Science Europe Response to the Call for Evidence on the Revision of EU Public Procurement Guidelines

Science Europe has submitted a response to the European Commission’s call for evidence on the revision of the EU public procurement directives, focusing on the role of green and circular public procurement in research and research-related activities. As organisations governed by public law, these rules are of direct relevance to Science Europe’s Member Organisations.

The response highlights how public procurement can support environmental sustainability objectives in line with the European Green Deal and Science Europe’s Framework for the Environmental Sustainability of Research Organisations. It calls for the mandatory consideration of environmental criteria where feasible, greater use of circular procurement, and life-cycle costing approaches that move beyond lowest-price criteria. The submission also underlines the need for capacity-building and technical assistance to enable effective implementation of sustainable procurement practices across the research sector.