Social aspects

To support their social policies, contracting authorities have many ways of taking account of social considerations in public procurement. Many social considerations, depending on their nature, can be included only at certain stages of the procurement procedure. For example, social considerations regarding labour conditions are generally more appropriate to be included in the contract performance clauses. On the other hand, it is generally more appropriate to include accessibility considerations in the technical specifications. In addition, contracting authorities should decide case by case which social considerations are relevant to their procurement, depending on the subject-matter of their contract and on their objectives. Specific references to product- or service-related aspects were included in the pages of this guide. Various handbooks are in circulation with detailed information about the legal possibilities of the integration of sustainable aspects in public procurement. The following is a brief summary: - Handbook from the European Commission: Buying social - Handbooks from Personnel and Organisation FPS: see pages in Dutch or French- Handbook:  Verifying Social Responsibility in supply chains: a practical and legal guide for public procurers. Read more >>