Procuring Socially Responsible Services Within Sustainability-Driven Thessaloniki

The procurement of public goods and services accumulates approximatively 14% of the European Union (EU) gross domestic product (GDP). Public procurement (PP) refers to the process where central and local governments purchase and provide services, public works and goods (Uyarra and Flanagan 2010). The European small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly contributing to these PP practices offering value-added services to local societies. SMEs are the drivers of the local communities as they are providing jobs and stimulate sustainable growth. In the past 5 years, they have created around 85% of new jobs and provided a path to prosperity for millions of families. Therefore, it is important to strengthen their active participation in public tenders, especially local ones. Historically, PP of business services is the primary performer with regard to three key SMEs’ performance indicators in the supply chain process. Public services’ procurement is forming the key public driver of economic growth (European Commission 2016). As a result, it is important to eliminate on-going PP problems that discourage SMEs’ participation to public tenders. This paper explores, taking as an example Thessaloniki, a sustainability-driven PP framework that could surface the exact nature of the ongoing problems that stifle entrepreneurial growth.