Note from the editor: [trade - procurement - labour standards]

In this issue of CLR-News we report on the long track that was necessary to improve the EU procurement rules, in order to get rid of the lowest price dogma. Public procurement is about spending public money, and that is not a technical thing, as the business lobbyist are used to arguing, but a political decision with social and environmental implications that are not only worth considering but should be an integral part of the decision-making. The issue starts with an historical overview that I have written, followed by a larger account of the lobby work carried out by the trade union movement in strong and fruitful cooperation with a large group of social and environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The account is written by Penny Clarke and Christine Jakob from the European public sector trade union federation EPSU.