Swedwatch: Five key recommendations to strengthening the EU Public Procurement Directive

As the EU revises its Public Procurement Directive, Swedwatch urges policymakers to seize this opportunity to embed robust sustainability and human rights requirements into public procurement processes. In a new position paper Swedwatch highlights five recommendations that would strengthen the directive.

-The ongoing revision of the Public Procurement Directive presents a critical opportunity to ensure that public spending is aligned with sustainability goals and human rights commitments. By mandating human rights due diligence and increasing transparency, the EU can lead the way in ethical and responsible public procurement, says Sofia Käll, program officer at Swedwatch, and the organisation´s representative in the European Commission’s Stakeholder Expert Group on Public Procurement (SEGPP) where Swedwatch recently secured a place.

The group's task is to provide the Commission with high-quality legal, technical and practical insight and expertise to help shape the Union's public procurement policy.

- For Swedwatch to have direct contact with the EU Commission at a time when it is revising legislation on public procurement is an incredibly timely and important opportunity, says Sofia Käll.

With public procurement accounting for 14 % of the EU’s GDP—approximately €2 trillion annually—its potential to drive positive social and environmental change is immense. However, significant risks persist in global supply chains, making it essential for the revised directive to align with international human rights standards and mandate sustainability criteria.

Swedwatch highlights five key recommendations for strengthening the directive:

1. Align with Human Rights Standards – The directive must integrate internationally recognized frameworks, such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), to ensure that public funds do not support forced labor, child exploitation, or environmental harm.
   
2. Make Sustainability Requirements Legally Binding – Current voluntary sustainability measures are ineffective. The revised directive must clarify legal provisions and ensure mandatory sustainability criteria in all procurement processes.
   
3. Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence as a Minimum Requirement – Public contracts should include mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD) requirements, complementing the recently adopted EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). Inspired by the CSDDD, Member States should legally mandate public authorities to require human rights due diligence from tenderers and contractors. This process should prioritize meaningful stakeholder engagement – especially with affected workers and communities – rather than relying exclusively on social audits, which research has shown to be neither sustainable nor effective. Furthermore, as part of their due diligence obligation, suppliers should be required to adopt and put into effect climate transition plans in line with the Paris Agreement.
   
4. Enhance Transparency in Supply Chains - Public authorities need access to reliable supply chain data. There should be legal obligation on contractors to disclose data on their operations, subsidiaries, and business partners to public procurers. For example, an EU-wide registry for the automatic exchange of data on contractors’ human rights record across Member States could enable contracting authorities to evaluate companies based on sustainability, not just price.
   
5. Empower Public Procurers as Sustainability Agents – Public procurers require greater resources, training, and support to implement sustainable procurement effectively and influence fair labor practices throughout supply chains.

Swedwatch urges EU policymakers to take decisive action and establish a directive that ensures public procurement contributes to sustainable development rather than perpetuating human rights and environmental risks.

Attached is both the new policy paper “Maximising the EU Public Procurement Directive for People and Planet” as well as information about and a link to Swedwatch´s 2022 position paper "Key considerations for sustainable public procurement", which also outlines recommendations to the Swedish Government.