Electronic procurement and sustainable development goals in the Czech Republic
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| Year of publication | 2022 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | In addition to the benefits of cost and time savings, e-procurement has recently been used to achieve sustainable development goals (Campbell, 2017; Singh et al., 2020; Walker & Brammer, 2012). In the context that e-procurement is gradually replacing traditional procurement methods in European countries, sustainable development goals are increasingly being integrated into e-procurement strategies in these countries. The paper analyses the policies of the European Union and the Czech Republic in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in public procurement. This paper uses the method of textual analysis and available facts and information to critically examine the situation. It also gives examples of public procurement practise in the Czech Republic. The paper first presents the theoretical framework for the role of public (e-) procurement in the Sustainable Development Goals. It then presents the elements of sustainability in European Union public procurement law based on the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the last two public procurement legal frameworks. Starting with the 2004 legal framework, elements of sustainable public procurement find their way into the legal order of all Member States, while the 2014 legal framework significantly expands these elements. Then, we analyse the current legal system of public procurement in the Czech Republic and two e-procurement strategies of this country in the period 2011-2015 and 2016-2020 to identify the presence of sustainable development elements and the practise of domestic contracting authorities in implementing sustainability elements in public procurement procedures. Based on the UN SDGs17 and SDG-related EU goals and targets, we assess the development of sustainability indicators and elements in public procurement regulations in the Czech Republic over time, including Act No. 134/2016 Coll. and amendments to the Public Procurement Act. We examine whether an indicator is approaching closer or still farther away from the SDGs and how this change occurred. In particular, the trends observed for each indicator are compared with the theoretically necessary trends and the threshold set by the EU. We find that certain sustainable elements have been significantly expanded, while some new ones have been added. The biggest changes concern the technical specifications, the criteria for the selection of the tender, the conditions for the execution of the contract, the new life cycle cost institute and the eco-labels. The results show that e-procurement in the Czech Republic has not yet played its full role in supporting sustainable development goals. The introduction of sustainable elements into public procurement procedures is still voluntary in the Czech Republic and there is no specific regulation forcing contracting authorities to include these elements in their public tenders. Nevertheless, we believe that this country’s e-procurement strategy 2021 - 2025 will further strengthen sustainability elements in the context of the significantly expanded sustainable procurement elements in the new EU legal framework. New provisions combined with planned promotional activities and staff training among potential contracting authorities may help raise awareness of the importance of conducting sustainable public procurement. |
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