Critical remarks about smart procurement strategy, its risks, limitations and need for differentiation between green, social and innovation procurement. Presented at the European Commission's Stakeholder Expert Group on Public Procurement meeting in Brussels on 15 June 2016.

1. Strategic Procurement: how to achieve green,
social and innovation goals through public
spending? – Some critical remarks
Dr Albert Sanchez-Graells
European Commission Stakeholder Expert Group
on Public Procurement (2015-2018) 3rd meeting
Brussels, 15 June 2016
15 June 2016
1SEGPP Meeting 15 June 2016

2. Strategic / Smart Procurement:
a confusing label
• Discussion tends to conflate issues that require
different assessment
• Green public procurement
• Social public procurement
• Innovative public procurement
• Innovation in solutions
• Innovation in processes
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15 June 2016

3. What are the main differences / difficulties (I)
• Two of the issues can (generally) be pursued in a
competition neutral way and with respect for
undistorted market competition
• Green public procurement, particularly through
technical specifications/labels and award criteria
[but difficulties for life-cycle consting]
• Procedural innovation in public procurement
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15 June 2016

4. What are the main differences / difficulties (II)
• Other two issues are (impossible) to pursue in a
competition neutral manner and unavoidably
result in market distortion / protectionism
• Social public procurement -> social and employment
benefits are necessarily localised (or impossible to
delocalise) + Other instruments exist (PWD, PWED)
• Procurement of technological innovation ->
has a strong link with industrial policy / State aid
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5. Different solutions
• From an internal market perspective, only 2
systemically-consistent solutions
• GPP + Procedural Innovation: application of strict
proportionality test to green or process-related
innovation requirements
• SPP + Technological Innovation: limitation of actions
in PP that are in compliance with existing rules on
social protection and support of R&D&I
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6. Further details
• A Sanchez-Graells, ‘Truly competitive public
procurement as a Europe 2020 lever: what role
for the principle of competition in moderating
horizontal policies?’ (2016) 22(2) European
Public Law Journal 377-394
• A copy is circulated together with these slides, not
for further circulation
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15 June 2016