On 6 November EAPN participated with other members of the Social Platform in a meeting held by the Commission to discuss the findings of a recent study carried out by the International Training Centre on the social considerations of public procurement.
The study is part of a series of actions carried out under DG Employment’s Corporate Social Responsibility brief, which aims to support the better use of existing EU legislation enabling the use of public procurement to integrate social responsibilities –to help integration to the labour markets, high levels of social inclusion, more recruitment of disadvantaged groups etc.
The package of actions included a survey of typical applications of public procurement for social considerations, an analysis of policy and regulation frameworks and 6 interesting national case studies on Equal opportunities,Gender, Health and Safety, Employment and Vocational Training, Decent Work, and Accessibility for all. Fair and Ethical Trade is also considered in the main study. The findings of the study will be used to develop a non-binding Good Practice Guide, based on the Commission’s Green Guide – aimed at awareness-raising and building capacity of public authorities in this area.
No formal consultation will be carried out on the draft. But stakeholders can send input ( 2 page of comments) for the Guide to DG Employment through a mail box which will be set up shortly on the Corporate Social Responsibility website, or e-mail sent to Robert.Stauss@ec.europa.eu, before the end of the year.
The Guide will be produced by late spring.
