Buying Social – A Guide to Taking Account of Social Considerations in Public Procurement

Socially responsible public procurement (SRPP) is about setting an example and influencing the marketplace. By promoting SRPP, public authorities can give companies real incentives to develop socially responsible management. By purchasing wisely, public authorities can promote employment opportunities, decent work, social inclusion, accessibility, design for all, ethical trade, and seek to achieve wider compliance with social standards.

The purpose of this Guide is (a) to raise contracting authorities’ awareness of the potential benefits of SRPP and (b) to explain in a practical way the opportunities offered by the existing EU legal framework for public authorities to take into account social considerations in their public procurement, thus paying attention not only to price but also to the best value for money. When drafting this Guide, the Commission widely consulted public authorities in the Member States and many other interested parties and stakeholders. This Guide has been produced chiefly for public authorities, but also in the hope that it will inspire private-sector purchasers too.

This is a publication of the European Commission, © European Union, 2010.

This publication is commissioned under the European Union Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity PROGRESS (2007-2013). This programme is managed by the Directorate-General for Employment, social affairs and equal opportunities of the European Commission. It was established to financially support the implementation of the objectives of the European Union in the employment and social affairs area, as set out in the Social Agenda, and thereby contribute to the achievement of the Europe 2020 goals in these fields.

Topics: Buying social; Socially responsible public procurement (SRPP); benefits of SRPP; Assisting compliance with social and labour law, including related national and international policy commitments/agendas; Stimulating socially conscious markets; Demonstrating socially responsive governance; Stimulating integration; Ensuring more effective public expenditure; SRPP and the EU social model; The legal and policy approach; Social services of general economic interest; Small and medium-sized enterprises ; An organisational strategy for buying social; setting objectives; Providing highlevel political commitment and leadership; Measuring the risks and prioritising organisational spend categories to enhance social outcomes; Raising awareness; involving key stakeholders; Implementing; measuring effective implementation; The importance of legal advice; Preparing the procurement procedure; Stages of the procurement procedure; Identifying the needs and planning procurement; Increasing access to procurement opportunities; Setasides for sheltered workshops; Social labels and the implications for ethical trade; Taking into account social concerns in production and process methods; Disability and technical specifications; general rules for drafting award criteria and on awarding contracts; Conditions applicable to award criteria in tender evaluation; The ‘additional criterion’; Dealing with ‘abnormally low bids’; Examples of social considerations that may be included in the contract performance clauses; Compliance with national employment legal framework.

Year Published: 2010

Source: EU Commission

Buying Socially (0.87 MB)

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