The International Working Group for Ethical Public Procurement has addressed a letter to the European Commission outlining key recommendations for the ongoing revision of the EU Public Procurement Directives. The letter highlights the critical role of public procurement in advancing human rights, environmental protection and responsible business conduct, and calls for stronger integration of due diligence across the procurement cycle. 

Building on the experience of civil society organisations, procurement practitioners, and policy experts, the letter sets out concrete recommendations to operationalise due diligence across the entire procurement cycle. It calls for clearer rules, stronger enforcement, and practical tools to support contracting authorities in integrating sustainability considerations effectively and consistently.

Read the full letter here.

Signatories:

• Ajuntament de Barcelona
• BHRE Research Group
• Electronics Watch
• Fair Trade Advocacy Office
• FEMNET
• NOVACT
• SETEM
• Sustainable Public Procurement in the Regions of Sweden
• Swedwatch
• Universidad de Sevilla (Departamento de Derecho Internacional Público y Relaciones Internacionales

About the International Working Group on Ethical Public Procurement (IWGEPP):

The International Working Group on Ethical Public Procurement (IWGEPP) is a collaboration of representatives from over 45 public contracting authorities, public buyer representative groups, governmental bodies, academia, multi-stakeholder initiatives and NGOs from several countries, formed in 2011. Its mission is to work towards socially responsible public procurement becoming the norm and integrated part of public procurement processes in countries around the world.

Get in touch:

For more information about our work on Public Procurement, please reach out to Paola Plaku at plaku@fairtade-advocacy.org.