GOVERNMENT OF CATALONIA

OVERVIEW

SPP IN THE GOVERNMENT OF CATALONIA

Catalonia, a region of Spain, has around 7.7m inhabitants and a total GDP of about €244m (2020, Idescat. Statistical Institute of Catalonia). As an autonomous region it has some legislative capacity and exclusive competences managed by the Government of Catalonia. The Ministry of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda is the expert body for environmental policy of the Catalan Government, and, as such, is in charge of promoting green public procurement within the government.

SPP HIGHLIGHTS

Cooperation between the Ministry of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda and the Ministry of Economy and Finance has resulted in the inclusion of environmental criteria in most framework agreements since 2005.
Production of GPP guides for products or services that are usually contracted or purchased on a decentralised basis.
Support and technical advice on green purchasing to any public procurement body requesting it.
Fostering innovation in public procurement by working together on innovative public procurement and green public procurement.

7.7m

Population

175,193

Employees

€38,139m

Budget

CONTACT

Maria José Sarrias

Head of Environmental Qualification System

WEBSITE (Catalan)

More information? Email procurement@iclei.org

IN ACTION

SPP POLICY AND STRATEGY

Centralised Procurement

For those purchases that have been centralised for the whole Catalan Government and other interested public authorities, the Ministry of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda works closely with the government’s central purchasing body (the Central Supplies Commission of the Ministry of Economy and Finance) to progressively incorporate environmental criteria in the framework agreements and derived contracts the government concludes.

The cooperation since 2005 between both Ministries has resulted in the inclusion of environmental criteria in most framework agreements and centralised purchases of the Government. The agreements and contracts are regularly reviewed to respond to and foster further green market transformation:

Printing and writing paper (6th review, 2017)
Office stationery (5th review, 2021)
Office furniture (3rd review, 2017)
Building cleaning services (6th review, 2021)
Postal services (3rd review, 2020)
Energy supply (4th review, 2021)
Surveillance and security of buildings (1st review, 2017)
Vehicles (5th review, 2018)

Decentralised Procurement

For the greening of decentralized purchases, the Ministry of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda provides tools and direct support to any Government body that wishes to include environmental criteria in their tenders. This includes:

Production of GPP guides for those products or services which are usually contracted or purchased on a decentralized basis (publications, catering services, vehicles, uniforms, buildings maintenance, etc.).
Provision of training on GPP to public servants.
Direct support on greening contracts.

Furthermore, to provide basic GPP information, the Ministry keeps in its website a specific section on GPP with general information, a brief explanation on how to green tenders based on the present regulations and links to the GPP guides from the European Commission and the Ministry.

CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND GPP

The Government of Catalonia fosters the circular economy through public procurement by defining procurement criteria for tenders as well as for GPP guidelines aimed at increasing the durability, resource efficiency, reuse, remanufacture, recycling and procurement of recycled products.

A summary of those actions and future work areas on this field are summarised in the presentation: Circular Economy and GPP in the Catalan Government.