PUBLIC PROCUREMENT NEWS

  

News

11 August 2020

Berlin's new procurement law to support fair working conditions

Workers in factories of global supply chains in the global South producing goods governments purchase often face poor working
conditions. A governance tool to improve the situation is socially responsible public procurement.

In a recent article, published by Weizenbaum Institute, authors Helena Gräf and Gale Raj-Reichert assess this potential vis-à-vis the newly revised public procurement law in Berlin. While challenges include limited knowledge, resources and fragmented purchasing, there are opportunities for ensuring social criteria in procurement contracts of goods at risk of violating international labour standards and for fair trade, and through pooled procurement.

From a regulatory perspective, the amended Berlin Act offers new opportunities to strengthen socially responsible public procurement. In accordance with EU directives, it sets as a minimum requirement, that public contractors and their subcontractors must comply with ILO core labour standards in global supply chains. 

Read the full article here. Get involved in the research work at WZB as Post-Doc (see attached file). 

Learn more about other cases across Europe on how public procurement supports social responsibility.