Challenges for Upscaling Green Public Procurement in Romania

Abstract

In the context of adopting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, green public procurement has gained much importance for achieving the targets set by Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12. Although green public procurement (GPP) is a voluntary instrument, the strategic EU framework set by the European Green Deal indicates that, at least for specific products with considerable impact on climate change, the contracting authorities shall have to use green criteria in tenders. This research aims to explain the factors influencing the adoption of GPP rules, their implementation, and the actual use percentage in Romania employing questionnaires answered by Romanian contracting authorities, interviews with public procurement officers and documentary analysis of the tender books published between 2018 and 2022 for three products regulated by the Romanian GPP Guide. The results of this research indicate that more than half of the respondents have never used the GPP criteria set by the Romanian government or the ones elaborated by the European Commission. The thorough verification of the technical specifications for the products mentioned in the Romanian GPP Guide shows that roughly only 20% of the tenders published between 2018-2022 are green. The main finding is that the principal factor that explains the small percentage of GPP in Romania is the absence of mandatory requirements and targets for GPP. Although the public procurement clerks are slightly aware of GPP’s importance, the lack of training, knowledge, skills and, furthermost, the absence of a strategic GPP approach and leadership support make achieving the neutrality targets using this environmental policy tool a slow and laborious process.