Purchase Power – Sustainable Public Procurement Through Private Law Enforcement (PurpLE)

This project focuses on researching the tension between public procurement and private law.

Public procurement refers to the process where the state buys goods, work and services from private suppliers. Considering its omnipresence and enormous size (approx. 12% of global GDP), the state’s purchasing activities can create new market behaviors and shift the existing ones towards sustainable consumption and production. Thus, sustainability has been implemented into public procurement concepts, regulation and practice. However, paying attention only to the public procurement law in connection with this phenomenon is not enough. To be precise, private law, particularly contract law, arbitration also plays a key role as contracts are implementation tools for the performance of public procurement goals. Thus, by taking a more holistic approach (sustainability, private and public law), PurpLe will deepen the understanding of interconnections between the aforementioned laws needed to deliver procurement goals successfully.

PurpLE's aim will be achieved by investigating three highly complementary research questions:

1) How does public procurement law impact the interpretation of contract law?

2) Can private law limit the outcome of public procurement law and, if so, how?

3) What does this complex interaction between public procurement and private law mean for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals agenda?