Czech Republic

Current national procurement legislation/standards for the project-relevant fields

IT no
household appliances no
public lighting no
green power no
vehicles (public transport buses) no
building components no
other no
general/universal no

The Government Regulation No. 720/2000 of 19 July 2000 addresses the issue of sales promotion and advancement and utilisation of environmentally friendly products. By means of this Regulation, the government advised members of the government, heads of other central bodies of public administration and heads of district authorities to comply with the following procedures in their organisations:

when awarding public contracts pursuant to Act No.137/2006 Coll., on Public Procurement, as amended, pertaining to the supply, installation and use of a product, environmental friendliness of a product should be included as one of the criteria in the evaluation of the bids,
a direct purchase of environmentally friendly goods and products is prioritised (e.g. repair works on both the interior and exterior of buildings and on their equipment - furniture, copiers, lighting, office paper, sanitary supplies etc.)

Generally, the public procurement in the Czech Republic is regulated by the Act No. 137/2006, and the related decrees. When launching public tender, the act allows to set technical requirements including impacts on the environment. It also allows for setting such requirements by referring to the requirements of the national, European or international eco- labeling systems. However, it must be also possible to prove fulfilment of such requirements by other appropriate means, such as technical documentation of the producer.

Moreover, the Action plan of the State program on environmental education and public promotion in the Czech Republic for 2007-2009 (set by governmental decision No. 1155 from 11th of October 2006) assumes gradual implementation of the environmentally friendly operation of the offices and state institutions.

Current national / regional practice

There is no obligation to use green procurement in the Czech Republic, there are only several sets of recommendations published and promoted by the environmental institutions and agencies.

In the Czech Republic, the concept of green procurement appeared for the first time only around the Year 2000. One of the first activities was the project „Sparing Paperwork“(“Šetrné papírování”), led by NGO Arnika which aimed to limit unnecessary paper use and support of recycling. In 2002 Network of ecological advisory centers STEP published a information brochure „Buy green“ („Nakupujte zeleně“). Within the projects „Green office“ („Zelená kancelář“) and Kompas web sites to promote green procurement were created, where basic rules and criteria for the green procurement were recommended.

In 2007 environmental NGO Veronica has published the book “Standardy zeleného úřadování”, which is recommending standards for implementation of green public procurement.

Promotion of the green procurement is currently supported by Ministry of Environment and Czech environmental information agency - CENIA. The Czech Ecolabelling Agency, one of the units of CENIA, is the body responsible for the Czech National Eco-labelling Programme. As for the year 2009, some 400 products and services hold the Czech Ecolabel brand. Seven Czech companies also use directly the EU Eco-Flower logo. In total, 89 companies use the eco-label logo for 53 product categories.

Recognised barriers

As including of the environmental criteria as a part of the procurement requirements is not compulsory, but only recommended, there is a lack of motivation by the responsible employees. This is true especially in the situation, where there are lacking capacities at the institutions and organizations to implement environmental criteria as a part of the procurement. The appropriate evaluation tools which would make the evaluation fast and effective are often not available.

Opportunities

Currently the Czech Government is preparing „Rules of implementation of environmental criteria for public procurement“ („Pravidla uplatňování environmentálních kritérií při zadávání veřejných zakázek“) as a part of its non-legislative activities. It will be applicable for the public institutions, but will be also available for voluntary use by private organisations. In its appendices of the last proposal, there are included detailed methodologies for the purchase of furniture and office technologies. Similar specifications for the other sectors are planned to be prepared.

There is a hope, that common set of rules endorsed by the government and accompanied by the specific methodologies and requirements, will significantly support use of green procurement not only in the public institutions, but also in the private sector.