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The European Energy Union means making energy more secure, affordable and sustainable. It will allow a free flow of energy across borders and a secure supply in every EU country, for every citizen. New technologies and renewed infrastructure will cut household bills and create new jobs and skills, as companies expand exports and boost growth. It will lead to a sustainable, low carbon and environmentally friendly economy, putting Europe at the forefront of renewable energy production and the fight against global warming. As a follow up to this Communication, in the coming period concrete measures will be proposed and adopted. So far, no concrete measures have been taken.

In February 2014, new rules on public procurement and the award of concessions were adopted. (...) The EU is convinced that the simplification and greater flexibility of the new procedures, their capacity to better serve other important public-sector policies (like environmental protection, support for SMEs), along with the possibility of the best value for money, will make public procurement more efficient and more strategic, while respecting the principles of transparency and competition to the benefit of both public purchasers and businesses. (...)

Public procurement policy in the EU aims to achieve the best value for money through open, transparent and non-discriminatory procedures, consistent with the underlying objectives of the internal market. The applicable rules also mention other aspects such as social, innovation, and environmental considerations that can be incorporated into technical specifications, selection and award criteria, as well as contract-performance clauses. The new directives contain several new provisions described in more detail below.

There are common rules on government procurement that are applicable through the EU, but differences in the data provided by member States make it difficult to draw conclusions about spending in one State compared to another. A series of new directives were agreed in 2014 which have reformed the legal framework and their provisions are being transposed into national laws in the member States. The package is intended to improve transparency and enforcement, and simplify procedures. Among other changes, the package reinforces rules on aggregation of below-threshold procurement contracts, introduces the concept of life-cycle costing that includes environmental externalities, and applies specific rules to concessions contracts.

Regarding the environmental aspects of procurement, the concept of “life-cycle costing” introduced in the Directives is aimed at encouraging public authorities to consider the full life-cycle of products in their purchasing decisions. The life-cycle cost concept includes internal costs and costs imputed to environmental externalities (including the CO2 footprint) linked to the product, service or works during its/their life cycle, provided their monetary value can be determined and verified. In their award decisions, contracting authorities may take into account criteria linked to the production process of the works, services or supplies to be purchased such as the inclusion of vulnerable and disadvantaged people or the use of non-toxic substances. In addition, contracting authorities may require that works, supplies, or services bear specific labels certifying environmental, social or other characteristics, as long as the label requirements only concern criteria which are linked to the subject-matter of the contract and are appropriate to define characteristics of the works, supplies or services and that equivalent labels are accepted.

The Commission carries out impact assessment analysis to support its decision-making for all proposals with significant direct impact, including in the trade policy area. In terms of trade agreements, up to four major types of evaluation may be conducted during the life of a trade agreement. At the stage of negotiations, the Commission carries out "trade sustainability impact assessments" (SIAs) to analyse the economic, environmental and social impacts of the proposed trade agreements for both the EU and its trading partners. (...)

All current EU FTA negotiations, whether with developed or developing countries, cover TSD (Trade and Sustainable Development) (e.g. Vietnam, Morocco, Japan, and the U.S.). TSD chapters are also included in all the FTAs that were concluded during the period under review. These Agreements include far-reaching provisions to effectively implement international conventions on labour rights and environmental protection. (...)

The FTA with Colombia and Peru has also been applied since 2013. This FTA contains provisions on, inter alia, tariff concessions, services trade concessions, government procurement, SPS measures, TBT measures, IPR protection, and trade and sustainable development, as well as a comprehensive dispute settlement mechanism.

The EU also maintains import restrictions on security and environmental grounds. Some such controls/restrictions stem from treaties and international conventions to which it, and/or its member States, are a party. That is the case of the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. In principle, imports (and exports) of such Ozone Depleting substances (ODS) are prohibited but there are exemptions to that prohibition, and those exemptions are subject to an import licensing scheme. [63] (...)

[63] Regulation (EC) No. 1005/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 September 2009 on substances that deplete the ozone layer (OJ L 286, 31 October 2009); for a list of the products subject to the scheme and a detailed description of the licensing regime see WTO document G/LIC/N/3/EU/3, 6 November 2014, pp. 24-30.

Another case of import restrictions based on environmental grounds is the controls and restrictions stemming from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. The EU has entered into bilateral "Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade Voluntary Partnership Agreements" with a number of countries, through which imports of specific timber and timber products from such countries will be subject to a licensing scheme.