Integrating social and environmental dimensions in public procurement: one small step for the internal market, one giant leap for the EU?

This working paper provides a legal analysis of the inclusion of social and environmental clauses in the modernisation of the European Union's public procurement directives. It focuses in particular on Directive 2014/24/EU and evaluates the measures and provisions dealing with the obligation to comply with social, environmental and labour laws. It concludes that the co-legislators have managed to give contracting authorities and member states a lever to introduce more ethics in economic relations.