85Article 53 of Directive 2004/18 is further elucidated by recital 46 in the preamble to the directive, the third and fourth paragraphs of which lay down that the award criteria may, in principle, be not only economic but also qualitative. Thus, among the examples referred to in Article 53(1)(a) of the directive, are environmental characteristics. As the Advocate General points out in point 103 of her Opinion, the fourth paragraph of that recital also indicates that ‘a contracting authority may use criteria aiming to meet social requirements, in response in particular to the needs — defined in the specifications of the contract — of particularly disadvantaged groups of people to which those receiving/using the works, supplies or services which are the object of the contract belong’. It must therefore be accepted that contracting authorities are also authorised to choose the award criteria based on considerations of a social nature, which may concern the persons using or receiving the works, supplies or services which are the object of the contract, but also other persons.
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