What is Green Public Procurement?
Green Public Procurement (GPP) is a policy tool that enables public authorities to purchase goods, services and works with a reduced environmental impact throughout their lifecycle. The European Union promotes GPP to help achieve climateneutrality, resource efficiency and the circular economy while delivering value for money.
Legal Framework
The EU GPP framework is anchored in several pieces of legislation:
- Directive 2014/24/EU (Public Procurement Directive) obliges contracting authorities to take environmental considerations into account.
- Directive 2014/25/EU (Utilities Procurement Directive) applies the same principles to water, energy, transport and postal services.
- Regulation (EU) 2020/852 on taxonomy defines environmentally sustainable economic activities.
- European Green Deal and Fit for 55 set ambitious climate targets that GPP helps to achieve.
Member States implement these rules through national procurement laws and guidance documents.
Key Product Areas Covered by EU GPP
The European Commission has published voluntary GPP criteria for a range of product groups. The most developed are:
- Construction products
- Office equipment and ICT
- Vehicles and transport services
- Food, catering and hospitality
- Cleaning products and services
- Textiles and clothing
- Energyrelated products (e.g., lighting, heating)
Each product group has a set of criteria that can be adopted at the tender level, either as mandatory or optional requirements.
Structure of EU GPP Criteria
GPP criteria follow a common structure to ensure consistency and comparability:
| Element | Content |
|---|---|
| Reference | Unique code (e.g., GPP1.1) and link to the official document. |
| Title | Short description of the environmental requirement. |
| Scope | Product categories, lifecycle stages, or service types to which the criterion applies. |
| Requirement | Specific performance threshold or condition (e.g., energy consumption 150kWh/100m per year). |
| Compliance method | How the supplier must prove conformity (declaration, certification, test report, etc.). |
| Weighting | Suggested scoring weight for evaluation, if used. |
| Reference documents | Links to standards, labels or EU regulations supporting the criterion. |
Authorities can combine mandatory and optional criteria to tailor a procurement to local priorities.
Implementation Guidance for Contracting Authorities
Below are practical steps to embed GPP criteria in a tender:
- Identify relevant product groups. Use the EUs Green Public Procurement catalogue to check which groups match the planned purchase.
- Perform a baseline analysis. Determine the current environmental performance of the market and set realistic improvement targets.
- Select criteria. Choose mandatory criteria that align with EU climate goals and add optional criteria that reflect local policy (e.g., circularity, biodiversity).
- Draft the specification. Write clear, measurable requirements and indicate the accepted proof (e.g., CE marking, EN standard, Ecolabel).
- Define evaluation rules. Assign appropriate weights, decide whether criteria are pass/fail or scorebased, and describe the assessment method.
- Communicate with the market. Publish a market consultation or pretender questionnaire to gauge supplier readiness.
- Monitor and verify. After award, require periodic reporting and, where feasible, onsite verification.
Tools such as the EU GPP portal and national eprocurement platforms provide templates and checklists.
Benefits of Adopting EU GPP Criteria
- Environmental impact reduction. Lower greenhousegas emissions, reduced waste and better resource efficiency.
- Economic savings. Energyefficient products often have lower operating costs and longer lifespans.
- Market stimulation. Creates demand for greener products, encouraging innovation and scaling of sustainable technologies.
- Policy coherence. Aligns procurement with EU climate targets and national sustainability strategies.
- Risk mitigation. Suppliers complying with recognized criteria are less likely to face regulatory penalties or reputational issues.
Further Resources
For detailed criteria and supporting documents, consult the following official sources:
- EU Green Public Procurement portal complete catalogue of criteria, updates and bestpractice case studies.
- 2023 GPP Review Report analysis of market uptake and impact.
- Commission Communication on Environmental Criteria guidance on integrating criteria into tenders.
- National procurement agencies many EU Member States provide translated criteria and local implementation guides.
Stay updated by subscribing to the EUs GPP newsletter or following the European Commissions Environment Twitter channel.
