Hybrid Cars, Green Electricity and Organic Tomatoes. The situation and legal background of ‘Green Procurement’ in the EU

For environmentally-minded people, it is always nice to be reminded of Article 6 of the EC Treaty: environmental aspects must be integrated into all different policy areas in the EU. However, at the moment, it seems that ‘greening’ of different policies is not very high on the political agenda. Given the various problems concerning employment, growth and national budgets, environmental standards are being questioned with respect to their impact on other policies, rather than the other way round. Interestingly, this refers to some extent more to the superficialities of political marketing than to real developments in the EU. It is also true that many initiatives on environmental policy integration that were started during the 90s are now reaching the point where they become relevant for many administrations. ‘Green public procurement’ is a case in point. Today, the idea of stimulating eco-innovation by sound purchasing practises is a well established concept. This article will describe the origins of green public procurement, the way it has been established and its present status at EU level and in the Member States.