News

In Romania, a series of seminars aims to improve information access and provide training on EMAS and the EU Ecolabel.

On 4th March, the Council presidency and the European Parliament’s representatives reached a provisional political agreement on a proposal for a regulation on packaging and packaging waste. The aim is to tackle the increase in packaging waste generated in the EU, while harmonising the internal market for packaging and boosting the circular economy.

On February 20th, the Commission welcomed a provisional agreement establishing the first EU-wide voluntary framework for the certification of high-quality carbon removals, enhancing the EU's ability to quantify, monitor, and verify carbon removal authenticity.

On February 14th, the Commission released the Annual Single Market and Competitiveness Report, tracking Europe's Single Market developments based on nine competitiveness drivers. One of these drivers is circularity. Europe is slowly progressing towards a more circular economy.

On the 1st March, the International Resource Panel (IRP) of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), published the 2024 edition of the Global Resources Outlook. The report brings together the best available data, modelling and assessments to analyze trends, impacts and distributional effects of resource use. It shows how demand for resources is expected to continue increasing in the coming decades.

April 9th, 2024, 10 am – 12 pm

The Committee of the Regions has adopted an opinion urging to accelerate the implementation of the European Green Deal in partnership with local and regional authorities to respond to the health threats arising from environmental pollution and the consequences of climate change.

The Committee of the Regions (CoR) has adopted an opinion on “A multilevel governance for the Green Deal. Towards the revision of the Governance Regulation,” proposing ideas for "Green Deal 2.0". The opinion emphasises engaging all stakeholders in Green Deal priorities, citing the success of the Zero Pollution Stakeholder Platform (ZPSP) co-chaired by the European Commission and the CoR. The CoR pledges ongoing support for the ZPSP and suggests its inclusion in "Green Deal 2.0" to sustain efforts towards achieving the Zero Pollution ambition for a toxic-free environment outlined in the European Green Deal.

On 26 October 2023, the Serbian National Assembly adopted amendments to the national Public Procurement Act. These are binding from 1 January 2024, and include the introduction of quality rather than price as a key criterion for selecting certain services/goods, and the principles of environmental protection in the awarding procurement, among others. This amendment is in line with the goals defined in the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans and its aim to promote the principle of environmental protection within the region.

La Clause Verte is an initiative created by the Center for the Deployment of Eco Transition in Companies and Territories (CD2E) to meet the needs of public buyers linked to the introduction of environmental clauses. The website offers a set of clauses and criteria for several product groups as well as good practices shared by contributors from different public authorities in France.

The Public Procurement Policy Unit in DG GROW has its official newsletter. In this gazette the audience will also find the ultimate source of news, events, funding opportunities, projects and regulations on public procurement from the European Commission. Subscribe now to the Public Procurement Gazette.

On the 7 of March from 14:00 to 15:30 CEST, the first EU GPP Helpdesk webinar of the year will take place on "Mainstreaming a profession: the Professionalisation of public procurement”. This webinar will focus on how public procurement can be professionalised and highlight examples across Europe of efforts in this sense. Don’t miss the webinar, join and find out the skills and knowledge that public procurers are developing in contracting authorities around Europe.

During January and February 2024, members of the GPP Advisory group met to discuss the latest updates on green public procurement policies in the European Union. It was also an opportunity for the members to exchange experiences since the last meeting and to share the latest developments on GPP in each Member State. Stay informed about updates to this group through the GPP Helpdesk website.

In 2020, the City of Helsinki sought to acquire restaurant, cafe and catering services for its new Urban Environment House that were diverse, attractive, variable and considerate of potential environmental and climate impacts - particularly the city’s climate neutrality objective. Therefore, the city included green and socially responsible considerations in the tender’s technical specifications, award criteria and contract performance conditions.

The Republic of Ireland’s Office of Government Procurement produced a comprehensive reference for public procurement practitioners and policy makers titled ‘Opportunities and approaches for Sustainable Public Procurement’. Published in January 2024, the reference explains key concepts of green, circular and socially responsible public procurement.

The #ForOurPlanet campaign is all about the actions you can take for nature and climate. Of course, tree planting falls firmly into this category, but you can also do much more. There really is something everyone can do #ForOurPlanet, so click below and find out how you can do your bit.

Euroclima has been our flagship climate programme in Latin America for over a decade. It supports concrete climate and nature actions throughout the region, with many successful forest management models generating income for indigenous communities. Find out more below.

Euroclima has been our flagship climate programme in Latin America for over a decade. It supports concrete climate and nature actions throughout the region, with many successful forest management models created generating income for indigenous communities. Find out more below.

Join for an online debate between the Commissioner for Climate Action, Wopke Hoekstra, and European Climate Pact Ambassadors, to explore how the Pact Community on the ground can shape the way forward for EU climate action.

The Committee of the Regions' newsletter includes the Green Deal Funding Alert, bringing your city the latest opportunities. Thus, we highly recommend subscription. After signing up, preferences for the type of content received can be managed to only include the Green Deal newsletter items by clicking on the preferences link presented below.