EU GPP Helpdesk Webinar: Reserved contracts and sustainable public procurement

Reserved contracts are one of means that help integrating social objectives in public procurement.

According to Art. 20 of the EU Public Procurement Directive 2014/24/EU, ‘Member States may reserve the right to participate in public procurement procedures to sheltered workshops and economic operators whose main aim is the social and professional integration of disabled or disadvantaged persons or may provide for such contracts to be performed in the context of sheltered employment programmes, provided that at least 30% of the employees of those workshops, economic operators or programmes are disabled or disadvantaged workers. Moreover, Art 77 of the 2014/24/EU Directive states that “Member States may provide that contracting authorities may reserve the right for organisations to participate in procedures for the award of public contracts” for certain health, social and cultural services and under certain conditions. In this way, it is possible to value the provision of these services which in some Member States represent a long tradition and a feature of the welfare system. Similar provisions are included in the Utilities Directive 2024/25.

The webinar explored how reserved contracts can help public buyers achieve their social objectives. It also provided concrete examples and tips on how contracting authorities can use reserved contracts to implement their SRPP strategies and plans.

Agenda:

• Welcome and introduction, Marta Toporek, Legal and Policy Officer, European Commission
• Challenges and opportunities related to use of reserved contracts as a tool for social integration, Kewan Mildred, Senior Policy Officer, Eurodiaconia
• Supporting contracting authorities in the use of reserved contracts: good practices from the WeBuySocialEU Project, Mathias Maucher, Senior Public Procurement Expert, AEIDL, and Dorotea Daniele, Senior Expert in Social Economy and Social Entrepreneurship, DIESIS
• Reserved contracts as a tool to achieve social policy objectives: the experience of Ille-et-Villaine, Jean-Paul Guidoni Departmental Councillor in charge of responsible public procurement, France
• Q&A session
• Concluding remarks, Alice Sinigaglia, Senior Social Policy Expert, AEIDL

Additional resources:

• Reserved Contracts in Public Procurement: a tool for social integration - Eurodiaconia
• In French: Departmental responsible purchasing scheme - Département d’Ille-et-Vilaine

Recording and presentations can be found on CIRCABC

This event was the second webinar of 2025, as part of the European Commission’s Helpdesk service on GPP.