Public procurement for social progress
Dear members,
Please find attached Social Platform’s Guide “Public procurement for social progress” in English. Linguistic versions in FR, ES, DE, IT and Croatian will be available in two weeks.
On 17 April 2014 the new Public Procurement Directive (2014/24/EU) came into force. Member states have until 18 April 2016 to transpose the Directive into national legislation.
Although the Directive provides contracting authorities with a vehicle to achieve social and environmental goals, they are not obliged to pursue those goals.
This guide is aimed at:
- supporting member state representatives in the transposition of the directive
- supporting contracting authorities in its implementation
- facilitating the understanding of the Directive by social economy enterprises and non-profit social and health service providers.
In order to capitalise on the social advantages the Directive offers, we have focused on the following three areas:
“Reserved contracts” for economic operators that promote the social and professional integration of persons with disabilities and disadvantaged persons.
“Social considerations” as the silver thread through the procurement process (e.g. how to promote fundamental rights, gender equality, employment opportunities for people further away from the labour market, decent work)
Putting service users first by designing effective procedures for awarding contracts for social and health services.
We thank very much all the members that contributed to this work. We kindly ask you to help us disseminate the guide to your members and your contacts, especially at national level.
Kind regards,
Valentina
