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Sustainable Public Procurement in Europe: Creating Markets or Distorting the Internal Market

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Open Markets, Free Trade and Sustainable Development

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Abstract

In 2010, the European Commission communicated its vision for Europe in 2020: the 2020 strategy. In this strategy, the European Commission states the need for a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy. The 2020 strategy defines sustainable growth as the promotion of a more resource efficient, greener and more competitive economy. One of the tools to reach out for such sustainable growth is public procurement, in particular sustainable public procurement. Therefore, the 2020 strategy states that the European Commission will encourage wider use of sustainable public procurement. Public procurement should for example be used to reduce energy and resource use and to invest in energy efficiency in public buildings and in more efficient recycling.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    CEPS and College of Europe (2012).

  2. 2.

    Brammer and Walker (2009).

  3. 3.

    World Commission on Environment and Development (1987).

  4. 4.

    Defra (2006).

  5. 5.

    Sustainable Procurement Platform (2016).

  6. 6.

    Preuss (2009).

  7. 7.

    Ibid.: 217f.

  8. 8.

    P. Aspers, Märkte (Springer VS 2015) 50.

  9. 9.

    R.H. Coase, The firm the market and the law (The University of Chicago Press 1988) 7f.

  10. 10.

    P. Aspers, Märkte (Springer VS 2015) 19.

  11. 11.

    Sarasvathy and Dew (2005).

  12. 12.

    Tinbergen (1965).

  13. 13.

    European Commission (2016a).

  14. 14.

    Kunzlik (2003).

  15. 15.

    European Commission, Green Paper, Public Procurement in the European Union: Exploring the way.

  16. 16.

    For the developments see Krämer (2013, 83ff).

  17. 17.

    ECJ Judgement, Concordia Bus Finland Oy Ab v Helsinginkaupunki, HKL-Bussiliikenne [2002] ECR2002 I-07213. The first judgement dealing with social criteria was the Beentjes Case, which also allowed for social considerations to some degree, ECJ judgement, Beentjes vs Netherlands State [1988] ECR 1988 I-04652.

  18. 18.

    Caranta (2010).

  19. 19.

    European Commission (2004).

  20. 20.

    European Commission (2016b).

  21. 21.

    European Commission (2010).

  22. 22.

    Burja (2009).

  23. 23.

    For the process see http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/gpp_criteria_process.htm accessed 19 September 2016.

  24. 24.

    See for example Article 5 of the Clean Vehicles Directive (2009/33/EC) or Article 6 of the Energy Star Regulation (106/2008).

  25. 25.

    One example is the debate between Kunzlik and Hettne, see Kunzlik (2013) and Hettne (2013).

  26. 26.

    Commission (2011a), 15 final.

  27. 27.

    Commission (2011b), 896 final.

  28. 28.

    Commission (n 27), 4.

  29. 29.

    Pitschas and Prieß (2000).

  30. 30.

    Arrowsmith and Kunzlik (2009, pp. 9–54).

  31. 31.

    Commission (n 27), p. 35ff.

  32. 32.

    Dragus and Neamtu (2014, 301ff).

  33. 33.

    The paragraph about clarifying is still in the new Directive para. 91.

  34. 34.

    Van der Abeele (2014).

  35. 35.

    Pauwelyn (2004).

  36. 36.

    European Commission (2011).

  37. 37.

    European Commission (2004, 23).

  38. 38.

    European Commission (2016b, 51).

  39. 39.

    ECJ Judgement, Commission v Kingdom of the Netherlands (Dutch Coffee) [2012] ECR 2012-0000, para. 91.

  40. 40.

    ECJ Judgement, Concordia Bus Finland Oy Ab v Helsinginkaupunki, HKL-Bussiliikenne [2002] ECR2002 I-07213, para 52.

  41. 41.

    Dalhammer (2015).

  42. 42.

    Ibid.

  43. 43.

    Ibid.

  44. 44.

    The old Directive did not include this explicitly, however, it has been argued that even then the link to the subject matter was a requirement, see Krämer (2013); Opitz (2004).

  45. 45.

    ECJ Judgement, Bundesdruckerei vs. Dortmund, Case C-549/13.

  46. 46.

    ECJ Judgement, Regio Post vs Landau, C-115/14.

  47. 47.

    ECJ Judgement, Concordia Bus Finland Oy Ab v Helsinginkaupunki, HKL-Bussiliikenne [2002] ECR2002 I-07213.

  48. 48.

    Ibid., para. 59.

  49. 49.

    ECJ Judgement, EVN and Wienstrom [2003] ECR2003 I/14527, para 67–72.

  50. 50.

    ECJ Judgement, Commission v Kingdom of the Netherlands (Dutch Coffee) [2012] ECR 2012-0000.

  51. 51.

    Ibid., para 82.

  52. 52.

    Ibid., para. 90.

  53. 53.

    For a critic on this concept see Semple (2014).

  54. 54.

    For the distinction government as purchaser and government as regulator see, Arrowsmith and Kunzlik (2009, 9, 21ff). This distinction is also common in US procurement law and is called the “market-participant doctrine”. Regarding this see Krämer (2014).

  55. 55.

    Caranta (2015).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Law, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany

    Rike Krämer-Hoppe

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  1. Rike Krämer-Hoppe
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  1. Center for Comparative Law, National Law University, Delhi, New Delhi, India

    Mahendra Pal Singh

  2. Juristische Fakultät, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany

    Wolfram Cremer

  3. Centre for Comparative Law, National Law University, Delhi, New Delhi, India

    Niraj Kumar

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Krämer-Hoppe, R. (2019). Sustainable Public Procurement in Europe: Creating Markets or Distorting the Internal Market. In: Singh, M., Cremer, W., Kumar, N. (eds) Open Markets, Free Trade and Sustainable Development. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7426-5_9

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