Gender-responsive Public Procurement

This toolkit aims to increase the capacity of contracting authorities to implement GRPP. Currently, the promotion of gender equality as a legitimate objective has been limited within public procurement policy at both EU and national levels. This means that many public bodies are not yet aware of the possibility of addressing gender issues through procurement. Even when the most favourable...

GRPP can contribute to sustainable and inclusive growth in the EU Public procurement accounts for a major part of the European economy. Every year, public authorities in the EU spend around 14 % of gross domestic product (GDP) on public procurement [1]. GRPP can, as a gender equality measure, lead to an increase in the productive capacity of the economy...

Gender equality is a fundamental value of the EU [1]. Promoting gender equality in all its activities is one of the EU’s tasks. Article 8 of the TFEU explicitly requires the EU to eliminate inequalities and promote equality between women and men through all of its activities (i.e. to ensure gender mainstreaming). The EU’s gender equality policy objectives are wide-ranging...

Gender budgeting is a gender mainstreaming tool aimed at achieving equality between women and men by focusing on how public resources are collected and spent [1]. The gender dimension should be integrated into all ]phases of the budgetary cycle, from the budgetary proposals ( ex ante) and throughout the spending itself ( ex nunc) to the evaluation and control of...

This section looks at the different stages of the procurement cycle. You will find practical guidance on how to include gender considerations at each step of the procurement cycle. Guidance is coupled with national examples on the use of GRPP and practical tools. Examples can be neither representative nor exhaustive, but they do provide important insights into the effective and...

This section outlines the importance of the legal, regulatory and policy frameworks that inform the use of GRPP [1]. The EU public procurement legal framework provides for the possibility of implementing GRPP, although gender equality is not mentioned as a specific objective. The same situation can be found in most Member States, although there are variations in the transposition of...

Legislation Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts, OJ L 94, 28.3.2014, p. 1 (the concessions directive). Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC, OJ L 94, 28.3.2014, p. 65 (the public sector...

Betron, M., Bourgeault, I., Manzoor, M., Paulino, E., Steege, R., Thompson, K. and Wuliji, T. on behalf of the Global Health Workforce Network’s Gender Equity Hub (2019), ‘Time for gender-transformative change in the health workforce, The Lancet, Vol. 393, No 10171, e25–e26. Borkenhagen, J., Burckhardt, G., Burmeister, M., Drillisch, H., Falk, G., Freitag, S., Köhler, G., Leifker, M., Luig, B...

Figure 4. GRPP at the post-procurement stage Contract performance conditions At the post-tender stage, public bodies must apply the contract performance conditions that they have set out in the tender documents and agreed with the successful bidder. Under Article 70, these may include (inter alia) social or employment-related considerations. Recital 98 of Directive 2014/24/EU states that: Contract performance conditions might...

Figure 3. GRPP at the procurement stage Contracting authorities may choose to include in their tenders one criterion or more that address(es) GRPP. The type of criteria that can be applied at each stage and the evidence that can be requested are regulated by the EU procurement directives (or, in the case of EU institutions, by the financial regulation). All...

Figure 2. GRPP at the pre-procurement stage Prior to launching a tender, contracting authorities undertake various preparatory activities. This is an important stage in the implementation of GRPP, as it determines the way in which the authority will interact with the market to purchase supplies, services or works according to its needs. During this stage, you need to reflect on...