draftsman of the opinion of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs. – Mr President, the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs has long argued for greater consideration of social and employment standards in public procurement in two ways. The first is by ensuring that current legal provisions are complied with by all tenderers so as to avoid any unfair competition. I would ask Members to bear that in mind in the light of what the rapporteur said in his introductory remarks. We need to note in this respect that it is not a matter of social criteria – putting a question mark over the objective nature of the procurement process – but the very opposite: what matters is to create a level playing field for all those taking part in a procurement procedure. The second way in which we want social criteria to be taken into account is by enabling contracting authorities to pursue certain social and employment objectives, such as equal opportunities and social inclusion in connection with procurement. But this is always – again I would stress this in the light of what the rapporteur has said – subject to the strict requirement that it does not distort competition. This is made plain repeatedly in the amendments by the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market, that were in turn inspired by the opinion of the Committee on Employment. The opinion of the Committee on Employment looked at the different stages of the tendering process and made a number of recommendations for each of those stages. At the first stage, the need for the inclusion of a reference to the law applicable should become a component of the contract documentation. Candidates, tenderers in a procedure, should have access to all the information on all social and employment criteria that they should be taking into account. Article 27 is particularly important in the general directive in that respect. I would draw Members' attention to Amendment No 129 by Mrs Berger. It is an excellent amendment, which I hope will be supported by the House. At the second stage we need to ensure that we have proper compliance with the standards laid down in the first stage and there should be a possibility to exclude people who have not toed the line in the past in relation to those social and employment standards. Article 46 is particularly important in that respect and I would draw Members' attention to Amendments Nos 82, 86, 87 and 89. During the selection of candidates and the award of the contract, we need to ensure compliance with legal provisions relating to employment protection and working conditions. That is Article 53, which has attracted most attention in the discussions inside the Committee on Legal Affairs. I would draw Members' attention in that respect to Amendments Nos 134 and 140. I sincerely hope we can reach agreement on one of those amendments in our vote tomorrow. Finally, there needs to be an adequate review procedure to ensure that these criteria are applied in the execution of the contract. Amendment No 108, among others, is important in that respect. I would draw attention to one final amendment, which is important. It was highlighted in the opinion of the Committee on Employment and relates to sheltered employment. Amendment No 36 gives Member States the possibility to reserve certain contracts for sheltered employment schemes or sheltered workshops where the majority of workers in those schemes or workshops are people with disabilities. This is a longstanding issue in some Member States, in particular my own. I hope this amendment can be adopted tomorrow and we get a clear reference to this in the directive for the future. That is the main gist of the opinion of the Committee on Employment. These concerns are all reflected in the amendments to be considered tomorrow. I hope they will command the support of the House.

Political group: PSE