Parikka-Alhola, K., Nissinen, A. and Ekroos, A., 2006. Green award criteria in the most economically advantageous tender in public purchasing. In G. Piga and K.V. Thai (eds), Advancing public procurement. PrAcademics Press, Boca Raton, USA, pp. 257-279. Chapter 1 2 Green A ward C riteria i n t he M ost E conomically Advantageous T ender i n P ublic P urchasing Katriina P arikka-Alhola, A ri N issinen a nd A ri E kroos INTRODUCTION The term public purchasing refers to the purchasing by governmental organizations and local authorities of goods, services and works, which are used in a variety of public sectors, such as housing, public transport, infrastructure, offices, and major construction works. In the European Union (EU), the public procurement procedure is relatively strictly regulated by the EU legislation. The new public procurement Directives, 2004/17/EC and 2004/18/EC, that repealed Directives 92/50/EEC and 93/36/EEC and 93/37/EEC, were adopted in 2004, but in many EU member states the national legislation has not yet been implemented according to new directives. The aim of the directives is to ensure a competitive bidding process by establishing common rules for advertising procurement needs, invitations to tender and contract award. These rules are based on the principles of non-discrimination on the basis of nationality for EU companies, free competition and transparency of award procedures. The obligatory requirements, which the bid (and later the supplied product or service) must fulfill, are given by the selection criteria and the technical specifications. Contract clauses may also include requirements that must be met during the contract. Now, it is of course possible to determine the wished properties of the contract by these obligatory requirements, so that only price will be used in the award criteria. But often it can be wise to compare the bids on the basis of some aspects other than the price, i.e., to use other award criteria. The directives explicitly describe two different bases for the award of tenders: “the lowest price” or “the most economically advantageous tender.” The latter implies that other award criteria will Parikka-Alhola, K., Nissinen, A. and Ekroos, A., 2006. Green award criteria in the most economically advantageous tender in public purchasing. In G. Piga and K.V. Thai (eds), Advancing public procurement. PrAcademics Press, Boca Raton, USA, pp. 257-279.