European UnionUtilities Procurement Directive, accessibility criteria in the technical specifications of contracts in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors
Directive 2014/25/EU, Art. 60(1)
In force since .
A procurement conditions rule binding public and private bodies.
As of .
What it requires
- If you sell works, supplies or services to a contracting entity in the water, energy, transport or postal services sectors of a Member State under a contract at or above the Directive's thresholds, and what you sell is intended for use by natural persons, whether the general public or the entity's staff, the technical specifications of the contract take into account accessibility criteria for persons with disabilities or design for all users, except in duly justified cases (Directive 2014/25/EU, Art. 60(1)); this reaches you through the procurement law of each Member State that transposes the Directive.
- Where a legal act of the Union adopts mandatory accessibility requirements, the technical specifications define those criteria by reference to it (Art. 60(1)); for the products and services in Article 2 of Directive (EU) 2019/882, those are the accessibility requirements of its Annex I (Article 24(1) of that Directive).
- Where the specifications refer to a standard or other technical specification, a tender cannot be rejected for not complying with it once you prove in the tender, by any appropriate means including those in Article 62, that your solution satisfies the requirements it defines in an equivalent manner (Art. 60(5)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
What it reaches
Instrument type
a directive or treaty
Applicability criteria
- As of
- Combinator
- All of
- Criteria
- a procurement with a value net of value-added tax (VAT) estimated to be equal to or greater than the thresholds in Article 15, as revised under Article 17, not ruled out by the exclusions in Articles 18 to 23 or under Article 34
- procurement which is intended for use by natural persons, whether general public or staff of the contracting entity (Article 60(1))
What this law does
Article 60(1) of Directive 2014/25/EU requires that, for all procurement which is intended for use by natural persons, whether general public or staff of the contracting entity, the technical specifications be drawn up, except in duly justified cases, so as to take into account accessibility criteria for persons with disabilities or design for all users.
Where mandatory accessibility requirements are adopted by a legal act of the Union, technical specifications shall, as far as accessibility criteria for persons with disabilities or design for all users are concerned, be defined by reference thereto. Article 24(1) of Directive (EU) 2019/882 makes the accessibility requirements set out in its Annex I mandatory accessibility requirements within the meaning of Article 60(1) for the products and services referred to in its Article 2.
The contracting entities bound by the Directive are contracting authorities and public undertakings that pursue an activity in Articles 8 to 14, and other entities that pursue such an activity and operate on the basis of special or exclusive rights granted by a competent authority of a Member State (Article 4(1)).
Where a contracting entity refers to a standard or other technical specification under Article 60(3)(b), Article 60(5) bars it from rejecting a tender on the ground that what is tendered does not comply with it, once the tenderer proves in its tender by any appropriate means, including the means of proof referred to in Article 62, that the solutions proposed satisfy in an equivalent manner the requirements defined by the technical specifications.
Save where the exclusions in Articles 18 to 23 or Article 34 rule them out, the Directive applies to procurements with a value net of value-added tax estimated to be equal to or greater than the thresholds in Article 15, which the Commission verifies every two years and revises where necessary (Article 17).
It is addressed to the Member States (Article 110), which were to bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with it by (Article 106(1)).
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app ships a consumer interface.