The new proposal for EU rules on public procurement, published today, is a vital opportunity to ensure public money promotes quality jobs and collective bargaining. Parliament and Council must strengthen the Commission proposal and turn it into a win for working people.

The importance of collective bargaining is recognised in the Public Procurement Act published today by the European Commission. It includes among the social considerations the promotion of “high-quality jobs including through acknowledging the role of collective bargaining”. The rules also move beyond the lowest price awarding, by establishing minimum quality criteria that can include social considerations.

This is the first time that collective bargaining has been recognised in the EU’s law governing how public contracts worth 2 Trillion Euro are awarded and carried out.

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) says the European Parliament must build on this to ensure that companies whose workers are covered by collective agreements are always given preference when awarding contracts - as part of mandatory social conditionalities.

The proposal still raises concerns about replacing the existing Directives with a Regulation. It is essential that Member States and contracting authorities maintain the possibility to go beyond EU minimum standards to achieve stronger social outcomes, guarantee full protection of workers' rights, and address abuses - with no risk of regression from the current situation. We call on Parliament and Council to review and revise the Act's text to eliminate any risk of backsliding or ambiguity and to ensure that member states can introduce the new rules without compromising high social standards in public procurement.

Also, trade unions reiterate their call for the revision of the public procurement rules to:

  • Promote direct jobs and include a stricter regulation of subcontracting;
  • Guarantee the full respect of the autonomy of public authorities, including local authorities;
  • Exclude economic operators that have not respected trade union and workers’ rights and labour obligations from public procurement processes (as well as for tax evasion / avoidance);
  • Introduce a well-balanced Made in Europe approach, to ensure that Made in Europe mean made with quality jobs and trade union rights.

ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch said:

“Today’s proposal is recognition that Europe’s lowest bidder approach to public contracts has been a disaster for the quality of goods and services and the millions of workers trying to provide them on a shoestring.

“The proposal opens the way for the recognition that collective bargaining for fair pay and conditions is crucial to ensure public money is spent in the public interest. There is however still much work to be done to ensure the Act actually delivers this.

“The reference to collective bargaining must be strengthened by MEPs to introduce mandatory social conditionalities and ensure that companies which negotiate pay and conditions with trade unions are given preference, as the Court of Justice ruled in favour of in March.

"Also, the provisions on subcontracting must be reinforced to tackles abuses, including by introducing joint and several liability and limiting the length of the subcontracting chains.

“The Act must not mean any steps backwards anywhere in Europe in the protection of working people in public procurement contracts. Trade unions will not accept any regression from the current situation and will mobilise against this risk: the possibility for Member States to go beyond EU minimum standards must be fully maintained."

Trade unions will assess in detail the published proposal, and put forward their proposals to Parliament and Council to ensure that the new public procurement rules ensure quality employment and promote collective bargaining in all circumstances.