CE-PRINCE (Central Europe Green PRocurement and Innovation Network for Circular Economy) is an Interreg Central Europe project. Its focus is circular procurement.

It aims to support the transition to a circular economy in Central Europe by leveraging green public procurement. The goal is twofold: to make businesses more circular and to build the public sector’s capacity to publish tenders which are increasingly circular.

One major issue is that requirements for incorporating circular criteria into public tenders vary from country to country. CE-PRINCE aims to standardise circular procurement approaches and standards across central European countries and industries, through a joint strategy and tailored action plans and pilot actions.

The project has already published two action plans (one for the public sector and one for the private sector) mapping out its activities for the next eleven months, including capacity-building sessions, peer-to-peer exchanges for the public and private sectors, piloting tenders and the development of practical tools and templates.

The project began in June 2024 and will run until next November. It focuses on four priority sectors: agri-food, construction, manufacturing and tourism-related services.