Nordic sustainability briefing: procurement rules, touring grants and reporting-standard use
Brussels moved to overhaul public procurement with green criteria and lighter bidding rules for SMEs, while Perform Europe closed its latest touring-grant call with partnerships due in January. A separate GRI snapshot shows most large listed companies using the ESRS still reference GRI, relevant context for small suppliers reporting into those chains.
Commission's Public Procurement Act proposal would add green procurement rules and simplify bidding for SMEs
The Commission proposed the Act on 9 September. It would replace the three 2014 procurement directives with one directly applicable regulation, create a framework for mandatory green requirements for certain product categories, and add European preference criteria. The Commission's impact assessment says SMEs win an estimated 71% of public contracts and expects them to benefit from simpler procedures and a digital eligibility service built on the once-only principle. The proposal is now with the Council and Parliament.
Perform Europe's sustainable-touring call closed on 22 October; selected partnerships to be announced in January
The third Perform Europe edition has €2 million from Creative Europe for at least 25 touring and distribution projects. Its open call asked for partnerships of at least three partners from three Creative Europe countries, with climate action as one of two priorities. The call excluded live music and opera. Selected partnerships are due to be announced in January 2027, and touring runs from 1 March 2027 to 31 January 2028.
GRI snapshot: most large listed companies using the ESRS also reference GRI
GRI's analysis covers 14,682 listed companies with revenue above USD 250 million, 87% of which produced a sustainability report in 2025. It finds that 70% of companies using the ESRS also reference GRI, and 80% of ISSB users do. The dataset covers large listed firms only, not SMEs. It gives context on how the standards overlap in the supply chains that small suppliers report into.