UNI Europa welcomes EMPL vote in favour of linking public procurement to collective bargaining

On Tuesday, 13 May 2025, the European Parliament’s Employment Committee (EMPL) voted on its opinion on public procurement reform drafted by rapporteur Kim Van Sparrentak (Greens, Netherlands). It was adopted with 40 votes in favour, 10 against and 1 abstention, with all democratic political groups – The Left, Greens, S&D, Renew and EPP – voting in favour. The opinion will now be submitted to Internal Market Committee (IMCO), where Piotr Müller (ECR, Poland) acts as rapporteur.

Public procurement represents 15 per cent of GDP across the European Union. However, as UNI Europa research shows, half of all public tenders across the EU are awarded solely based on the lowest price. The EMPL Committee’s opinion included core UNI Europa demands to solve this problem, such as the possibility of excluding companies that do not respect workers’ rights and allowing and simplifying procedures for public entities that want to promote quality jobs through public procurement.

These are hugely popular policies with European voters.

A Europe-wide survey commissioned by UNI Europa and released earlier this year found that a large majority of EU citizens (72 per cent) are in favour of public procurement that strengthens workers’ livelihoods through collective bargaining, with 83 per cent wanting union busters and underpaying companies to be excluded from public contracts.

The EMPL opinion is expected to influence the IMCO Committee’s final report, that be put to a vote in its entirety in June. This report will inform the Parliament’s position vis-a-vis the European Commission’s proposal expected in early 2026.

Oliver Roethig, UNI Europa Regional Secretary, said: “This is a strong vote in favour of workers’ rights, collective bargaining and Europe’s social model by all democratic parties in the EMPL Committee. We now urge their colleagues in IMCO to follow their lead – and finally ensure that Europe’s procurement rules don’t result in a race to the bottom for pay and working conditions.”