The Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament strongly deplore the outcome of the vote on the report concerning public procurement by the European Parliament’s committee on the internal market and consumer protection.

The Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament could not support the position of the Parliament that was voted today. The measures proposed were too weak and missed the opportunity of sending a strong message to the Commission that its upcoming reform of public procurement rules need to guarantee that public money is spent in a way that guarantees workers’ rights and the protection of the environment.

For the S&Ds it is clear: it is a major priority for our Group that the huge sums of 14% GDP that are spent in public money must be spent in line with workers’ rights, creating quality jobs, stimulating demand for green innovation and supporting European industry facing unfair external competition.

Gaby Bischoff, S&D vice-president for sustainable economy and social Europe, said:

“Public procurement means spending tax payers’ money. This is why the S&D Group has called for social criteria to be systematically applied in order to reward those companies that create quality jobs and uphold collective agreements.

“We call on the Commission’s vice-president for prosperity and industrial strategy, Stéphane Sejourné, to bring forward a proposal that can find broad support in the pro-European alliance, including the second biggest group of the European Parliament. Our support will depend on workers’ rights and quality jobs being duly taken into account.”

Pierre Jouvet, S&D shadow rapporteur on public procurement, said:

“S&Ds fought for an ambitious vision of public procurement that it is no longer only awarded based on cost alone, but rather delivers long-term benefits for citizens, by ensuring European resilience and decent jobs, shielding workers’ rights and protecting the planet. 

“Despite our efforts to explore different options to find a compromise, we faced an unfortunate alliance proposing instead a focus on deregulation, reducing burden, and ignoring the power of public procurement to develop a more sustainable and socially fair economy.

“Today, the European Parliament missed an opportunity to put on the table an ambitious proposal that would benefit citizens and European industry in times of global uncertainty. This is why our group cannot accept this watering down of Europe’s ambition for the years to come. We call on the Commission to consider our key demands while it is preparing the reform proposal on this critical subject - one far too serious to let it be hijacked by the far-right.”

Notes to editors

According to a survey published by UNI Europa(opens in a new tab), a vast majority of Europeans think that public authorities should promote good working conditions and collective bargaining in public procurement contracts.

Europe’s economic future depends on our ability to maintain high-quality jobs and social cohesion while transitioning towards a net-zero economy. This is why during the negotiations, the S&Ds have pushed to make social and environmental criteria compulsory to maximise public value.