EWL says public procurement rules should support aim of more equal society
[Brussels, 20 April 2011] The EWL has submitted its contribution to the European Commission’s Green Paper on the modernisation of EU public procurement policy, entitled “Towards a more efficient European Procurement Market”.
The EWL strongly believes that European public procurement rules should be renewed so that they can support the achievement of overall societal goals, in particular the promotion of fundamental rights and of social inclusion, including equality between women and men. Given that public procurement accounts for about 17% of EU gross domestic product, the impact of EU-level obligations on what to buy and on whom to buy from would be considerable in areas such as social policy and gender equality.
The EWL explains how to include gender equality in the “what to buy” rules, but also recommends that equality between women and men should be an aspect of Socially Responsible Public Procurement (SRPP). In a 2nd part, the EWL shows how it is feasible to integrate a gender perspective at each stage of the public procurement process. Finally, the EWL gives some examples of good practices in the EU which can be used by the European Commission to include a criterion of gender equality in the public procurement rules, such as in Belgium, Switzerland or in the UK, where strong gender equality duties are in place.
Download the EWL Contribution in PDF format:
- ewl contribution eu consultation public procurement april 2011
