Green Public Procurement

Find out about voluntary criteria, green public procurement requirements in sectoral legislation and the process for setting criteria.

Good Practice Library

Library of case studies on green and socially responsible public procurement

Green Public Procurement Helpdesk

Questions? Contact the Helpdesk

What is Green Public Procurement?

Green Public Procurement (GPP) is defined in the Communication (COM -2008- 400) "Public procurement for a better environment" as "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."

While GPP is a voluntary instruments and Members States are able to determine the extent to which policies or criteria are applied, it plays a key role in the EU's efforts to boosting a resource-efficient economy.

GPP is within the framework of Strategic Public Procurement, together with Socially Responsible Public Procurement (SRPP) and Innovation Procurement. The basic concept of GPP relies on having clear, verifiable, justifiable, and ambitious environmental criteria for products and services, based on a life-cycle approach and scientific evidence base.

The European Commission (EC) has been developing voluntary GPP criteria for several product groups. Furthermore, following the adoption of the 2020 Circular Economy Action Plan, the Commission is proposing minimum mandatory GPP criteria and targets in sectoral legislation and phase in compulsory reporting to monitor its uptake.

EU Ecolabels: Labels can play a particular role in developing technical specifications and award criteria, and in verifying compliance helping public buyers to save time in accordance with Art. 43 of Directive 2014/24/EU. More information on EU Ecolabel product groups is available online.

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News

Interview with Mr. Phlippos Katranis

The Treasury of the Republic of Cyprus is seeking to reform the field of public contracts and implement new tools

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Recycling the 10 Rs into circular criteria

System developed by the Strategic Procurement Department of the Austrian Federal Railways focusing on the practice of each of the 10Rs.

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Evaluation of the Public Procurement Directives

The European Commission is set to launch a comprehensive evaluation of the Public Procurement Directives.

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Case study of Collectivité Européenne d’Alsace (CeA), France

Procurement category: Furniture

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EU GPP Helpdesk Webinar

How can preliminary market consultations boost sustainable public procurement? Join the webinar!

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SPIN4EIC Assistance to Public Buyers

The SPIN4EIC Strategic Innovation Procurement Programme has launched its Assistance to Public Buyers which offers free and comprehensive support services.