• Social dumping practices from non-European companies. 
  • Avoiding to pay the minimum wages. 
  • Recalculating salaries at home (e.g. China) to avoid local minimum wage regulations.
  • Usage of site documentation in foreign language to prevent proper site controls. 

• Insufficient control on payments and working conditions by state social enforcement agencies.
  • Lack of administrative resources. 
  • Lack of training. 
  • Control efficiency hindered by the lack of digital solutions.
• Not enough emphasis on the role of social partnerships in the region.

• Achieve an unified stand for universal application of legal standards in place.
• Support the application of the appropriate work-related legislation through public procurement as well.

• Demand reciprocity (level playing field) so that foreign companies in the EU should face the same standards and limitations as EU companies.

• Promote proper implementation of minimum living and accommodation standards for non-EU workers in the EU.
• Support the implementation of digital solutions for workers and contractors.
• Establishment of a regional network of unions for knowledge exchange.
  • Promote social dialogue and best practice examples for effective social partnerships.

• There is a negative impact on financial and employment sustainability if projects are awarded to non-EU companies.
  • Capital outflow from the EU.
  • Supply chain is also affected as foreign contractors prefer to sub-contract to non-EU providers.
  • Outsourcing construction projects does not secure local employment.
• Defaulting payment for local subcontractors from third country contractors.

• Tendering authorities should consider local resources and local sourcing as an evaluation criteria. 
• To secure local employment, preferences should be given to EU contractors for contracts related to the post-Covid-19 reconstruction effort. 

• If a third country company bids in a public construction project it must provide a plan to produce at least 60 percent of added value locally.
• If a primary contractor is a third country company the payment on the contract should be conditioned on the payment of the local subcontractors.
• Introduce the right to exclude suppliers from bidding if there is proof that in the past they have been non-reliable.

• Lack of control mechanism for hidden state subsidies.
  • State controlled companies can access advantageous credits from state owned banks at home. 
  • Governmental support such as payment of social contributions for the workers of the company.
  • Foreign governments can indirectly support their companies through state guarantees for risky business operations abroad.

• Improving control mechanisms for hidden state subsidies along the supply chain. 
  • Full disclosure regarding financing (e.g. check for the involvement of third country SOEs) and work agreements with all sub-contractors for public procurement contracts if third country companies are involved.
  • Consider irregularities in the financing of a company (state owned or financed companies) as a possible disqualification point. 
  • Exclude non EU SOEs from the bidding process on public tenders in the EU. 

• Not enough emphasis on sustainable financing for construction projects.

• Support the EU’s initiative to integrate sustainability considerations into its financial policy framework in order to mobilize finance for sustainable growth at the national and regional levels.

• Lack of stakeholders engagement in the planning and decision-making process leads to the implementation of many socially, financially and environmentally unsustainable projects. 

• Involve all the relevant stakeholders (e.g. unions, engineering companies, construction companies) in the drafting of procurement guidelines. 
• Promote  wide stakeholder engagement to evaluate the financial, environmental and social sustainability of a given project.
  • Implement of participative budgeting at the local and regional levels.
  • Support strong coalitions in planning/master-planning between all stakeholders.

• The EU export credit agencies‘ landscape is scattered without a central European export agency.

• Promote the idea of an EU export credit agency to support European businesses abroad and improve their competitiveness.

• High budget fluctuations from year to year in infrastructure and change of priorities which prevents long term planning.

Implement a balanced budgeting for a multi-year period

and reduce the year-to-year budget gap (e.g. in Slovenia).

• Tendering authorities to communicate the yearly plan for the public procurement, the budget and the strategic master-plan (e.g. Poland).
• Once every 4 years public authorities should present for public discussion a procurement master-plan for the upcoming period. 

• Alleged avoidance to pay minimum wages:
  • Officially paying the minimum wage and then recalculating the salaries at home.
  • Using site documentation in the foreign language to prevent proper control.

• Promote thorough implementation of the minimum living and accommodation standards for non-EU workers in the EU.
• Digitalize construction sites (e.g. Austrian system of „digital blue cards“ for workers with all the relevant information regarding his/her employment, place of work).

• European Commission (DG EMP, DG ECFIN, DG COMP). 
• European Parliament (EMP, INTA).
• National work agencies.
• Unions.
• Business associations.
• Social rights NGOs.

• Organize a regional conference on “Digitizing construction” to discuss examples of digital cards and other online tools to improve working conditions, promote fair competition and simplify the implementation of the existing legislation. 

• Insufficient control on payments and working conditions by state social enforcement agencies.
• Not enough administrative and knowledge resources for state social enforcement agencies.
  • Not enough finance and staffing for financial police to enforce social and financial regulations (e.g. Austria).
  • Lack of electronic interfaces to make control more efficient.

• Support capacity building (through better financing and education) for state social enforcement agencies.

• European Commission (DG EMP, DG ECFIN, DG COMP).
• European Parliament. (EMP, INTA, JUR, REGI).
• Local authorities.
• National governments.
• Unions.

• Establish an online training and knowledge exchange platform for social enforcement agencies to promote education and knowledge exchange at the European level. 

• Trade Unions in many countries from the CEEC region are splintered and weak and often do not exercise enough pressure to control the working conditions of workers.

• Support an unified stand of national and regional unions to acquire larger weight in the public policy discussions and have an effective impact on workers rights protection.
• Promote resilient Social Partnerships at the local and national levels.
• Establish a digital platform for societal dialogue to avoid disputes and increase resilience of local businesses. 

• European Commission (DG EMP, DG ECFIN, DG COMP)., 
• European Parliament.
• National governments.
• Trade Unions.
• Labor Unions.
• Regional and local. authorities, National. Chambers of Commerce.
• Civil Organizations.

• Engage unions in a dedicated online knowledge exchange group to discuss workers rights and cooperation with business associations and state authorities. Build social partnerships through dialogue and knowledge exchange.

• Considerable capital outflow from Europe if a contract is awarded to a non-EU company, more than 80% of the added value could leave the country/region. 
• Defaulting payment for local subcontractors from third country contractors.

• Third country companies should be incentivized to re-invest/use their profits locally and allowed to take out of the EU/country of financing only a smaller margin.
• If a primary contractor is a third country company the payment on the contract should be conditioned on the payment of the local subcontractors. 
• Exchange information between tendering authorities EU wide on the reliability of bidders.  

• European Commission (DG EMP, DG ECFIN, DG COMP). 
• European Parliament (EMP, INTA, JUR, REGI).

• Prepare an unified statement on the need to re-invest in the country/region where the project is deployed thus encouraging post-Covid, local recovery. Submit the position to relevant public stakeholders, media and NGOs to start public debate on this subject. 
• Establish an online knowledge exchange platform for contracting authorities to share information on bidders and contractors to prevent problematic contracts.

• Negative impact on the local job market since foreign companies often bring the workforce from outside Europe.

• Tendering authorities should consider local resources and local sourcing as an evaluation criteria because those are a more environmentally, socially and financially sustainable alternative to materials and workforce imported from non-European countries. 

• European Commission (DG EMP, DG ECFIN, DG COMP, DG ENV).
• European Parliament (EMP,JUR, ENV, ITRE).
• Regional and Local authorities.
• National parliaments.
• National governments.

• Outline a series of pre-qualification criterias that should be implemented in the procurement legislation to promote local sourcing (e.g. Green Points model).

• SOEs can often access advantageous credits from state-owned banks at home, an advantage that European companies do not have. 
• Foreign companies can have their home government supporting them by paying social contributions for their workers. 
• Foreign governments can also support companies indirectly by offering state guarantees for risky business operations abroad. 

• Demand full disclosure of financial records of main bidders.
• If irregularities are found in the financing of a company (especially when it comes to state owned or financed companies) it should be considered as a possible disqualification point. 
• Apply mallus system for SOEs in order to level the playing field.

• European Commission (DG EMP, DG COMP, OLAF).
• European Parliament (EMP, INTA, JUR).

• Formulate and promote a position on the need to level the playing field and downgrade/apply negative bonuses to SOEs in public procurement contracts. 

• Lack of an EU Export credit agencies landscape is scattered without a central European export agency.

• Establish an European Export Credit agency to support European companies in their business abroad and increase their competitiveness.

• EIB.
• European Commission (DG EMP, DG COMP, OLAF). 
• European Parliament (EMP, INTA, JUR).

• Formulate a position on the need to implement an European Export Credit agency and promote the idea by engaging EU related agencies into public discussions.

• No wide community and stakeholder engagement in decision-making phase on the financial, environmental and social sustainability of a given project.

• Consider implementing participative budgeting at the local and regional levels. 
• Support stronger coalitions in planning/master-planning between communities, local actors, companies and institutions. 
• Perform a concept review for major projects to evaluate a project’s life-cycle impact before tendering a project. 

• European Commission (DG ECFIN, DG BUDG,). 
• European Parliament. (ECON,  INTA, BUDG). 
• Civil Society.
• Trade Unions. 
• Labor Unions. 
• Regional and Local authorities. 
• National parliaments and governments.

• Implement an online platform for stakeholder engagement to discuss the project’s sustainability and fit for community needs. 

• High budget fluctuations from year to year allocated to public  infrastructure projects and change of priorities prevent long-term planning.

• Implement a balanced budgeting for a multi-year period and reduce the year-to-year budget gap (e.g. in Slovenia).

• Tendering authorities to communicate in advance (e.g. 3 months before the start of a new budgeting period) the yearly plan for the public procurement, the budget and the strategic master-plan.

• European Commission (DG ECFIN, DG BUDG,). 
• European Parliament (ECON,  INTA, BUDG).

• Develop an online planning tool to present the multi-annual budget and open the public consultations on it. Further on, the tool can be used to monitor the implementation of the agreed budget and add any changes along the way.