Brussels, 27 October 2008 – Greening public procurement is one of the most powerful means to create a strong market demand for eco-innovative goods and services. Much has been said, and little has been done so far.
But since the Commission proposed ambitious targets for green public procurement as part of a broader action plan for ‘sustainable consumption and production’ earlier this year the stone seems to be rolling.
The Council endorsed the EC’s call on governments to make sure that half of all their tendering procedures comply with a set of common green criteria by 2010. But it insisted that Member States should be free to set their own sectoral targets or to adopt more ambitious environmental criteria should they so desire.
10 priority sectors wre signled out for GPP: construction, food and catering services, transport and transport services, energy, office machinery and computers, clothing, uniforms and other textiles, paper and printing services, furniture, cleaning products and services and health sector equipment.
Read the Council conclusions here.