How can EU countries shift from buying cheap to buying decent work? This key question stood at the centre of the ETUI conference “Experimentation in Buying Decent Work: Transforming Public Procurement Policies and Practice”, held on 20 November in Brussels.

The conference presented findings from several recently concluded research projects published in Transfer 2/2025, examining how public authorities and social partners across Europe are testing new approaches to strengthen labour standards in publicly procured services - from labour clauses and collective bargaining linkages to worker involvement and new models of co-management.

CELSI researcher Simona Brunnerová contributed to Session 2, where she presented: “Labour clauses as a substitute or a stimulus for collective bargaining in countries with hostile conditions?”

Drawing on findings from Slovakia and Poland from the co-authored article published in the Transfer Special Issue - written with Jan Czarzasty and Marta Kahancová - she highlighted how socially responsible public procurement can, under certain institutional conditions, support collective bargaining structures, but may also constrain bargaining outcomes when used as a workaround rather than a complement.

🔗 Transfer Special Issue: Creating public value in hostile conditions: public procurement as an opportunity for collective bargaining in Poland and Slovakia, authored by Simona Brunnerová, Jan Czarzasty, Marta Kahancová, 2025: https://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/WYE37Y9TYDIIPE4MYUFS/full

The conference was organised by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) and the Transfer Journal Special Issue team, with contributions from researchers, social partners, and practitioners engaged in shaping more socially sustainable public procurement across the EU.

🔗 Watch the ETUI Conference on Transforming Public Procurement at: https://youtu.be/Zz0jEl7xr0

#PublicProcurement #CELSI #DecentWork #CollectiveBargaining #SocialDialogue #TransferJournal