National legislation

Public procurement procedures in Lithuania are currently regulated by the new version of Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Public Procurement No. X-471 (December 2005), which came into force on 31 January 2006. This Law establishes the rights, obligations and responsibility of participants in the procurement process, as well as the procedure for the control of public procurement and settling of disputes. It contains provisions of possibilities to integrate sustainable development items in public procurement procedures (defining technical specifications, qualification requirements, tender assessment criteria and contract provisions).

The Government of the Republic of Lithuania by Decree No. 804 adopted National Green Procurement Implementation Programme 2007-2011 on August 29, 2007. The green procurement is defined, the aims and results, assessment criteria are established, supervision and implementation tools are foreseen in the Programme.

Implementing National Green Procurement Implementation Programme the Minister of the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania by his Decree No. D1-697 on December 22, 2007 confirmed the list of products for which the environmental criteria in public procurement procedures should be applied since 2008 and approved the environmental criteria for such products.

EU legislation and related documents

The above mentioned Law on Public Procurement of the Republic of Lithuania transposed the EU public procurement directives, which had been adopted in 2004, March 31: 1) Directive 2004/17/EC coordinating the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors, and 2) Directive 2004/18/EC on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts. The Directives clearly point out how contracting authorities can meet the needs of society in the environmental and social ranges, and explain a broad range of issues connected to Green Public Procurement.

In order to help contracting authorities to apply Green Procurement Policy, the European Commission in 2005 published a handbook “Buying green! A Handbook on Environmental Public Procurement”. The respective elements are clarified in detail, practical examples and solutions on the procedures of public procurement are given in the handbook.

There were no clear provisions on sustainable public procurement till the EU public procurement directives (2004 March). The Interpretative Communication (October 2001) of the European Commission explained to public purchasers several possibilities to integrate social aspects into public procurement procedures. The Interpretative Communication (July 2001) of the European Commission, which dates from before the adoption of the new legal framework, clarified how former Community law offered numerous possibilities to public purchasers who wish to integrate environmental considerations into public procurement procedures. As the former legal framework did not contain any reference to environmental requirements, the Communication explained how environmental concerns may be taken into account at each separate stage of the contract award procedure. Although “overruled” by the new public procurement directives, the Communication may still be of interest and offer guidance on certain aspects, for instance on the possibility of asking from bidders to demonstrate their capacity to take environmental management measures during the performance of the contract.