Green Procurement

The framework for the national legislation on public procurement is the European Directive 2004/18/EC and Directive 2004/17/EC. These Directives were modified in 2004 after the interpretative communication on 4 July 2001 of the European Commission and the Judgement of the European Court of Justice of 17 September 2002 (Case C-513/99 - Concordia Bus, Finland) and 4 December 2003 (C-448/01 – Wienelectricity). The Directives deepen the opportunities for adopting environmental considerations in technical specifications selection, award criteria and also contract performance clauses for public procurement.

The Directives only apply to public procurement contracts that will probably exceed fixed thresholds as mentioned in the Directives. All legal principles like equal treatment, transparency, as well as free movement of goods have to be fulfilled by the procurement procedure.