- What are the award criteria? 

The award criteria are those used by a contracting authority to assess the quality of an offer and to award a contract.

MEPs backed the view that the concession award criteria should be "objective" in order to help public authorities to identify an overall economic advantage. Parliament's negotiators ensured that award criteria may include environmental, social, gender-equality or innovation-related considerations. Therefore tenders which favour for example waste minimazation, resource efficiency, the recruitment of disadvantaged persons or promote equality of women and men at work could stand a better chance of winning the contract.

In addition MEPs ensured that public authorities will have the option of refusing to grant concession contracts to economic operators who repeatedly fail to comply with environmental, social or labour law obligations.