Net Zero Industry Act: CESI supports European Parliament’s quest to anchor decent work in public procurement

In its mandate to enter trilogue negotiations with the Council, the European Parliament plenary on Tuesday specified that in public procurement tender procedures related to the currently negotiated Net Zero Industry Act, there should be an “environmental and social sustainability contribution” which should be based on criteria including “decent wages and working conditions”. The criteria should be weighted as 30% in tender application evaluations, according to the text adopted by the European Parliament.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “We welcome the vote of the European Parliament on its position on the European Commission’s proposal for a Net Zero Industry Act. This wording would make sure that tender applicants could not totally ignore working conditions and make lowest offers only based on social dumping and abusive working conditions. Vast amounts of public money will be spent in the framework of the Net Zero Industry Act through public procurement, so the impact that social criteria in the Act can make for decent work are significant.”

He added: “We must make sure that public investments in green transitions will go hand in hand with decent work and employment. We cannot afford to achieve CO2 neutrality on the back of workers. The social and the environmental must go together. Everything else is unsustainable and will bring social and economic losses and adverse consequences in the future. We support the European Parliament’s report in the upcoming trilogue negotiations with the Council.”