Public Procurement, Contract Compliance and Social Policy in the European Union

This text examines the relationship between the "economic" and the "social" approaches to European integration as manifested by the legal and political debate about the relationship between public procurement and equal opportunites.

It is the tension between the two approaches which is considered in this book within the context of public procurement.

Using the concept of "contract compliance" (the use of public procurement as an instrument of social policy, particularly for the purpose of achieving equality of opportunity between different age groups) the author shows how contract compliance has been advocated for several member states and introduced in some others.

The legality of such compliance schemes is still uncertain and the book seeks to provide clarification of the legal issues.