CHAPTER IIEFFICIENCY IN ENERGY USE
Article 6Purchasing by public bodies
1.
Member States shall ensure that central governments purchase only products, services and buildings with high energy-efficiency performance, insofar as that is consistent with cost-effectiveness, economical feasibility, wider sustainability, technical suitability, as well as sufficient competition, as referred to in Annex III.
The obligation set out in the first subparagraph shall apply to contracts for the purchase of products, services and buildings by public bodies in so far as such contracts have a value equal to or greater than the thresholds laid down in Article 7 of Directive 2004/18/EC.
2.
3.
Member States shall encourage public bodies, including at regional and local levels, with due regard to their respective competences and administrative set-up, to follow the exemplary role of their central governments to purchase only products, services and buildings with high energy-efficiency performance. Member States shall encourage public bodies, when tendering service contracts with significant energy content, to assess the possibility of concluding long- term energy performance contracts that provide long-term energy savings.
4.
Without prejudice to paragraph 1, when purchasing a product package covered as a whole by a delegated act adopted under Directive 2010/30/EU, Member States may require that the aggregate energy efficiency shall take priority over the energy efficiency of individual products within that package, by purchasing the product package that complies with the criterion of belonging to the highest energy efficiency class.