The DAE has made significant efforts in recent years to build the capacity of State procurement officers in the area of green procurement. While these efforts have resulted in a significant increase in the rate of integration of environmental considerations into public procurement (50% of procurement processes in 2023 excluding those of other State public bodies), other initiatives could complement these efforts to ensure that the objectives of the PNAD and the Climate and Resilience Law are achieved, in particular by means of two main pillars: 1) training; and 2) the development of methodological assistance and tools.
Promoting Strategic and Green Public Procurement in France
Professionalising the State Procurement Function
Abstract
5.1.1. Creating a professionally recognised GPP training programme
The DAE's training offer is generally well developed and comprehensive. However, the range of courses on green procurement is still underdeveloped and seldom taken up by buyers. Although the DAE already offers several levels of procurement certification, the environmental aspect is hardly addressed and often remains very general.
As the results of the OECD survey have shown, the issue of integrating environmental considerations into public procurement raises different challenges throughout the procurement cycle. The challenges encountered in defining the need, drawing up a cost/benefit analysis, analysing market capacities, incorporating these considerations into tender documentation and evaluation criteria, and monitoring performance all require practical, tailored responses.
The development of a training programme focused entirely on green procurement, covering the entire procurement cycle, would have the advantage of responding to the practical challenges faced by buyers. The course would also cover a range of environmental issues such as decarbonisation, circular economy, the fight against climate change and security of supply. The content, which would be more practical than theoretical, would be based on real-life case studies in small groups, encouraging the sharing of experiences, reflection on the challenges encountered and comparison with the reality of a public procurement procedure. Using real-life cases, this training would address the specific challenges associated with the different stages of the procurement cycle.
In addition to strengthening the skills of buyers, a recognised and accredited (if not certifying) training programme could raise the profile of the role of a State procurement officer (with possible effects on the attractiveness of the job and on the turnover rate) and address the problem of geographical distance (since it would only be taken once, buyers and their managers could make the corresponding financial effort). Finally, it could serve as a catalyst for the career advancement of buyers. As with some OECD countries, green procurement certification, or at least its formal recognition, could be linked to a pay rise or the opening up of new roles within the procurement function.
This training could be provided by a single institution, which would harmonise the content for all those involved. Finally, it will be necessary to answer the question of its cost, beyond the development of the training package. As cost is a major factor in participation, this training could either be offered free of charge to buyers and borne by the DAE, or it could be made compulsory for certain categories of buyers so that the budgetary allocation within each ministry for their training plan could systematically include this training. A third possibility would be to centralise the training budgets of each ministry within the DAE for all State buyers.
5.1.2. Creating thematic training modules in pairs
Considering the importance of the other players in the public procurement ecosystem, in particular technical experts, practical training with buyers in a joint training module, or by working in pairs, would enable buyers and technical experts to compare their perspectives, exchange their knowledge and experience and thus increase their skills together.
Given that the various players have limited time available, the complex issues involved in the ecological transition in certain sectors and the specialisation of the technical departments, short training modules, dealing with specific procurement categories, would enable participants to translate the content of these training courses into concrete environmental considerations in their day-to-day procurement activities..
As a general rule, practical training in pairs is used to develop i) the staff and/or ii) the organisation through comparative learning. The specific objectives of each job-shadowing or job-exchange programme should always be well-defined, with clear targets. (OECD, 2017[1])
The expected benefits of these programmes are:
Personal: job enhancement, development (career, leadership skills, etc.),
Organisational: better alignment of skills with organisational needs and improved performance.
5.2.1. Improving access to environmental expertise in public procurement
Beyond capacity building through training, ad hoc support for buyers would give them access to environmental and procurement expertise on a day-to-day basis. As such, helpdesks provide ad hoc and immediate assistance to contracting authorities in the form of call centres, telephone consultations or by e-mail. They provide quick, personalised answers to buyers and are particularly useful for helping inexperienced buyers. As the regulatory frameworks for green public procurement can be quite complex and diverse, the helpdesks are useful for clarifying legal issues and resolving recurring questions in terms of choice of procedures, evaluation criteria or tender documents.
Access to dedicated expertise has proved beneficial in the social field, where a number of facilitators have been set up to help buyers implement certain social considerations in their procurement procedures. However, this system may not be fully transposable to the environmental field. In fact, the social dimension is easier to integrate, as it is more subject to standard clauses (in particular targeting the staff of the bidder) and with limited themes. The environmental dimension, on the other hand, covers a wide range of issues (biodiversity, circular economy, greenhouse gas emissions, recycling, etc.), and affects several aspects of procurement in different procurement categories.
Consequently, consideration needs to be given as to how this support can be put in place, so that it is as effective as possible for all buyers. The DAE has already recruited four new experts, three for the environmental aspect and one for the social aspect, and also has a number of tools available to buyers (guides, tool-sheets, the RESPAE professional social network, etc.). The three environmental experts are specialised in circular economy, decarbonisation and biodiversity respectively. In this way, the DAE could become a true helpdesk for buyers if the demand for assistance from the experts proves significant over the coming months. Strong demand could also present an opportunity to expand the support team to cover other themes or specific procurement categories. The DAE team could also draw on the support of the ministerial sustainable procurement advisors, the regional procurement platforms, and the networks of public bodies in order to create a support network for buyers, provided that the skills of these players are strengthened beforehand.
Given the need for local assistance in the regions, local initiatives can also supplement the assistance offered by the DAE. In particular, some regional procurement platforms have set up a sustainable procurement advisor within their unit. This initiative could be extended to all regions of France, so that the methodological assistance offered can take account of specific local procurement requirements. However, this possibility comes up against the question of the availability of sufficient human and budgetary resources.
5.2.2. Developing tools to help buyers on a day-to-day basis
Green public procurement involves more complex, technical, and strategic decision-making than procurement based solely on identifying the most economically advantageous offer. In this respect, the development of practical tools such as tool-sheets or IT resources for green procurement would simplify the integration of environmental considerations and reduce the administrative and technical burden on buyers. According to 255 respondents, the lack of practical tools is the main reason why environmental considerations are not fully implemented in procurement. Furthermore, few of the guides and support documents developed by the DAE, the DAJ or the European Commission are known to respondents, and while those that are known are considered to be useful and informative, they were also deemed too long and impractical.
The OECD survey also asked buyers which three practical tools they thought would be the most useful in strengthening their green procurement skills. The responses to this question were by definition diverse, but the development of practical tool-sheets and standard criteria for each procurement category were the most frequently cited (see Figure 5.1).
Note: Responses from 555 respondents.
Source: (OCDE, 2024[2])
A number of tools are already being developed to help buyers with environmental issues. In addition to the tool ‘La clause verte’, the tool ‘La ref’ enables buyers to find out the regulatory requirements in terms of sustainable public procurement applicable to their structure, by procurement category. (Réseau 3AR, n.d.[3]) The DAE is also developing tool-sheets for green procurement by procurement category. These tool-sheets include references to the legal framework for the procurement category, examples of technical specifications and conditions for implementing and monitoring the contractor's commitments. They also contain standard award criteria. Cross-cutting tool-sheets on greenhouse gas emissions, transport and delivery, and waste management are also being developed. The first tool-sheets were published in summer 2024 on priority procurement categories (IT, textiles, catering, works and consulting services), with a focus on decarbonisation to be added in a second stage.
The DAJ, in conjunction with the OECP, has also recently developed a sustainable procurement toolkit, including a mapping of procurement by sector, a tool for calculating the climate impact by sector, and an electronic tool for defining needs that takes sustainable development objectives into account. Other tools could be added to these initiatives, such as office tools for calculating life-cycle costs or environmental impact by type of product, a catalogue of products with high environmental-added value, a practical tool-sheet explaining the various ecolabels, etc.
Existing tools or those currently being developed could be supplemented by other tools based on those developed in certain OECD countries, such as Excel spreadsheets that can automatically calculate carbon footprint, energy savings, lifecycle costs or greenhouse gas emissions, particularly for certain procurement categories. (OECD, 2022[4])
In Italy, the central purchasing body Consip has developed a simplified methodology for taking into account life-cycle costs in some of its framework agreements and for certain product categories, such as ICT, vehicles, printing services and public lighting. The methodology consists of taking into account the energy consumption of the product category combined with green criteria. The methodology is adapted on a case-by-case basis depending on the product group. For example, for the purchase of computers, the award was based on the lowest cost, taking into account minimum environmental and social requirements, as well as energy consumption over the duration of the contract (3 years).
In Austria, ÖBB, the Austrian federal railway company, has recently developed a tool for calculating life cycle costs (LCC): the TCO CO2 calculator. ÖBB has teamed up with the Technical University of Graz to integrate the externalities generated by CO2 emissions into its LCC calculation tool. The TCO CO2 calculator is the first calculation model in Europe to select the winning bidder on the basis of an ecological and sustainable assessment of the total cost of ownership. For a given product, it calculates the environmental impacts caused by the production, construction and use phases in the context of public procurement. These environmental impacts are monetised and integrated into the total cost of ownership. The result of this calculation is included directly in the tendering process.
In addition, a database of suppliers and sustainable products listing suppliers committed to sustainable practices could also prove to be a valuable tool for public buyers, in order to facilitate the search for products and services meeting environmental criteria. Practical tools can also be developed to help monitor environmental clauses, such as a computer-based tool/information system for monitoring the implementation of these clauses. This system could be based on easily verifiable key performance indicators linked to the contractor's right to claim payment. These indicators could be developed for certain procurement categories.
References
[2] OCDE (2024), OECD ProcurCompEU survey of 555 agents in the public procurement function.
[4] OECD (2022), Life-Cycle Costing in Public Procurement in Hungary: Stocktaking of Good Practices, OECD Public Governance Reviews, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/8d90f627-en.
[1] OECD (2017), Overview on Job Swapping Practices in the Public Procurement Context in OECD and EU Countries, https://www.ipa.government.bg/sites/default/files/overview_on_job_swapping_practices_in_the_public_procurement_context_in_oecd_and_eu_countries.pdf (accessed on 28 June 2024).
[3] Réseau 3AR (n.d.), “Outil “La ref””, https://3ar-na.fr/la-ref/ (accessed on 5 November 2024).