Decree n° 2022-767 amending the French Public Procurement Code has been issued on 3 May 2022 and introduces new provisions regarding awarding criteria and their specifications.
Decree amends article R. 2152-7 of the French Public Procurement Code to consider the environmental criterion in public procurement contracts and concession contracts’ awarding process.
Under French law, procurement and concession contracts may be awarded based on a sole price criterion for certain types of goods. From 21 August 2026, these contracts will be awarded by public purchasers based on different criteria:
Although references to the notion of “environmental aspects” can be found in Annex 9 of the French Procurement code (this annex mentions the compliance of the products with environmental standards and eco-management scheme), this notion is not really defined.
Few doubts remain regarding the fact that this notion of environmental aspects is too vague and should be specified by regulations or guidelines from the French Authority in the coming years. It will definitely be of assistance for bidders wishing to structure their offer and public purchasers wishing to assess properly such offers in light of the “environmental features”.