Common EU GPP criteria are those criteria that can be incorporated into a public procurement procedure for goods, services or works in order to reduce the environmental impact of a purchase.
Voluntary Criteria
The voluntary GPP Criteria cover the following product groups:
Computers, monitors, tablets and smartphones EU GPP Criteria for Computers, monitors, tablets and smartphones (2021) | Data centres, server rooms and cloud services EU GPP Criteria for Data centres, server rooms and cloud services (2020) |
Electricity | Food catering services and vending machines EU GPP Criteria for Food catering services and vending machines (2019) |
Furniture EU GPP criteria on Furniture (2017) | Imaging equipment, consumables and print services EU GPP criteria for Imaging Equipment, consumables, and print services (2020) |
Indoor cleaning services | Office building design, construction and management EU GPP criteria for Office building design, construction and management (2016) [under revision] |
Paints, varnishes and road markings EU GPP criteria for Paints, varnishes and road markings (2018) | Public space maintenance |
Road design, construction and maintenance EU GPP criteria for Road design, construction and maintenance (2016) | Road lighting and traffic signals EU GPP criteria for Road lighting and traffic signals (2018) |
Road transport | Textile products and services |
Outdated Voluntary Criteria
- Sanitary Tapware (2013)
- Toilets and Urinals (2013)
- Electrical and Electronic Equipment used in the Health Care Sector (2014) [JRC assessment on need for criteria update (2022)]
- Copying and graphic paper (2008) [JRC assessment on need for criteria update (2022)]
- Water-based Heaters (2014) [JRC assessment on need for criteria update (2022)]
- Waste Water Infrastructure (2013) [JRC assessment on need for criteria update (2022)]
Each criteria is accompanied by a technical report prepared by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC).
GPP requirements in sectoral legislation
While the GPP Criteria are voluntary, there are legal requirements in EU legislation that are mandatory for all public buyers:
Commission legislative proposals including GPP requirements:
Process for setting criteria
The European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) is leading the criteria development process based on an annual GPP work plan which is coordinated with the EU Ecolabel workplan. This work plan is adopted in consultation with the informal GPP Advisory Group (GPP AG).
To see which product groups the JRC is developing GPP criteria for, click here.
The process to set criteria goes through the following steps:
Standard procedure for development and revision of EU GPP criteria
- Documents to be drawn up
- Preliminary report
- Technical report
- EU GPP criteria
- Final report
- Criteria development process
- External consultation: Two working group meetings (open to all interested parties) will be held.
- Consultation of the GPP Advisory Group: A proposal for EU GPP Criteria will be submitted to the informal EU GPP Advisory Group for comments
- Adoption and publication: Following an inter-service consultation within the Commission, the EU GPP criteria and the Technical Report will be adopted and published on the EU GPP website
Shortened procedure for development and revision of EU GPP criteria
A shortened procedure can be applied
- for existing criteria: when a non-substantial revision (e.g., change of legislation or policy, new technical data, new ecolabels) is necessary;
- for the development of new criteria: when the scientific base is already well established, e.g., through existing ecolabels, eco-design requirements, best-available techniques and national GPP criteria.
Under the shortened procedure,
- Documents to be drawn up:
- Technical background report.
- Proposal for draft EU GPP criteria must be made available for external consultation on the Commission's website for a period of two months for comments. Responses shall be given to all comments received during the external consultation period, indicating whether each comment is accepted or rejected and why. Following this, the Commission can directly go to the EU GPP Advisory Group with the proposal for EU GPP criteria and the Technical Report and seek for the opinion of the group.
Development of EU GPP criteria led by Member States or stakeholders.
The EU GPP criteria development process can also be led by Member States or stakeholders. The Member State or the stakeholder must demonstrate expertise in the product area, the ability to lead the process with neutrality and obtain the Commission's approval for EU GPP criteria development.