More than 70% of the Generalitat's contracts include social clauses.
The Generalitat's infrastructure and Education and Vocational Training include these conditions in almost all contracts.
BarcelonaMore than 70% of contracts for the Generalitat and the Catalan public sector, excluding emergency contracts, include social clauses. Last year, during which the ERC governed until May and the PSC governed from August, a total of 16,295 contracts were signed, for a value of €3.884 billion. Of these, 71.5% of the total and 76.5% of the overall economic volume allocated included a social clause. In absolute terms, this translates to 11,656 contracts with social measures for a value of €2.971 billion, "the highest figure ever recorded," according to data from the Ministry of Economy.
With this trend, the Generalitat is following the mandate from Brussels, which obliges European Union states to promote these clauses in their contracts within the framework of promoting socially responsible public procurement. The data and conclusions can be found in the latest analysis report on the social clause indicators for the 2024 financial year. This document is prepared annually by the General Directorate of Public Procurement of the Generalitat (Catalan Government). In recent years the trend has been consolidating.
According to the data published for the 2024 financial year, the 11,656 contracts included a total of 22,399 different social measures, representing an average of 1.92 clauses per awarded contract. Based on their weight, the clauses related to gender equality top the list, included in 61.7% of the contracts; those on job stability (34.2%); those on job integration (18.7%); those on tax transparency (13.4%); those on family conciliation (12.7%); those related to improved working conditions (8.5%); those on worker training (4.7%); those on fair trade (2.0%); and those on human rights (1.9%), among others.
Types of contracts
Supply contracts are those with the most social clauses (6,255 contracts), followed by services contracts (4,659) and construction contracts (734). However, if the data is analyzed based on the €2.971 billion awarded, services contracts rise to first place (38.7%), while supplies contracts (34.6%) and construction contracts (26.7%) occupy second and third place, respectively, according to the same data.
According to the award procedure, the report shows that open contracts contain the highest number of contracts with social clauses, both in terms of number (53.1%) and value (69.3%), far ahead of those awarded via framework agreements or negotiated procedures. In any case, this is the procedure with the greatest room for improvement, with 1,889 contracts worth €417 million that do not include social clauses.
Last year's data show how public sector entities of the Generalitat of Catalonia have incorporated social clauses in a greater proportion than the departments. Specifically, the entities have done so in 73.7% of their contracts, representing 74.4% of their awarded value, while the departments have done so in 56.2% of their contracts, representing 86.5% of their awarded value. In this area, the company Infraestructures.cat stands out, having incorporated social measures into 100% of its contracts by 2024. Particularly noteworthy is Infraestructuras de la Generalitat de Catalunya, SAU, which incorporates social clauses in 100% of its contracts. Within the departmental section of the Government, Education and Vocational Training incorporate clauses in virtually all of their contracts, the analysis highlights.