On February 22nd, the Public Procurement Unit of DG GROW, the DG for Internal Market, Industry, Enterpreneurship and SMEs of the European Commission, has kicked off a new initiative: the 'Procurement Dialogues'.

This project, which will last for 2 years, aims at organising workshops in all 27 Member States to encourage a dialogue on the use of strategic public procurement (green, social and innovation) among administrations and other contracting authorities. In doing so, the dialogues will unlock the full potential of public buyers to add value in the context of national and European policy objectives, and will encourage coordination and cooperation at the European level to create necessary synergies among Member States. There is also little information on the uptake of strategic procurement and the dialogues will contribute to fill this gap and provide evidence for future policy development. 

During the kick-off on February 22nd, the contractors (PwC and ICLEI) presented the tasks and related deliverables, and all participants agreed on key methodological aspects and process design.

Curious to know where the first workshop will take place? Stay tuned!