PurpLE Project
This project focuses on researching the tension between public procurement and private law.
Project title
Purchase Power – Sustainable Public Procurement through private Law Enforcement PurpLE
Funding
Semper Ardens: Accelerate Grant KR. 4.991.514
Project period
Sep. 1, 2022 – 31 Aug. 2025
Research Question 1
How does public procurement law impact the interpretation of contract law?
Research Question 2
Can private law limit the outcome of public procurement law and, if so, how?
Research Question 3
What does this complex interaction between public procurement and private law mean for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals agenda?
About the Project
Considering the omnipresence and enormous size of public procurement (approx. 12% of global GDP), the state’s purchasing activities can create new market behaviours and shift the existing ones toward sustainable consumption and production. Sustainability has been implemented into public procurement concepts, regulations and practice. However, paying attention only to the public procurement law in connection with this phenomenon is not enough.
Private law often impacts the governance of contract performance and often disputes resolutions – particularly during the lifetime of large long-term projects.
Therefore, contracts play a key role as implementation tools for the performance and achievement of public procurement goals. Thus, by taking a more holistic approach (sustainability, private and public law), PurpLe will deepen the understanding of interconnections between the aforementioned laws needed to deliver procurement goals successfully.
Researchers
Marta Andhov
Associate Professor
Marta Andhov
Marta Andhov, PurpLE’s principal investigator, is an Associate Professor at Faculty of Law, the University of Copenhagen. Her main research interests focus on public procurement law, sustainability, governmental contracts and interaction between public and private law in international trade. You can read her full bio on the Bestek website here: https://bestek-procurement.com/about/
Michał Kania
Senior Researcher
Michał Kania
Michał Kania is a Postdoc at the PurpLE project at the Centre for Private Governance at the University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Law. His research efforts in PurpLE project will be directed towards dealing with the questions regarding public procurement law’s impact on the interpretation of contract law. His main research expertise focus on public procurement law, Public-Private Partnerships, and concession contracts. Before taking a position at the University of Copenhagen, he was a professor at the University of Silesia in Katowice, Faculty of Law.
Sven Mikulic
Research Assistant
Sven Mikulic
Sven Mikulic is a student research assistant at the University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Law, and is currently pursuing an MSc degree in International Business and Politics at Copenhagen Business School. Aside from his involvement in the PurpLE project, he is also actively contributing to SAPIENS and COCOREADO research with a focus on the economic analysis of sustainable public procurement law and policies. Additionally, he is also investigating contract automation systems and other LegalTech topics from a business perspective within Copenhagen Legal Tech Lab.
Newest Blog Posts
Ever-growing Restrictions on Whom Public Buyers Can Contract with – Contemporary Developments in the EU Public Procurement
PURPLE’s senior researcher Michal Kania took part in the “Public procurement in times of crisis: national experiences” conference
