EU GPP Helpdesk Webinar: How to choose the appropriate social clauses in tendering procedures

The webinar, held on 15^th of June 2023, addressed social clauses in tendering procedures. It analysed the current state of play of the use of social considerations in the procurement process, what are the most used types of social clauses (considerations linked to employment, training, gender equality or combating discrimination) and at which stage of the procurement cycle.

Some of the questions addressed were the following: What is the decision-making process that leads different contracting authorities to choose different types of social clauses? Is there inter-departmental collaboration among procurement offices and departments of employment, social services, equality and non-discrimination, and gender equality? Do contracting authorities consult or collaborate with external actors during this process?  In this regard, the webinar showcased the experience from experts coming from Spain, Belgium, Sweden and Poland.

The webinar featured the following presentations:

• Strategic procurement in the EU, Samira Boussetta, Unit C2 Public Procurement, DG GROW;
• Different types of social clauses and the experience of REVES members, Luigi Martignetti, REVES (European Network of Cities and Regions for the Social Economy);
• The use of training and flexible clauses in works contracts in Wallonia Region, Jean-Luc Bodson, social clause expert (Belgium);
• The use of social, employment and gender clauses in Sweden, Patrick Amofah and Ellionor Triay Strömvall, Swedish Public Procurement Agency (Sweden)
• The use of gender and other types of social clauses in the tendering procedures of the Municipality of Cádiz, Fernando Acuña, Senior Programme Manager, Head of Social Economy, Municipality of Cádiz (Spain);
• The use of social clauses in Lodzkie Region, Anna Gorczynska, Assistant Professor and Head of the Public Procurement and Public-Private Partnership Centre at the University of Lodz (Poland).

The presentations given and the recording can be found in Circabc.

For comments and/or questions regarding the webinar, please write to the GPP helpdesk on gpp-helpdeskiclei [dot] org (gpp-helpdesk[at]iclei[dot]org).