THE N I S P A C E E JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND POLICY, VOL. X V , No. i, SUMMER 2022
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Implementation of Sustainable Public Procurement
in the Rail Transport in the Czech Republic and a
Comparison with the Other Members of the Visegrád
Group
This paper focuses on sustainable public procurement (SPP) and its role in public
procurement of the members of the Visegrad Group (Hungarian, Poland, Slovakia,
Czech Republic). Sustainable public procurement is a current trend in public purchasing
around the world. The European Union's sustainable development policy,
which respects the objectives of the 2030 Agenda, seeks to influence the public procurement
policies of the members of the European Union. Every country, including
the Visegrad Group countries, is trying to implement sustainable development criteria
in its procurement process and to change legislation.
The aim of this paper is to compare the implementation of public procurement in
the Czech Republic with other members of the Visegrad Group (Poland, Slovakia,
Hungary) and analyse how the public procurement (tenders) respects the criteria of
sustainable public procurement in the case of the selected public procurements (tenders)
in rail transport. We analyse the public procurement process and investigate
1 Masaryk University, Czech Republic.
2 Masaryk University, Czech Republic.
3 Euro finance Consulting, Czech Republic.
4 České dráhy, a.s., Czech Republic.
5 Zelezničná spoločnosť Slovensko, a.s., Slovak Republic.
@ Open Access. © 2022 Markéta Páleníkova, Ondfej Špetík, Robert Pálenik, Jan II ík, Michal Adamík, published by Sciendo.
Markéta Páleníkova1
, Ondřej Špetík2
,
Robert Páleník3
, Jan Ilík4
, Michal Adamík5
Abstract
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the possibility/appropriateness of using social responsibility criteria in the individual
phases of the procurement process (award criteria).
The results show that there are different methods of implementing SPP in the V4
countries. There are significant differences between the regions. Based on the results
of our research and analysis of the selected tenders, we concluded that the principle
of social responsibility needs to be reflected in all steps, i.e. in the formulation of the
subject of the public contract, the preparation of the contractual terms and the selection
of evaluation criteria in their qualitative form.
Keywords:
Agenda 2030, socially responsible public procurement, sustainable public procure-
ment
Acknowledgment
This paper is an output of the project called 'New Mobility - High-Speed Transport
Systems and Transport-Related Human Behaviour', Reg. No.
CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_026/0008430, co-financed by the 'Operational Programme
Research, Development and Education'.
1. Introduction
Public procurement is evolving in many countries across the E U . They are implementing
European policies to be more competitive and transparent and to better control
scarce public finances. The main guidelines for development are innovative public procurement
and the use of qualitative criteria as indicators for evaluating tenders (best
value, better value for money, etc.). This is also the case in the V4 countries, which have
more or less succeeded in implementing Sustainable Public procurement (SPP) policies
in their systems. In the case of the Czech Republic, the urgency of addressing sustainable
public procurement has increased with the adoption of an amendment to the
law that obliges all contracting authorities to include social responsibility criteria in
virtually all purchases. A n important issue worth exploring is certainly the voluntary
versus enforceable nature of implementing sustainable public procurement, and this is
also our research question.
This paper focuses on SPP in rail transport, where the question of how tenders
are organised is topical due to the European Union seeking to ensure greater inclusion
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of societal goals in the procurement process. These goals include, for example, environmental
protection, social responsibility, combating climate change, and other social
and environmental considerations (European Commission, online). A study on
the implementation of SPP in rail transport tenders is essential because transport systems
have "a wide range of negative effects on sustainability, for example, contributing
to global warming" (air, water and soil pollution, noise, loss of biodiversity (Dahlgren
and Ammenberg, 2021). The contracting authorities have a great deal of purchasing
power, which may be enough to incentivise market players to come up with sustainable
transport solutions (Nesterova et al. 2020).
The topic is necessary to study because public procurement accounts for 12% to
16% of G D P in the Visegrad Group countries, while public procurement in rail
transport accounts for 0.52% of GDP in Poland and 0.95% G D P in Slovakia (own calculation
based on Annual Reports of infrastructure managers).
The aim of this paper is to compare the implementation of SPP in the Czech Republic
with other members of the Visegrad Group (Poland, Slovakia, Hungary) and to
analyse how public procurements respect the criteria of SPP in the case of the selected
public procurements in rail transport. We also analyse the public procurement process
and investigate the possibility/appropriateness of using the criteria of social responsibility
in the individual phases of the procurement process.
The added value of conducting this analysis is reflected in the development of a
policy for socially responsible procurement in the railway sector by contributing to the
implementation of public policies. The elaboration of the public procurement process
in relation to socially responsible requirements and raising the issue of voluntariness/responsibility
for the future direction of the research.
A fundamental change in SPP took place in the Czech Republic at the beginning
of 2021. The obligation to use SPP for all tenders arose along with the new change in
legislation. The legal framework governing SPP in the Czech Republic is based on and
fully corresponds to European legislation as in the other E U Member States. It is represented
by Act No. 134 from 2016 (Public Procurement Act). As of the beginning of
2021, contracting authorities must include some of the SPP criteria in their public procurement
procedures.
The implementation of this concept seems to have brought many problems, especially
in the practical implementation of public procurement. The Act requires sustainable
criteria in all public procurement, and for all public procurement regardless
of the procurement price. In practice, this is proving to be very problematic as contracting
authorities were not sufficiently prepared for this major change.
In addition, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic
stepped into the environment of regulation and guarantee of public procurement and
enforced this change as a new stakeholder responsible for socially responsible public
purchasing. A new platform for SPP has been created. There are many examples of
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good practice in the guidelines and some courses and workshops are even organised
by the Ministry. Unfortunately, there is no overarching national C A P strategy to guide
the implementation of this fundamental change. This probably causes many problems
in the implementation of public procurement in the Czech Republic, including the
failure to meet the main objectives of the sustainable public procurement concept.
The aim of this paper is to contribute to research that compares SPP implementation
within sectors or between countries (Brammer and Walker, 2011) and to build
on studies analyzing SPP implementation instruments such as legislation (Thomson
and Jackson, 2007) or (Kunzlik, 2003).
2. Theoretical and conceptual framework
In recent years, many public authorities have been focusing on green, socially responsible,
and innovative public procurement due to a common European policy (Agenda
2030) and the requirements of a "sustainable development of society."
The Sustainable Development Goals were adopted by the United Nations in 2015,
and are now to be implemented through the 2030 Agenda, which is codified in the
Strategy for Sustainable Development in Europe. The Strategy aims to "promote public
procurement practices that are sustainable, in accordance with national policies and priorities."
(United Nations, 2015, Transforming our world). Goals and targets cover environmental
economics and social issues (Gutierrez-Goiria et al., 2021). Public policy,
particularly public procurement, plays a key role in achieving these goals. SPP can be
divided into two groups according to international experience.
The use of the institute of public procurement appears to be a suitable tool for
applying social responsibility principles across all areas of the public sector and also
across public organisations, as pointed out by Gutierrez-Goiria et al., 2021).6
Many studies suggest that public procurement (accounting for more than 14 %
of E U GDP) is an appropriate and even potentially successful tool to achieve these sustainable
objectives (Faracik, 2018) in three ways or a combination of them: as green
public procurement, social public procurement (McCrudden, 2004) and innovative
public procurement (Caranta and Gomes, 2021). Sustainable Public Procurement
6 When used strategically, public procurement can contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development by supporting a more resource-efficient economy, stimulating innovation, supporting
small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and promoting social values. In recent years,
citizen expectations have increased with calls for greater accountability in government purchasing
decisions, increasing the need to consider broader outcomes and multi-dimensional risks,
including in global supply chains. As large purchasers, governments have the power to set standards
that can move markets towards more responsible business conduct (RBC) and level the
playing field for suppliers striving to implement RBC standards. (OECD, 2021)
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(SPP) is thus a process by which public authorities seek to achieve an appropriate balance
between the three pillars of sustainable development - economic, social, and environmental
- when procuring goods, services, or works at all stages of the project.
(European Commission, Green and Sustainable Public Procurement).
Social and societal criteria (called responsible criteria in the Czech Republic) aim
to promote access to tenders for small and medium-sized enterprises, the fulfilment of
social goals, the care of employees, the employment of people with disabilities and the
long-term unemployed people after serving a prison sentence.) are implemented into
European countries according to 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the
Council of February 26, 2014 on public procurement.7
Meeting sustainable criteria means buying innovative products, works and services
to achieve the best value for public money and environmental and societal benefits
(2014/24/EU). This is called Green Public Procurement (GPP).8 Whereas GPP
aims solely at reducing the environmental impact, social or socially responsible public
procurement is about promoting employment opportunities, decent work, social inclusion,
accessibility, design for all, ethical trade and seeks to achieve wider compliance
with social standards.
SPP thus encompasses both green and social procurement (Faracik, 2018). In the
case of public procurement, many terms or definitions are used with global, environmental,
social, and other aspects. The Czech Republic uses "Socially Responsible Public
Procurement" (SRPP) (Socially Responsible Public Procurement, online). The concept
of SRPP was defined in 2011 by the European Commission and this definition has also
7 "Measures aimed at protecting the health of employees involved in the production process, giving
priority to the social integration of disadvantaged persons or members of vulnerable groups
among those entrusted with the performance of a contract, or training in the skills needed for a
given contract may also be the subject of award criteria or contract performance conditions, provided
that they relate to the works, goods or services to be provided under the contract. Such
criteria or conditions may relate, inter alia, to the employment of long-term jobseekers, the implementation
of training measures for the unemployed or young people in the course of the performance
of the contract to be awarded. In the technical specifications, contracting authorities
may provide such social requirements which directly characterise the product or service in question,
such as accessibility for disabled persons or a design for all users."
8 Article 11 of the Treaty for the Functioning of the EU requires that "environmental protection
requirements must be integrated into the definition and implementation of Union's policies and
activities, in particular with a view to promoting sustainable development." The Public Procurement
Directive clarifies how contracting authorities can contribute to protecting the environment
and promoting sustainable development, whilst ensuring that they can obtain the best value for
money for their contracts" (EU online, 2014/24/EU). GPP is part of SPP. GPP is "public procurement
for a better environment" as "a process by which public authorities seek to procure goods,
services and works with a reduced environmental impact throughout their life cycle when compared
to goods, services and works with the same primary function that would otherwise be
procured" (European Commission, online). GPP is a voluntary instrument, which means that
Member States and public authorities can determine the extent to which they implement it (European
Commission, online).
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been used, for example, in Spanish legislation (Bernal and San-Jose, 2019).
There are comparative studies across the world, we can mention the studies of
E U countries (Andrecka, (2017), Dzupka et al. (2020), European Commission, (2020)),
etc. and studies of sustainable public procurement in many segments (cleaning and
facility management, healthcare, food/catering services, social services, information
and communication technology, etc (European Commission, 2020 (2)).
Also, in the Czech Republic and undoubtedly in other V4 countries we can find
a number of studies on the implementation of selected segments of sustainable public
procurement. In selected countries (V4) a current study (Nemec et al., 2021) summarises
the transition to sustainable public procurement. The subject of the analysis are
tenders implemented in the following countries in the period before the new law came
into force in the Czech Republic.
The studies highlight findings of more of less successful implementation of selected
sustainable public procurement criteria. Very interesting results in relation to
innovative public procurement are provided by the study of Alhola et al. (2017), which
deals with approaches to effective market dialogue in the context of Innovative Public
Procurement.
Placek et al. (2021) focus their research on green public procurement in the Czech
Republic. Their research concludes that found that the decision-making of Czech public
procurers is influenced by the trade-off between good governance and compliance
with administrative regulations, which turn out to be mutually contradictory objectives
and affect the use of GPP. However, they also point out that there is a clear motivation
to implement the concept, but there is a concern about mismanagement of implementation.
Green public procurement in Hungary is also addressed in the research
of Tatrai (2013); in the Hungarian context, ecological criteria are prioritised over social
criteria.
Y u et al. (2020) analysed what influences the adoption of green procurement criteria
in public procurement. Their findings suggest that framework agreements, the
medical products sector, the health and social services sector, and the business services
sector are negatively correlated with whether a contract is green. On the other hand, the
contract value, Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) coverage, joint procurement,
competitive dialogue, negotiation with competition (with a call for competition),
restricted procedure, transport equipment sector, and food sector may be positively correlated
with green contracts, or these factors increase the possibility that a contract will
be green. This shows that transport is a sector where there would be no barriers to implementing
sustainable public procurement. Another study (Alhola et al. 2017) confirms
transport in general as a suitable area also for the implementation of innovative
public procurement. We work with this hypothesis and evaluate the award criteria of
tenders of public transport entities.
The railway sector is systematically addressed in the research of many authors
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and institutions in the Czech Republic (e.g., Tomes et al. (2014), Kvizda, (2016)), but
only a few studies are focused on tendering in the rail transport sector in particular
sustainable public procurement. For example, Tomes et al. (2014) analysed competitive
tendering in the Czech Republic, which raised many problems. Sustainable public
procurement is undoubtedly very topical and the case could contribute to research in
this field.
There are studies that investigate the success of different tools to implement sustainable
public procurement policies and their diffusion within public procurement.
According to economic theories, successful implementation requires steps that consist
of the formulation of policies through strategies, plans, and concept papers, the setting
up of legislative and economic instruments, and the relationship between actors and
institutions working in the field. The available studies focus on the analysis of some of
these instruments in relation to sustainable public procurement. For example, a study
of the Polish experience (Faracik, 2018), which analysed the legislative framework in
terms of barriers in the approach to sustainable public procurement, suggests the need
to focus specifically on the relationship between policymakers and implementers of
measures, i.e., public procurers in the sense of setting bottom-up accountability. The
study further suggests that a legislative environment that does not create barriers to the
implementation of sustainable public procurement and a corresponding (national) action
plan, i.e., a government-led policy strategy outlining strategic orientation and concrete
measure to advance the implementation of sustainability provisions in public procurement,
are not sufficient in themselves.
The risks that may arise in the SPP implementation process and that can lead to
implementation failure (implementation deficit, Leenders, and Peters (1987)) are summarised
by means of a fishbone diagram. These factors are subsequently analysed in
the case of the V4 as criteria for successful SPP implementation in these countries.
Figure 1:
Risks in the process of SPP implementation
E q u i p m e n t
a b s e n c e o f
s t r a t e g y
u n d e f i n e d c r i t e r i a YG
of S P P /
u n r e a l i s t i c l e g a l
r e q u i r e m e n t s
1/
p o l i t i c a l r i s k
p u r e c o o p e r a t i o n w i t h
a u t h o r i t i e s
I M o n i t o r i n g o f S P P
a b s e n c e o f i n d i c a t o r s
s o m e t e n d e r s
c a n n o t b e c a p t u r e d
p u r e d i a l o g u e
b e t w e e n
c o n t r a c t i n g
a u t h o r i t i e s a n d
s t a k e h o l d e r o f
S P P
Problem Statement
Source: Authors
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The analysis of the implementation deficit is necessary for the subsequent analysis
of the application of the SPP concept in the selected area, i.e., railways. This is based
on the analysis of selected public procurement contracts and complements research
focusing on the implementation of SPP, as most case studies tend to focus on the experience
in individual countries as a whole.
3. Objective, methods, and data
Methodologically, the paper is based on a combination of qualitative and quantitative
approaches. We analysed the strategic documents, legislation, and guidelines of the
European Union and individual governments, as well as stakeholder documents.
Structured interviews with representatives of the railway company were also conducted
to complement and check the output of the analysis in the first part and to
verify how successful SPP is in practice and identify the pros and cons of implementation.
In addition, a qualitative method was used to verify how many tenders in the rail
sector respect the SPP criteria. The quantitative method was used to evaluate award
criteria of tenders from the T E D database, including basic information on public ten-
ders.
Structured interviews were focused on the possibilities of using SPP. They were
conducted with a representative of the national railway company (incumbent) in the
Czech and Slovak Republics. Unfortunately, the interview with the representatives of
the Hungarian and Polish incumbents could not be conducted as they did not respond
to the request.
(1) The interviews aimed at describing specific experiences with SPP in different countries
with different legislative environments. The interview lasted one hour and the
questions were divided into three parts:
(2) Perception of the concept of social responsibility by the contracting authority (how
it is set up and what added value it can bring).
(3) Impact of the use of SPP criteria on the public procurement process and the change
in purchasing Strategy, including the effect on the bid price and the change in the
structure of suppliers, including their readiness.
Implementation environment, methodological support and discussion of legisla-
tion.
Table 1 shows the structure of the expert interviews and Table 2 provides an overview
of the expert interviews:
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Table 1:
Structure of the expert interviews
Duration 60-90 minutes
Form In person/online
Questions Open questions with discussion
Recording Only notes
Source: Authors
Table 2:
Overview of the expert interviews
Date Institution/company Position
29.1.2020 ARRIVA vlaky (Czech railway company) CEO
10.6.2020 Czech Railways (Czech railway incumbent) Employee of General
Directorate; he is a member
of the team that is
responsible for tendering
25.6.2021 Slovak Railways (Slovak railway incumbent) Members from Procurement
and Logistics Section
7.9. 2021 Czech Railways (Czech railway incumbent) Members from Procurement
and Logistics Section
Source: Authors
Finally, one of the authors works as a consultant for public authorities (and stakeholders)
in public procurement and has prepared an extensive amount of public procurement.
He has participated in numerous dialogues with contracting authorities and
other experts in this field. His experience with sustainable public procurement is also
presented in the paper.
The aim of this paper is to compare the implementation of public procurement
in the Czech Republic with other members of the Visegrad Group and evaluate how
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public procurement respects the SPP criteria in the case of the selected public procurement
in rail transport.
The research questions were set to meet the objective. They were divided into two
groups: the first group deals with the general conditions for the implementation of
sustainable public procurement; the second focuses on specific experiences with the
adoption of SPP.
1. General conditions for the implementation of SPP
a. Is the Czech implementation of sustainable public procurement compatible
with the experience of the Visegrad Group?
b. What do the Visegrad Four countries have in common and what are the differences
in the implementation of sustainable public procurement?
c. Is there an SPP strategy in the following countries?
d. What obligations does the law impose?
e. Who are the SPP stakeholders?
f. How is the SPP process of implementation and monitoring process carried out
in these countries?
g. Specific experience with the adoption of SPP
h. How many tenders in V4 respect the SPP criteria as part of the award criteria
in the railway industry?
i. What are the pros and cons of the Czech SPP implementation situation?
j. Are there any risks that could cause a failed sustainable public procurement?
k. Can the principle of social responsibility be focused on a specific stage of the
procurement process?
We also verify the hypothesis: "SPP policy in the Visegrad Group is similar with
no significant differences."
We focused on the implementation of SPP in all the monitored countries. The
success of the implementation of SPP was investigated in the chosen sections:
Policy networks and Actors
Policy documents - means legislative (Public Procurement Act) and strategic
(SPP Strategy of SPP, methods, and guidelines, etc.). These documents should include
vision, strategy, concept, policy, plan and programme, research and declaratory (advocacy)
articles, O E C D studies and think-tanks (Vesely, 2005).
Data was collected from the Supplement to the Official Journal of the E U - T E D
(tenders electronic daily). Individual contracts were selected according to the contracting
authority (railway companies in the Visegrad countries):
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Table 3:
Overview of railway companies
Country The largest provider (contracting entity)
Czech Republic České dráhy, a.s.
Hungary MÁV (Magyar Államvasutak)
Poland PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A.
Slovakia Železničná spoločnosť Slovensko, a. s.
Source: Authors
The reference period is from 2015 to 2021, with an emphasis on 2021 when a
legislative change occurred in the Czech Republic.
The award criteria were critical for evaluating chosen tenders. It was assumed
that the SPP criteria would prove to be an additional criterion for the selection of tenders
as one of the quality criteria. This assumption has the following limitations: the
SPP criteria may already appear in the subject of the contract or as a contractual condition.
Monitoring tenders on the basis of the chosen criteria cannot perceive this.
The analysed tenders were chosen according to CPV, where we assumed the possibility
of using SPP criteria (analysis is based on 2,402 observations):
- Cleaning services - 90910000-9
Promotional services 79342200-5
Advertising and marketing services 79340000-9
Catering services 55520000-1
Railway and tramway locomotives and rolling stock and associated parts
34600000-3
4. Results
4.1. Implementation of sustainable public procurement - legislation,
Strategy, actors of the policy
According to the O E C D (2021), all countries have a framework to promote environmental
objectives in public procurement, 70% have a framework for human rights,
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41% have a framework for gender and 48% for minority issues.
SPP is the trend of public procurement under European rules in the Visegrad
Group countries (Visegrad Group, online). The Visegrad Group countries cooperate
on common policies in some areas of the public sector and share experiences and discuss
problems.
The members of the Visegrad Group (the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and
Hungary) have implemented the SPP Strategy and principles into their policies and
legislation. The scope of public procurement is comparable to the following countries,
as shown in Table 4.
Table 4:
Scope of public procurement in the selected countries
% Total general
government expenditures
Public procurement as a share
of GDP
2007 2019 2020 2007 2019 2020
Hungary 26.8 34.6 31.4 13.4 15.8 16.2
Czech
Republic
35.3 32.3 30.5 14.3 13.4 14.5
Poland 28.7 28.3 25.2 12.3 11.8 12.3
Slovakia 35.0 33.6 31.2 12.7 14.3 15.0
OECD-EU 28.9 29.4 27.9 13.1 13.7 14.9
Source: OECD National Accounts Statistics (database) at Government at a Glance 2021 (OECD
2021).
Firstly, we verified the hypothesis: The SPP policy in the Visegrad Group is similar
with no significant differences. To verify the hypothesis, SPP implementation was analysed
in the Visegrad Group countries in four sections:
a. The SPP equipment consists of analysis strategies, policy documents, guidelines
and laws.
b. The SPP environment - we analysed the cooperation between the main SPP
authorities in the countries and the relationship with the autonomous authorities
and of course the possible SPP stakeholders in these countries.
c. SPP monitoring
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d. People - contracting authorities - we analysed the knowledge of these authorities
and the relationship, cooperation (responsiveness of the state authorities)
and discussion with the state guarantors of SPP. The interviews and authors'
experiences complete the publicly available information (websites of ministries,
autonomous institutions, conferences, etc.).
Table 5 presents the results of the policy documents, strategies and planning programmes
and the conceptions of sustainable public procurement in the countries stud-
ied.
Table 5:
Factors of SPP implementation in the Visegrad Group countries
T
Repub^i<
c' Hungary Poland Slovakia
Special SPP
Strategy
No
National
Strategy
no
Regional
Strategy
exists
Yes No
Obligation
under the law
Yes, 100%
since 2021
No, but the
contracting authorities
have to consider using
it in the preparation
phase.
No, but the
contracting
authorities have
to consider
using it in the
preparation
phase.
Yes. A
minimum of
6% of
tenders of
each
contracting
authority
has to fulfill
SPP (since
2020).
Main SPP
Authority
No Yes Yes Yes
Good practice Yes Yes Yes Yes
Guidelines Yes Yes Yes Yes
Cooperation
with
autonomous
authority
No, only in
dialogue,
not in the
methodical
phase
Yes Yes Yes
Monitoring No No Yes No
Source: authors
Poland seems to be the leading country for exemplary implementation of SPP.
This country stands out above the rest in each of the following factors of excellence in
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SPP performance. Each of these criteria is described in detail below.
Ad a) Equipment of SPP in V4
Strategy
As we can see, only Poland and some regions in Hungary have an SPP strategy (in
Hungary, there are significant differences between regions). For example, Budapest has
a strategy called: "Green sustainable, innovation and responsible public procurement
strategy" (Global Lead City Network, online) and is a member of PROCURA+ (European
Sustainable Procurement Network) (Procura, online). Budapest is also one of the
cities of the Global Lead City Network on Sustainable Procurement (GLCN). In 2016,
it became a new member of this platform and set Sustainable Procurement Targets.
The main objective is that 100% of procurement processes should include sustainability
and green aspects by 2020. In addition, by 2020, at least 30% of the evaluation criteria
in the procurement processes would be determined by sustainability principles.
The implementation of SPP appears to be highly decentralised in Hungary. Regions
play a key role in the implementation process. "The target for a 100% sustainable procurement
process means that every procurement will contain or be driven by at least
one issue, item, contractual commitment in the framework of sustainability." (Global
Lead City Network, online).
Warsaw is also part of the G L C N network but with less ambitious objectives than
Budapest. It has 130 electric buses in operation since 2020.
The SPP target is set by law for all tenders for all tender authorities in the Czech
Republic. This seems to be a very ambitious, perhaps unrealistic target. O n the other
hand, the Czech Republic has no environmental policy strategy or sustainable procurement
process strategy; there are only guidelines, methodology, and good practices. No
city in the Czech Republic is a member of the G L C N network.
In Slovakia, no city is a member of the G L C N either. Slovakia has a Strategy of
Environmental Policy of the Slovak Republic until 2030, but no strategy for SPP. There
is only a concept for the development of public procurement from 2015.
Legislation
All countries respect European law. Slovakia and the Czech Republic have a legal obligation
to use SPP. The difference is: 6% of tenders in the case of Slovakia and 100% in
the Czech Republic (if this is not possible in the Czech Republic, public authorities
have to justify why it was not possible to reasonably use the SPP criteria).
Contracting authorities in Poland and Hungary have to consider the use of sustainable
criteria in the preparation phase when analysing the contracting authority's
needs. The use of sustainable criteria is optional, but the contracting authorities should
consider the possibility of employing environmental, social, or innovative aspects of
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procurement in the case of Poland. Detailed rules under the law in each of the following
countries are provided in Appendix 1.
Ad B) SPP Environment
4.2. Actors of sustainable procurement policy and their role in the process
of sustainable public procurement
Table 6:
The main authorities responsible for sustainable public procurement in the
compared countries
Countries
The body
responsible for
legislation
Support and
guidelines for
contracting
authorities
The body
responsible
for
monitoring
The autonomous
institution in the
field of public
procurement
Hungary The Procurement
Management Office
(PMO)
PMO
PMO
Public Procurement
Authority (KM)
Poland Public procurement
office (PPO),
Ministry of
Development,
Labour and
Technology
PPO
PPO
PPO. The president
is appointed by the
Minister responsible
for the economy
Slovakia
Office for Public
Procurement
(UVO)
UVO
Office for
Public
Procurement
(UVO)
Office for Public
Procurement (UVO)
Czech
Republic
Especially the
individual
ministries
The Ministry for
Local Development
Ministry of
Labour and
Social Affairs in
the case of social
and innovative
public
procurement
Ministry of the
Environment in
the case of green
public
procurement
The Ministry
for Local
Development
Office for the
Protection and
Competition (ÜOHS)
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Source: Authors according to OECD and the websites of the compared countries, TPP (online), Urzad
Zamówieň Publicznych (online), Úrad pre verejné obstarávanie (online), results from the indepth
review, European Commission, 2020, Krajowy Plan Dzialaň w zakresie zrównowažonych
zamówieň publicznych na lata 2017-2020 (National Action Plan for sustainable public procurement
for the years 2017 - 2020, The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Ministry of the Environment of
the Czech Republic. Office for Protection and Competition.
The table presents the main body in the compared countries responsible for setting the
conditions for SPP. In the Czech Republic we see a different situation compared to
other countries. In the Czech Republic, two ministries play a primary role in the sustainable
public procurement process. They cooperate with the authority responsible
for legislation (Ministry of Regional Development CZ) and the Office for Protection
and Competition (ÚOHS).
In the rest of countries, there is an institution responsible for legislation or an
autonomous institution that plays a primary role in the process.
The situation is similar in Poland. On the Authority's website we can find a section
on Sustainable public procurement, which contains a subset of "green orders",
Social Procurement of Public Customers, "Procurement for Innovation", and B I M modelling
of building data. A very clear system with reference to the relevant legislation.
Very conceptually designed.
Ad C) SPP Monitoring
Monitoring
SPP Monitoring: The Global Review offers some indicators to monitor the extent of
SPP. For example, it used the percentage of total public procurement. (United Nations
Environment Programme, 2013) This indicator was used for the evaluation of monitoring
SPP in the countries compared.
SPP data is only available for Poland. In 2020, 1,544 contracts were awarded that
included environmental and innovative aspects. Their value amounted to P L N 12.3
billion (excluding V A T ) . The share of GPP or innovative public procurement in the
total number of public contracts awarded was 1% and 7% of the total value of public
contracts awarded. In 2020, 28,283 contracts were awarded, including social aspects,
with a value of approximately P L N 72.3 billion (excluding V A T ) . The share of SRPP
in the total number of public contracts awarded was 21% and the percentage of the
total value was 40% (Skowron, 2021).
Ad D) Contracting authorities
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Good practice and guidelines
In the Czech Republic, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has published guidelines,
methodology, and good practice of SPP (SO V Z , online). GPP is the responsibility
of the Ministry of the Environment.
Hungary is cited by the E U as a country with good experience with SPP. The
Public Procurement Authority set up a Sustainability Working Group to further
strengthen green, social and innovative aspects. (KH, online)
Methodology and guidelines for SPP are available on the pages of the Slovak Office
for Public Procurement (Úrad pre verejné obstarávanie, online). As part of the
Public Procurement Office's Long-Term Strategy, the concept of working groups on
selected public procurement issues - GPP, social aspects, and innovation in public procurement
- has been developed. The working groups were composed of the Authority's
staff drawing on their expertise, experience, and information, cooperating with
other experts from external backgrounds. (Úrad pre verejné obstarávanie, online).
The Polish Public Procurement Office (PPO) has a wide range of activities: it provides
training and organises conferences. Its website has a number of publications and
information materials available. The PPO has a policy-making and coordinating role
in the whole public procurement system.
Some of the interview questions dealt with the relationship between state authorities
and contracting authorities: In your opinion, is it clear how to implement this
concept? I am referring to the elements of social responsibility. The answers were:
"More or less. If they are not sure, they will consult. However, there is no more precise
methodological support...."
Another question was: Do you have central support, or is it up to the contracting
authorities? The answer: "They can ask; they don't have any specific methodology..."
The lack of cooperation with central authorities and a certain unpreparedness of the
contracting authorities is also evident from the answer, which shows a lack of understanding
of the concept of socially responsible procurement. "Rail transport is an environmentally
friendly option in itself. Nothing has changed significantly since the acquisition
of the amendment. There has been an increase in the administrative burden.
Most contracting authorities did so in the past. Social aspects are everywhere; all three
requirements (environmental, social, innovative) cannot be applied at once."
4.3. Implementation of sustainable criteria - analysis of the selected
tenders
In this part, we answer the research question: How many tenders in the railway sector
in the following countries respect the SPP criteria in any part of the process?
One of the prerequisites for the concept of SPP is to achieve better value for
money, for example by taking into account lifetime costs of the project and qualitative
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criteria in the process of evaluating bids. We use this assumption to examine how
countries use S P P . From the T E D database, we selected tenders of national carriers
which meet the specified criteria - matching the C P V . We chose the C P V code based
on international experience and interview responses.
Figure 2:
Share of tenders with qualitative criteria
100%
l n l n l n l n ^ D ^ D ^ D ^ D ^ ^ ^ ^ ( D a J c o ( o o > O l O l ( n o o o o H H T ^ H
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
r \ i f \ i f \ i f \ i f \ i f \ i f \ i f \ i f \ i f \ i f \ i f \ i f \ i f \ i f \ i f \ i f \ i f \ i f \ i f \ i r ^
C r O ' O ' O ' O ' O ' O ' O ' O ' O ' O ' ü
Slovakia •Hungary •Czech Republic •Poland
Source: own processing based on http://ted.europa.eu
SPP can only be used in tenders with qualitative criteria. The situation varies from
country to country. The best situation is in Slovakia, where 80% of tenders use qualitative
criteria. O n the other hand, the situation is worst in the Czech Republic, where
less than 20% of tenders use qualitative criteria.
The table below shows an example of public contracts captured in TED, with an
emphasis on the capture of social responsibility criteria in the award criteria section.
This step was taken in order to assess whether the obligation in the legislation in the
Czech Republic has fundamentally changed the trend in the selection of evaluation
criteria. By 2021, all contracts in the Czech Republic must be implemented on the basis
of social responsibility criteria. If the subject matter of the procurement does not allow
it, contracting authorities must justify why the use of SPP was not possible. The aim
was to assess how this obligation was reflected in the partial part of the procurement,
i.e., the award criteria. The tender documents of the contracts listed in the table were
analysed. Contracts from other V4 countries were also monitored, although there was
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IMPLEMENTATION OF SUSTAINABLE PUBLIC PROCUREMENT IN THE RAIL TRANSPORT..
no such fundamental change in legislation in these countries. Nevertheless, we considered
it important to monitor these contracts in order to maintain continuity.
The selected tenders provide a valuable insight to assess the situation with SPP:
Table 7:
Selected tenders for assessing the situation with SPP
Document
number
Country CPV Criteria
Tender
Procedure
Expected
value
134593-
2021
Czech
Republic
34600000
Price 8 5 % ,
delivery date
15%
Negotiated
procedure
Not
specified
65348-2021
Czech
Republic
90910000
Price 6 5 % and
quality criteria
35 %9
Open
procedure
Not
specified
585706-
2021
Hungary 34622200 Price 9 5 %
Open
procedure
Not
specified
566141-
2018
Hungary 34632000
Price 9 0 %
quality criteria
10%
Negotiated
procedure
Not
specified
392546-
2021
Poland 90910000
Price 7 0 %
quality criteria
3 0 %
Open
procedure
Not
specified
184666-
2021
Poland 79340000
Price 6 0 % ,
Time of
delivery 2 5 % ,
increase leaflet
circulation 15%
Open
procedure
Not
specified
158415-
2021
Poland 79340000
Price 60 %
Date of delivery
2 5 %
Increase leaflet
circulation 15%
Open
procedure
Not
specified
147752-
2021
Poland 34600000
Price 9 0 % warranty
10 %
Open
procedure
Not
specified
101048-
2021
Poland 34600000
Price 9 0 % ,
warranty 10%
Open
procedure
Not
specified
9 Deadline for starting work on emergencies outside the schedule 25% and Proposed removal
time of external graffiti -10 m 2
- 10%
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51111-2021 Slovakia 34600000
Price 7 8 %
Operating and
Maintenance
costs 6%
Technical parameters
16%
Open
procedure
76,955,000
EUR
51112-2021 Slovakia 34600000
Price 76%, operating
and
Maintenance
costs 12%,
technical parameters
1 2 %
Open
procedure
67,250,000
EUR
Source: Author according to https://ted.europa.eu//TED/search/searchResult.do
In Figure 3 there is an overview of public procurement used in the paper:
Figure 3:
Overview of public procurement used in the paper
• l U - i i
100%
9 0 %
80%
70%
6 0 %
50%
4 0 %
3 0 %
2 0 %
10%
0%
CZE_1 CZE_2 HUN_1 HUN_2 POL_l POL_2 POL_4 POL_5 POL_6 SVK_1 SVK_2
price •delivery date
• quality criteria "waranty period
• operating and maintance costs
Source: Author according to https://ted.europa.eu//TED/search/searchResult.do
The main criterion for selecting a supplier is still price. In some cases, it is supplemented
by qualitative criteria, representing delivery time, technical parameters of
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IMPLEMENTATION OF SUSTAINABLE PUBLIC PROCUREMENT IN THE RAIL TRANSPORT...
the delivered goods, or warranty period. In Slovakia, life cycle costs, which include operating
and maintenance costs, were included in the evaluation criteria. This criterion
aims to capture value for money, which is also discussed in the literature in relation to
the attributes of socially responsible procurement. The criteria presented here are close
to the most established principles of socially responsible procurement. No other criteria
fulfilling the characteristics of environmental, social, or innovative public procurement
were recorded in the award criteria.
5. Discussion and concluding remarks with public policy rec-
ommendations
We found examples of successful SPP in the countries studied. These are examples of
good practices which could inspire other contracting authorities in these countries.
However, public procurement policy differs and some of them are more successful
than others. Three key factors can be identified: different legislation (voluntary vs.
mandatory), the (non-)existence of a SPP Strategy, the roles of actors and their cooperation,
and the control and monitoring of SPP. Monitoring tools are mentioned as
one of the six main possible strategies to incorporate social considerations into public
tenders (Bernal and San-Jose, 2019).
In a somewhat positive sense, the experience with the Polish public procurement
system stands out. The Polish experience is characterised by a clearly defined strategy
for socially responsible public procurement and the crucial role of an autonomous central
body that develops oversight methodologies and shares good practices. The criteria
are defined, which in turn facilitates the monitoring of socially SPP. The Polish and
Slovak carriers also excel in tender evaluation. They use more criteria besides qualitative,
not only the lowest price. These contracting authorities have exclusively used open
procedures for the awarding of public contracts. This experience points to more sophisticated
purchasing strategies in line with new European challenges and trends. Poland
also belongs to the group of countries where socially sustainable public purchasing
is voluntary. In particular, the use of such criteria is enforced by Polish contracting
authorities before the actual implementation of the procurement procedure, together
with the assessment of the different options for securing the need, including in-house.
It allows for a strategic approach to public procurement, rather than addressing the
need for ad hoc measures. Moreover, it appears that the obligation itself solves nothing.
As demonstrated by the case of the Czech Republic, where the legislation foresees
the use of social responsibility criteria for all public procurements, except those where
the involvement of social responsibility is not possible. However, this must be properly
argued by the contracting authority. After all, in the Czech Republic we can see this
transformation of society and its behaviour in private organisations. This experience
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could inspire the public sector. Some of the public institutions are part of the Association
of Social Responsibility (online). In the Czech Republic there is no primary SPP
strategy accepted by the stakeholders. There are no indicators for the success of the
SPP criteria. This would not be because the criteria are not clearly defined.
For this reason, they will not be controlled by the public procurement authority.
It is not clear how the Czech Republic will assess the success of the SPP. The obligation
to state the SPP criteria applies to all tenders. For small-scale contracts, there may be a
problem of how to capture and therefore control compliance with the principle - they
do not enter the database of the public procurement information system and not all of
them are registered in the register of contracts.
Slovakia and Hungary are somewhere between the Polish and Czech SPP policies.
In the case of Hungary, there is a strategy similar to the Polish one, but with differences
between regions. The law is set up in a similar fashion to that in Poland. The bid evaluation
strategies differ. Price is only an evaluation criterion in the selected tenders.
However, we cannot formulate this in general terms.
SPP is mandatory in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. However, the differences
are in the share of SPP tenders. In Slovakia, only 6 % of tenders are SPP tenders. The
key implementer and guarantor of SPP is an autonomous organisation as in Poland
and Hungary.
We analysed individual tenders implemented by public contracting authorities
operating in the rail transport sector. We selected the tenders based on C P V codes or
those characteristics for which the use of social responsibility criteria could be expected
based on the literature and the results of the interviews. It is clear that tenders will not
meet criteria from all three areas (social, environmental, and innovative) as suggested
by the literature (McCrudden, (2004), Caranta and Gomes, (2021)). According to the
results of the analysis carried out (in the award criteria section), we could conclude
that in the period under review, with a few exceptions, the social responsibility criteria
were not applied. We arrive at a similar conclusion to the results of the research (Plaček
et al. 2021), namely that the lowest price is the criterion for the selection of the tender
and thus takes precedence over other criteria, in their case ecological criteria. The excessive
use of the lowest price criterion can be problematic in terms of its impact on
the quality and non-transparent procurer-supplier relations, as Grega et al. (2019)
point out.
There are two ways to explain this. Contracting authorities primarily use price
instead of the quality criteria in the evaluation version. Also, the conclusions of the
study (Ochrana and Hrnčířová, 2015) confirm that the lowest price is strongly preferred
by Czech contracting authorities. A n d it cannot be expected that this would be
different in the case of SPP. Or these may have been captured in other parts of the
tender documentation, such as the specification of the subject matter of the contract,
the qualification and technical prerequisites and, above all, the contractual conditions.
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A n analysis of these parts could not be carried out in detail due to the limitations of
the available source. This would certainly merit further investigation. Thus, it cannot
be clearly established that, in the case of contracts where the presence of evaluation
SPPs was not recorded in the award criteria, these criteria were not part of the terms
of reference and the contract.
In conclusion, therefore, it can only be stated that the SPP criteria are unlikely to
be used as a criterion for the evaluation of tenders, except for criteria that aim to
achieve value for money and qualitative parameters. However, even these are used only
sporadically in the case of rail sector contracts. It would be interesting to compare this
with other areas of public service provision.
It is probably to be expected, as confirmed by the interview results, that if contracting
authorities include social criteria, this step must necessarily be reflected in all
parts of the process and it is not possible to clearly identify a specific point in the procurement
process where SPP criteria can be clearly applied. This confirms the assumption
that the procuring entity's behaviour in terms of fulfilling social responsibility will
accompany it throughout the procurement process from the planning stage onwards
and points to a change of mindset or a change of Strategy in the procuring entity's
behaviour in terms of meeting needs through procurement. In our view, greater involvement
of SPP in public procurement will not be resolved by a review of contract
terms or award criteria. Also, the example of the Czech Republic has shown that an
obligation set in legislation does not automatically lead to a broader or 100% use (this
is confirmed by a member of the interview "The obligation strictly stipulated by law or
through quotas leads nowhere. It does not seem to be the right solution to turn sustainable
public purchasing from 0 to 100% as in the case of the Czech Republic...").
In other countries (except Slovakia) there is no legal requirement for the amount
or proportion of contracts that should meet sustainability criteria. Likewise, the European
Commission leaves the use of SPP within the competence of the Member States.
There are areas of the public sector in which contracting entities operate and where the
use of SPP maybe more problematic than in others (e.g., social services). For this reason,
we see the use of sustainable criteria in all public procurement, including small
purchases, as highly problematic.
We therefore agree with the research findings of Brown and Osborne (2005) who
pointed out that it is certainly not only about the purchasing Strategy of these public
organisations, but also about changing their behaviour. The goals of sustainable responsible
purchasing must inevitably be translated into the goals and values of the organisation
as a whole. Changes within the organisation are required. Conversely, the
focus for success can be seen in greater cooperation between the different actors, i.e.
the contracting authorities and inspection bodies. In order to monitor the implementation
of the SPP, it is advisable to complement the policy with a clearly defined strategy,
including the setting of indicators to achieve the objectives contained in such a
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concept. Poland seems to be the furthest along in this respect, while the other countries
have their reserves, as can be seen in the results section.
This study contributes to the scientific literature by identifying six possible strategies
for incorporating social considerations into public tenders, namely: objectifying
procedures, generating monitoring tools, developing informational and training
events for decision-makers, incorporating awareness-raising initiatives, creating transparency
systems, and including information and communication technologies (ICTs).
However, this paper has a limitation: we have only analysed selected public procurement
without analysing in detail the tender documentation of these tenders and
we have only conducted several structured interviews. In addition, our paper focuses
on four countries. Therefore, the results are only limited in their generalisability.
The following research project may address the role of the suppliers. The questions
remain whether suppliers are prepared for the changes related to SPP and how
they can meet the SPP requirements. Tatrai (2013), in relation to the emphasis on the
role of suppliers in the sustainable procurement process, also questions their motivation
to apply creative elements in their bids in a situation of over-regulation and legal
obligations. This is further elaborated on in the study by Alhola et al. (2017). Among
other things, the findings confirm the need for further research to understand the impact
of sustainable procurement strategies, including market dialogue, on the success
of contracting authorities in procuring innovation.
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Appendix 1
Table 8:
Mandatory use of sustainable criteria in public procurement in the Visegrad
Group
Countries Act Obligation
by law
Article in the Act
Hungary Act CXLIII of
2015 on
Public
Procurement
Yes, in the
preparation
phase
Par. 132 — contractual obligations — soc.
Criteria, Par. 29/1 preparation, 198/1/b.lO authorisation
to issue a decree (decree not
found)
Part 28 of the Act.
The contracting authority shall ensure thorough
preparation of the procurement procedure, as
regards the subject-matter and the estimated
value of the public contract. The procurement
documents made available by the contracting
authority shall ensure that economic operators
are given an opportunity in the procedure to
make an offer which is technically suitable,
physically executable and economically
rational. Contracting authorities shall, even
during the preparation of the procurement
procedure, seek to ensure conditions necessary
for high quality performance, protection of the
environment - in light of the subject-matter of
the public contract - and consideration of
sustainability concerns, as well as prevention of
amendments to the subject-matter of the
public contract. The contracting authority can
also use the method of value assessment.
Poland The Public
Procurement
Law of
September
11 2019
(Journal of
Laws item
2019 as
amended)
New Act on
public
procurement
(2021)
Yes, in the
preparation
phase.
Polish contracting entities must process an
analysis of the contracting authority's needs
(for contracts whose value is equal to or greater
than the European Union thresholds) (see
National law - Public Procurement Office
(uzp.gov.pl)). This means that for over-the-line
public procurement, they must explore options
for social, environmental and innovative
solutions (in accordance with the concept of
sustainable public procurement).
The Act of September 11 2019 - Public
Procurement Law (Journal of Laws of 2019,
item 2019, as amended) directly refers to social
issues in the provisions on the
strategic approach to public procurement
(Article 21 on the State Procurement Policy)
and in the procedural provisions regarding
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the preparation, award and implementation of
a public contract (Article 17 on the principle of
efficiency, Article 83 on the analysis of needs
and requirements and individual articles of the
Act on instruments enabling social
considerations to be taken into account in the
public procurement procedure and at the stage
of public procurement) (PPO, online).
Czech
Republic
ACT No.
134/2016
Coll. on
Public
Procurement
Yes, 100%
since 2021
Contracting authorities are obliged to comply
with the principles laid down by law in the
procedure. In drawing up specifications,
evaluating tenders and selecting a supplier, the
contracting authority shall, in so far as the
nature and purpose of the contract so permit,
observe the principles of socially responsible
procurement, environmentally responsible
procurement and innovation within the
meaning of the law. The contracting authority
shall duly justify its action. This obligation is
part of the principles of the law and all
contracting entities are obliged to comply with
it for all contracts, including small-scale
contracts.
Slovakia Act No.
25/2006 Z.
z. on public
procurement
Yes.
Contracting
authorities
are
obligated
to use a
minimum
of 6% of
the social
criteria in
tenders
(since
2020).
The legal obligation to apply the social aspect
does not apply to all entities announcing public
procurement. It applies only to a public
contracting authority and contracting
authorities. In the calendar year in which it has
launched or implemented at least ten public
contracts other than low-value contracts, the
contracting authority is obliged to use the social
aspect in the description of the subject-matter
of the contract as a special condition for the
performance of the contract or as a criterion for
at least 6% of these contracts, evaluation of
tenders. This obligation does not apply to socalled
subsidised persons (persons pursuant to
Section 8 of the Public Procurement Act) who
may act as purchasers of goods, services or
works. The Public Procurement Act precisely
defines the possibility of including a contract in
a percentage share in the form of setting the
conditions that must be met: 1. The public
procurement is in the form of a reserved
contract or a contract, framework agreement or
concession contract is amended during its
duration without a new procurement, if the
change consists in extending their duration or
increasing their value and the original contract,
framework agreement or concession contract
was concluded as a result of a public
procurement; 2. The contracting authority /
entity must carry out a public procurement, 10
3. Public procurement with a social aspect shall
be counted only once, regardless of whether it
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was started in one calendar year and completed
in another calendar year. The social aspect is
also related to certain statutory provisions in
the Public Procurement Act (Office for Public
procurement, Slovakia, 2021).
Source: Public procurement authority Hungary (online), National law - Public Procurement Office
Poland (online), Office for Public Procurement Slovakia (2021), Národný projekt Zvyšovanie
efektívnosti v oblasti verejného obstarávania na Slovensku (online), Úrad pre verejné obstarávanie
(online)
799