Public procurement to focus on long-term value, instead of short-term price tag
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By With 2.5 trillion euros on the table, public procurement can be a powerful tool for decarbonisation – and the European Commission is finally unleashing it. For the first time, EU procurement rules could consider more than only the upfront price tag, setting up Europe’s industries for a low-carbon future with benefits for taxpayers, the environment, citizens, and businesses. However, today’s draft Public Procurement Act leaves room for improvement, ECOS says, because it proposes to repeal existing sectoral legislation in key sectors, replacing it by a generic empowerment to procurers to include mandatory green public procurement rules.
The Public Procurement Act proposal, published today [1], places best value at the core of its revision. Rules that have long allowed more than 60% of public contracts to be awarded to the cheapest offer are set to finally favour long-term cost savings by also factoring in higher quality by default.
The proposed Public Procurement Act gets it right by:
- Recognising that sustainability and circularity are crucial dimensions in public procurement, with quality in the spotlight alongside upfront costs. This will support public authorities in identifying the best value option, ECOS says.
- Accelerating progress on sustainable food procurement. The draft Act spotlights food as a priority sector, which is a welcome step, according to ECOS. Despite the large market share of food procured for schools, hospitals, and public offices, EU legislation has long ignored environmental and health benefits from more conscious procurement practices. However, the measures proposed are not mandatory, so improvements must still be made to guarantee ambition, ECOS says.
If adopted, these measures would help to create dependable demand for innovative, low-carbon products – allowing the EU to add value for taxpayers, the environment, citizens, and businesses. Sustainability remains largely voluntary, ECOS says, yet public buyers will be required to include mandatory criteria in specific sectors. Details on what that will look like, and the role of common EU action, remain to be defined.
Federica Pozzi, Senior Programme Manager at ECOS – Environmental Coalition on Standards, said:
EU procurement law will soon encourage local authorities to look at quality as well as upfront price when they spend public money. This is a good first step towards long-term benefits and cost savings for taxpayers. But Europe’s industries won’t become competitive on goodwill alone. To get there, common EU requirements in key sectors will be crucial to guarantee investment certainty and significant demand.
Sectoral ambition remains in limbo
The Public Procurement Act proposal is a step in the right direction, but, in its current form, it will not solve problems on the ground, according to ECOS. As a next step, provisions will still have to be applied to key sectors, and a clear path forward to 2030 will need to be developed for the 250,000+ public procurers who will work with this law.
Where the proposed Public Procurement Act can be improved:
- Make sustainability mandatory by default. Sustainability without mandatory weighting risks undermining the multiplier effects of large-scale demand for decarbonised products, ECOS says [2].
- Favour a joint EU approach to mandatory public procurement requirements and sectoral and product legislation – from construction to clean tech and ecodesign. The draft Act contains direct amendments and repeals on existing ambitious sectoral legislation shifting the regulatory burden to procurers. This carries risks, according to ECOS. For example, the 10+ sectors covered by the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) might suffer from lower ambition, because the default 30% weight it gives to sustainability as part of awarding contracts would be repealed. This could result in key markets that are not sufficiently reformed, slowing both competitiveness and decarbonisation. These measures are proposed to be replaced with a generic empowerment for the European Commission to act – but clear priorities and deadlines are missing, ECOS says.
- Focus more on the construction sector – which captures the largest share of public contracts. Despite a call by the European Parliament to deliver clear and sound provisions to channel investments and foster decarbonisation [3], the construction sector does not get the prominence it warrants, ECOS explains.
Tudor Cherhat, Co-Coordinator of the Buy Better to Build Better (BBBB) coalition, said:
The construction sector gets almost a third of its business from public projects. Mandatory environmental measures could almost halve construction-related emissions while giving businesses and procurers the right tools to act. This is a major untapped opportunity – and an issue policymakers must still tackle.
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Notes to Editor:
[1] Public Procurement Act proposal (September 2026): https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_26_1817
[2] Joint letter (May 2026), ‘Securing a future-proof Public Procurement Act’: https://ecostandard.org/publications/securing-a-future-proof-public-procurement-act/. In this joint letter, industry, public buyers, and civil society warned that public spending should be value-based.
[3] Procedure File: 2024/2103 (INI), Legislative Observatory, European Parliament: https://oeil.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/pl/procedure-file?reference=2024/2103(INI)
Other resources:
ECOS report (November 2024), ‘Buy better to build better: Driving public purchase towards green construction products’. This report shows that introducing ambitious requirements for the highest polluting materials can save up to 19 million tonnes of emissions annually at minimal cost. That means lowering emissions from construction by a staggering 43% with upfront project cost increases at no more than 3-4%.
Contact:
Alison Grace
Senior Press & Communications Manager
alison.grace@ecostandard.org
+32 493 19 22 59
