Nordic Guidelines - Green Public Procurement

This guideline was produced through a Nordic Council of Ministers’ project Green Growth through Public Procurement. The project aims to create a common Nordic understanding of the possibilities for taking environmental considerations in public procurement according to the EU Public Procurement Directives (2014). The guideline presents the results of the project.The guideline focuses exclusively on opportunities to use Environmental Management Systems (EMS) and ecolabels in a tender and gives both a general introduction to the possibilities of using EMS and ecolabels and specific suggestions for how minimum requirements, award criterion and contract terms can be formulated. However; when using this guideline it is important to take into account the national implementation of the directives, because there may be differences in the national implementation e.g. concerning the acceptance of other appropriate means of proof.The target group for this manual includes public purchasers and other stakeholders – especially suppliers –want to gain insight into the rules for using EMS and ecolabels in line with the 2014 directives.