Socially Responsible Public Procurement: The Cuckoo in the Internal Market Nest?

With a strongly developed internal market but a lacking social strategy, the EU has reached an important crossroads. Should the EU start investing in a conclusive social policy, or, should the cobbler stick to its last? In the literature, it has been suggested that now is the time for a ‘European Social Union’. I believe that one of the ways to achieve this, is to use a tool that is readily available and that the EU and its Member States are well acquinted with. The specific tool I want to study is public procurement. In 2014, the directives on public procurement have received relevant updates. The Member States needed to transpose these updated directives by April, 2016. The new directives include more possibilities for Member States to include social rights and labour standards in their public procurement legislation and practice. My research will focus on an identified set of European and international labour and social rights and answer the question whether public procurement can be used to enhance the implementation of these rights at the level of the Member States. If this is the case, it could be argued that public procurement is a useful instrument for governments to make sure that the economic operators they conclude contracts with, respect basic social values in the performance of those contracts. Considering the significant economic value of public procurement in the EU, ‘Socially Responsible Public Procurement’ would be an important step towards a more social Union.