The policy on sustainable public procurement and the method used in this guide were developed with the help of many organisations from the civil society. Government services, companies, SMEs, trade unions and other organisations were given an opportunity to help shape the policy at various moments of consultation.
The most important forums are summarised below:
a) Sustainable public procurement workshop (autumn 2006)
The purpose of the workshop was to identify the difficulties and expectations of actors in the field (who have to include the environmental and social criteria in their specifications). The updated legal framework was broached in a practical manner and everyone could express his or her opinion about it. A discussion also arose, contacts were made, and visibility was given to interesting experiences. The collected information was used as material for the draft Federal Action Plan on Sustainable Procurement 2009 – 2011.
b) Environment Spring (spring 2008)
Representatives of companies, trade unions, NGOs and governmental institutions were able to consider measures on topical environmental and sustainable development issues at this forum. The policy on sustainable public procurement was explained and commented on in greater depth also in the sustainable public procurement workshop.
c) Consultation of the federal action plan (winter 2008)
Between 5 November 2008 and 10 January 2009, restricted consultation took place on the draft Federal Action Plan on Sustainable Public Procurement for 2009-2011. The federal departments, federal buyers and a number of committees were queried. Opinions were received from the Federal Council for Sustainable Development, the Central Council for Business and the High Council for the Self-Employed and SMEs. These opinions can be found on their respective websites. No reaction was received from the Council for Consumption.
d) Consultation about this guide (winter 2009)
Before the methodology used in this guide was adopted, reactions and advice were sought in the stakeholder consultation process mentioned above. To guarantee the social scope and quality also in future, this guide will be submitted to the civil society at the end of 2009.
