THE PUBLIC PROCUREMENT CODE: A TOOL FOR GAUGING OVERALL PERFORMANCE? SURVEY ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CSR CRITERIA IN NANTES MÉTROPOLE’S PUBLIC CONTRACTS

Abstract

By including CSR criteria in a series of public procurement contracts between 2011 and 2017, Nantes Métropole has been a pioneer in responsible public procurement. But the French Council of State ruled against the measures in 2018. The article examines Nantes’ local government’s public policy of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and shows how this policy allowed public bodies to revise the methods used to evaluate their suppliers on the basis of a pluralist, co-constructed framework of CSR criteria, with the support of local socioeconomic networks. However, the Council of State’s decision served as a reminder that the principle of competition often prevails over sustainable development concerns in the hierarchy of standards. Equally, this decision highlights the role of the Public Procurement Code as a tool to for gauging overall performance. If the imperatives of sustainable development are to be taken seriously, new and more ambitious changes to the regulatory framework will be required.