EU Citizens Want Public Money To Strengthen Workers Pay
05. March 2025A Large Majority of EU Citizens in Support of Social Public Procurement
A Europe-wide survey commissioned by UNI Europa and released today finds that a large majority of EU citizens (72%) are in favour of public procurement that strengthens workers’ livelihoods through collective bargaining.
The survey comes as the European Commission sets out to reform EU procurement rules that govern the awarding of public contracts to private companies. Its results support calls from workers and trade unions for social clauses in procurement rules that prioritise companies with collective agreements, while excluding union-busting and undercutting companies.
“These findings are an urgent call to action. The European Commission should listen to European voters: public money should support quality jobs, not companies that undermine fair competition and bust unions,” said Oliver Roethig, Regional Secretary of UNI Europa. He added: “The best way of doing so is by prioritising decent employers that have a collective agreement with their workers.”
Millions of workers are employed in the EU through public contracts. Public procurement creates standards that influence pay and working conditions throughout the private sector.
The survey’s key findings:
- 65% of respondents want public contracts to be awarded based on price, quality, green and social criteria
- Of those criteria, wages and working conditions is the number one priority with 46.4% of respondents saying it would justify a higher price
- 83% of respondents want union busters and underpaying companies to be excluded
- 72% of respondents want public authorities to prioritise companies with collective agreements
- The proportion of citizens who want public tenders to take into account factors other than price has increased significantly from 52% to 65% since a similar survey in 2011.
Source: UNI Europa