The Slovenian Public Procurement Act (PPA) (Official Gazette № 91/15 and 14/18) includes the following RBC objectives – additional frameworks apply, depending on the RBC objective:
Environment
The secondary act Decree on Green Public Procurement (Official Gazette № 51/2017 and 64/19) makes Green Public Procurement mandatory and extends the scope to twenty different green subject matters.
Human rights
Labour rights
People with disabilities
Long-term unemployed people
Integrity
The Slovenian Government took measures to strengthen transparency and integrity through several regulatory acts, including the Integrity and Prevention of Corruption Act (Official Gazette № 69/11), which sets the general framework on integrity.
2. Implementation
Tender phase
When procuring software, architectural, engineering, translation and consulting services, contracting authorities shall take into account social aspects (beyond price) as part of the award criteria.
In accordance with labour rights requirements, and to support the long-term unemployed, contracting authorities may reserve the right to participate in sheltered workshops and employment centres when carrying out procurement procedures.
Contracting authorities must exclude suppliers or contractors from participating in a tender if they have violated worker’s fundamental rights or committed enslavement acts towards their employees.
When the end users of a purchase are natural persons, the contracting authority shall take into account accessibility criteria for the people with disabilities or design requirements tailored to all users when drafting technical specifications.
To ensure transparency and integrity for contracts exceeding the value of EUR 10 000, contracting authorities should obtain a statement on the participation of natural and legal persons in the bidder's assets, including the participation of silent partners.
Post-tender phase
In performing a public procurement contract, economic operators shall comply with applicable obligations in the fields of environmental, social and labour law established by EU law, regulations in force in the Republic of Slovenia, collective agreements, or by international environmental, social and labour law provisions.
3. Good Practices
The Slovenian authorities identified some risk areas in which violations of human rights can occur. In response, the authorities are currently preparing guidelines and recommendations to combat this risk. During the stage of preparation, identified stakeholders are consulted (e.g. chambers of commerce and other business sector associations, labour unions, NGOs).
Every year, in order to be transparent and coherent, public procurement officers and officials must disclose financial information to the Anti-Corruption Commission.
According to the Slovenian PPA, subcontractors are always required to respect environmental, human and labour rights, people with disabilities and integrity objectives.
The Ministry of Public Administration and the Public Procurement Directorate periodically offer education, training and awareness-raising events regarding public procurement legislation and related issues, which are accessible to contracting authorities and economic operators.
