
46. See also Regeringens Proposition, 2006/07:128, Ny lagstiftning om offentlig upphandling och upphandling inom områdena vatten, energi, transporter och posttjänster. Finansdepartement (19 June 2007), at 156.
47. ECJ 17 September 2002, Case C-513/99, Concordia Bus Finland Oy Ab, formerly Stagecoach Finland Oy Ab v. Helsingin kaupunki and HKL-Bussiliikenne, [2002] ECR I-7213.
48. ECJ 4 December 2003, Case C-448/01, EVN AG and Wienstrom GmbH v. Republic of Austria, [2003] ECR I-14527.
49. European Commission-Environment, Ecolabelled Products, Paper Products (European Commission, undated), available at . Other examples include renewable electricity, organic food and sustainable and legally-logged timber.
50. See Commission of the European Communities, Buying Green! A handbook on environmental public procurement, SEC (2004) 1050, at 23.
51. See Directive 2004/18/EC, n. 13 above, Article 23;
52. Directive 2004/17/EC, n. 12 above, Article 34;
53. the Public Procurement Act of Finland, n. 20 above, Section 44.
54. A. Ekroos and A. Nissinen, 'Voidaanko tuotantomenetelmää koskevia ympäristönsuojelullisia perusteita käyttää julkisten hankintojen vertailuperusteina?', 31 Edilex (2007), available at .
55. Commission Staff Working Document accompanying the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, Public Procurement for a Better Environment, SEC (2008) 2126/2, 4.
56. See Directive 2004/18/EC, n. 13 above, Article 53(2).
57. See A. Ekroos, n. 25 above, at 436.
58. See, e.g., M. Bouwer et al., Green Public Procurement in Europe 2005 - Status Overview (Virage Milieu & Management, 2005), available at .
59. See, e.g., A. Ekroos and A. Nissinen, n. 34 above.
60. See Directive 2004/18/EC, n. 13 above, Article 23(6).
61. See also Guidelines on Greening Public Procurement by Using the European Eco-label Criteria (European Union Eco-Labelling Board, November 2001).
62. Regulation (EC) 761/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 March 2001 allowing voluntary participation by organizations in a Community eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS), [2001] OJ L114/1.
63. See A. Ekroos, n. 25 above, at 435.
64. See Directive 2004/18/EC, n. 13 above, Article 26.
65. See Buying Green! A handbook on environmental public procurement, n. 32 above.
66. See A. Ekroos, n. 25 above, at 430.
67. European Commission, How Green is your Public Procurement? Training toolkit on GPP (European Commission, 2009), available at .
68. The sectors include (1) construction; (2) food and catering services; (3) transport and transport services; (4) energy; (5) office machinery and computers; (6) clothing, uniforms and other textiles; (7) paper and printing services; (8) furniture; (9) cleaning products and services; and (10) equipment used in the health sector.
69. See Communication on Public Procurement for a Better Environment, n. 3 above, at 5.
70. A. Nissinen, S. Oystein, and K. Ongre (eds), Nordic Cooperation on Green Public Procurement: The First Set of Criteria Examples (TemaNord, 2009).
71. H. Lusser and K. Willsher, 'Greening your Contracts' (ICLEI, 26 March 2009), available at .
72. See Training Toolkit on GPP, n. 46 above.
73. See H. Lusser and K. Willsher, n. 50 above.
74. See Training toolkit on GPP, n. 46 above.
75. Ibid.
76. See H. Lusser and K. Willsher, n. 50 above.
77. See Training Toolkit on GPP, n. 46 above.
78. European Parliament and Council Directive 2001/77/EC of 27 September 2001 on the promotion of electricity produced from renewable energy sources in the internal electricity market, [2001] OJ L283/33.
79. See Public Procurement Act of Finland, n. 20 above, Section 54(2)(4).
80. In addition, e.g., an essential breach of the rules of professional conduct might be considered grave misconduct.
81. See I. Aalto-Setälä et al., Kilpailulait ja laki julkisista hankinnoista, 3rd edn (Tietosanoma, 2003), 596.
82. Commission Interpretative Communication of 4 July 2001 on the Community Law applicable to Public Procurement and the Possibilities for Integrating Environmental Considerations into Public Procurement, COM (2001) 274 final.
83. See Directive 2004/18/EC, n. 13 above, Article 53(2).
84. Finnish Government Bill of 28 April 2006 50/2006, Hallituksen esitys Eduskunnalle laeiksi julkisista hankinnoista sekä vesi- ja energiahuollon, liikenteen ja postipalvelujen alalla toimivien yksiköiden hankinnoista, at 100-103.
85. See Commission Interpretative Communication, n. 60 above.
86. M. Hemmo, Sopimusoikeus II (Talentum, 2003), 116-117.
87. K. Parikka-Alhola et al., 'Green Award Criteria in the most Economically Advantageous Tender in Public Purchasing', in K.V. Thai and G. Piga (eds), Advancing Public Procurement (PrAcademics Press, 2006), at 257.
88. The terms of the contracts were often determined in the calls for tenders, in which they were often used as an appendix.
89. The official website of the European Union, Tenders Electronic Daily - Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union, available at .
90. Calls for tenders for products, services and works meeting specific threshold values according to the directives must be made available throughout the EU. This is done through the Supplement to the Official Journal (OJ S).
91. See A. Nissinen et al., 'Environmental Criteria in the Public Purchases above the EU Threshold Values by Three Nordic Countries: 2003 and 2005', 68:6 Ecological Economics (2009), 1843.
92. If services with no apparent green criteria (see A. Nissinen et al., ibid.) were excluded, the results for contracts would be: Finland 23% and Sweden 45% in 2005, and in 2007, 35% and 74%, respectively.
93. See Communication on Public Procurement for a Better Environment, n. 3 above, at 7.
94. See Training Toolkit on GPP, n. 46 above.
95. Council Directive 93/12/EEC of 23 March 1993 relating to the sulphur content of certain liquid fuels, [1993] OJ L74/81.
96. These results support the results from previous studies, e.g., A. Nissinen et al., n. 69 above, at 1843;
97. M. Bouwer et al., n. 38 above, at 43.
98. See also P. Kippo-Edlund et al., Measuring the Environmental Soundness of Public Procurement in Nordic Countries (TemaNord 505/2005), at 25.
99. See M. Hemmo, n. 64 above, at 116-117.
100. See M. Hemmo, n. 64 above, at 114.
101. E. Routamo and J. Ramberg, Kauppalain kommentaari (Lakimiesliiton kustannus, 1997), at 317.
102. See K. Parikka-Alhola et al., n. 65 above, at 273-274.
103. See M. Hemmo, n. 64 above, at 116-117.
104. Ibid.
105. See A. Nissinen et al., n. 69 above, at 1843.
106. See Communication on Public Procurement for a Better Environment, n. 3 above, at 4, stating that GPP is 'a process whereby public authorities seek to procure goods, services and works with a reduced environmental impact throughout their life cycle when compared to goods, services and works with the same primary function that would otherwise be procured'.
107. Ibid., at 8.
108. See Training Toolkit on GPP, n. 46 above.
109. Collection of Statistical Information on Green Public Procurement in the EU: Report on Data Collection Results (PricewaterhouseCoopers Sustainability, 2009).