Under the UN Guiding Principles (UNGPs), states are advised to be in a commercial relationship with economic actors that are considerate of their human rights influence. Given the amount of taxpayers’ money spent on procurement, public authorities can use their leverage to add social considerations into the procurement process. This article sets out whether public authorities can use their leverage to invite businesses to respect human rights as provided with the UNGPs. After providing an overview of the UNGPs and the EU approach, this article analyses the EU Public Procurement Directive adopted in 2014 which has promoted sustainability concerns with the use of green and socially responsible public procurement. It then establishes, that although prescribed under the Guiding Principles, the EU regime does not always allow human rights concerns to be integrated into the procurement.
Keywords: UNGPs; business and human rights; public procurement; sustainability