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The Environmental Criteria are reviewed regularly to keep it up to date. During this process the criteria are tested on the accuracy and where needed adjustments are made accordingly. Where possible, maximum use has been made of the European Green Public Procurement criteria (GPP). This ensures more consistency in criteria so that the effect of the application increases.

As a professional procurer, you are expected to purchase products, services or works which are as sustainable as possible. Accordingly, the impact of any procurement on people and the environment must be considered in addition to price considerations. You must also consider the possibility of contributing, through your procurement activities, to the realisation of your organisation's policy objectives.

Social return means creating more employment opportunities for people who are disadvantaged within the labour market. When issuing purchase orders, public procurers can encourage or require contractors to employ vulnerable groups when implementing the contract. Dutch government bodies can implement social return in a variety of ways. There is no overarching national policy on social return.

In principal, it is possible to implement social return in all purchasing procedures, whether they be above or below the European public procurement threshold. In the absence of a national policy, individual organisations are free to interpret social return policy in their own way. The State implements social return in its procurement policy for public procurements in the categories of "works" and "services" worth in excess of €250,000 with a minimum contract period of six months.

The implementation of social return policy should be consistent with local law and must, therefore, comply with the general principles of public procurement law: non-discrimination, objectivity, transparency and proportionality. For each contract, it is important to decide whether the implementation of social return is proportionate to the value of the contract, the type of work/service involved, and so on.

Do you want to get personally involved in improving international terms and conditions of employment, and in eliminating child labour, starvation wages, and inhuman working conditions? Social conditions in European public procurements can have impacts all along the supply chain.

Social conditions help to eliminate social injustices in the supply chain, such as child labour, starvation wages, and inhuman working conditions. Implementation of social conditions is required in the Netherlands for European public procurement by the State. They help to safeguard international labour standards and human rights.

First, determine whether any social criteria are relevant to the contract. Are there any risks within the supply chain that social standards might be violated? Identify these risks and give details of them in the documentation.

Publish details of the public procurement, including the social conditions in global supply chains. Once the award has been made, reach agreement on this issue.

During implementation, the contract manager or internal client should check that the supplier is in compliance with the agreements reached. Are there any indications that international social conditions have been violated? If so, engage the supplier in a dialogue about possible solutions.