The Court of Justice rules that a contracting authority must use detailed specifications rather than refer to specific labels
According to the judgement of the Court of Justice of the EU, the Netherlands failed to fulfil its obligations under the Directive on the award of public contracts because the province of North Holland laid down in the technical specifications (which determine the subject-matter of the contract) that certain specific labels used already for such province, or at least, labels based on comparable or identical criteria concerning the tea or coffee to be supplied should be used.
The Court of Justice rules that the Netherlands failed to fulfil its obligations under the Directive on the award of public contractsregarding the case related to a publication in August 2008 of a contract notice for the supply and management of coffee dispensing machines by the province of North Holland (Netherlands). The contract notice indicated that 'the province of North Holland uses the MAX HAVELAAR and EKO labels for coffee and tea consumption’ and that, if possible, the ingredients other than coffee or tea, such as milk, sugar or cocoa, should comply with those two labels. Public procurement procedures and tenders, which represent more than 16.3% of European Union GDP, are an important part of the European and World's economy.
Following the judgment of the Court of Justice, the condition indicated above is not compatible with the Directive on the award of public contracts. EU law establishes that the contracting authority must inter alia use detailed specifications rather than refer to eco-labels or specific labels. Indeed, the Court notes that technical specifications may be formulated in terms of performance or functional requirements, which may include environmental characteristics.
On this way, the Court considers that the directive’s rules concerning the use of an eco-label in the formulation of a technical specification are a relevant indication. It also holds that the principle of transparency implies that all the conditions and detailed rules of the award procedure must be drawn up in a clear, precise and unequivocal manner in the notice or contract documents.