29 June 2017 | Brussels, Belgium
Public Procurement is a valuable tool that can allow authorities to promote more innovative solutions towards a smarter, greener and more efficient economy.
In 2015, public administrations spent around € 2 trillion on public procurement. According to ITF consolidated data, authorities spent in 2013 approximately € 80 billion on roads. At the same
time, the road industry has been investing significant amounts in developing new technologies and solutions to optimise the design, construction and operation of the network.
As the European organisation representing the road infrastructure industry, the ERF supports the new Public Procurement Directive 2014/24/EC which encourages better procurement practices by gradually moving away from the “cheapest price” principle towards life-cycle costing.
To translate general provisions into tangible practices, it is important that stakeholders in the road infrastructure sector begin a structured and sustained dialogue to understand how the new Directive can become a win-win scenario for both authorities and industry, ultimately benefiting Europe’s citizens.
This is the main theme of the new Position Paper “Promoting Sustainable Roads through Public Procurement’ which aims to encourage a broader reflection on the practical impacts and opportunities present in the Directive from medium to long term perspective.
For its part, the ERF intends through its working group on Sustainability to identify good practices within the industry and Member States as a means of promoting constructive proposals which can help make the road infrastructure sector greener, more innovative and competitive.
