Answer to the call for evidence on the Public Procurement Directives evaluation

RREUSE submitted its answer to the European Commission’s public consultation on the evaluation of Public Procurement Directives, calling for stronger measures to ensure social enterprises can compete on a level playing field.

Social enterprises in reuse, repair, and recycling are crucial partners for public authorities. They manage waste, create local green jobs, and provide training opportunities - especially for underrepresented groups. In fact, RREUSE estimates that social enterprises can generate 70 local jobs per 1,000 tonnes of reusable items collected. However, despite their value, these enterprises often struggle to secure public contracts due to structural barriers in procurement rules.

In our response, we highlighted key concerns:

• Price over quality: The dominance of lowest-price criteria systematically excludes social enterprises, whose circular and social missions entail higher upfront costs but deliver greater long-term value.
• Weak integration of social and green goals: Without mandatory social and circular criteria in procurement, large corporations are edging out social enterprises, limiting fair access to waste streams.
• Underused reserved contracts: Many authorities remain unaware of existing EU rules allowing contracts to be reserved for social enterprises, a missed opportunity to strengthen inclusive employment.
• Bureaucratic complexity: Lengthy, resource-intensive procurement procedures and high turnover requirements make it hard for social enterprises to compete, reinforcing a cycle of exclusion.

Public procurement should foster social and environmental impact. For this reason, RREUSE advocates for a shift towards the Best Price-Quality Ratio as the default evaluation method, improved enforcement of reserved contracts, and simpler, fairer procedures to ensure that social enterprises can flourish, among other recommendations.