Specifications
Article 25
1. The ECB shall lay down its technical specifications in the procurement documents in line with applicable law and technical standards. 2. Specifications may only prescribe a specific product, source or production process where a sufficiently precise general description of the subject matter of the contract is not possible, and where candidates may offer other, equivalent products. 3. The ECB shall specify the evidence, such as labels, certificates, and conformity assessments, in particular any environmental certificates, that it requests from the candidates to demonstrate compliance with the specifications. Such evidence must be obtainable in a transparent manner. Other evidence shall be accepted where it is technically equivalent. 4. The specifications and the requested evidence shall be necessary and proportionate to meet the objectives of the procurement, and based on objective and non-discriminatory considerations that avoid any unjustified obstacle to competition. 5. The ECB may allow the submission of variants that deviate from the specifications. If so, it shall provide clear information on the permitted scope of variants, on the formal and substantive requirements for variants, and on the methodology by which the merits of main offers and variants will be compared.