Blue Angel in Public Procurement Law 2026

Blue Angel: German ecolabel as evidence in public procurement procedures. Admissibility, requirements and the principle of equivalence at a glance.

Definition: The Blue Angel (Blauer Engel) is Germany's oldest and best-known state ecolabel, awarded to products and services with particularly low environmental impact, and can be used in public procurement procedures as evidence of environment-related performance requirements.

Last updated: January 2026 · Legal basis: Directive 2014/24/EU Article 43, GWB Section 97(3), VgV Section 34

What is the Blue Angel?

The Blue Angel is a German ecolabel introduced in 1978, awarded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and conferred by RAL gGmbH. It is the world's first ecolabel and distinguishes products and services that are particularly environmentally friendly, health-compatible, fit for purpose and of high quality within their category. The label is based on scientific criteria documents that are regularly updated.

Typical product categories carrying the Blue Angel:

Recycled paper and printed products
Cleaning agents and hygiene articles
IT equipment (printers, computers, monitors)
Paints and varnishes
Vehicles and mobility services

Use in procurement procedures

Contracting authorities may use the Blue Angel or its requirements in procurement procedures as evidence of compliance with technical specifications or as an award criterion. The legal basis for this is set out in Article 43 of Directive 2014/24/EU and in Section 34 VgV (Germany).

Technical specifications

Contracting authorities may require that products meet the Blue Angel's environmental requirements. However, they may not strictly require bidders to hold the label itself – they must also accept other equivalent evidence such as:

Technical documentation from the manufacturer
Test reports from accredited bodies
Other recognised ecolabels with comparable requirements

Award criteria

Holding the Blue Angel or meeting its criteria can be used as a qualitative award criterion, provided there is a link to the subject matter of the contract.

Principle of equivalence

A central procurement-law principle in the use of ecolabels is the principle of equivalence: contracting authorities may not require a specific label as the sole evidence if bidders can demonstrate the same requirements by equivalent means. This follows from Article 43(1) of Directive 2014/24/EU. Excluding bidders solely because they do not hold the Blue Angel, even though they can prove the underlying requirements by other means, would be contrary to procurement law.

Relevance in Austria

The Blue Angel is a German label and plays a smaller role in Austrian procurement procedures. In Austria, the Austrian Ecolabel or the EU Ecolabel are more frequently used. However, the substantively equivalent requirements of the Blue Angel can also be used as a yardstick in Austrian procedures.

FAQ

May a contracting authority prescribe the Blue Angel exclusively as evidence? No. The contracting authority must always also accept other equivalent evidence (technical documentation, other ecolabels with identical requirements).

Which contracting authorities use the Blue Angel particularly frequently? Federal ministries, public authorities and municipalities in Germany regularly use the Blue Angel when procuring office supplies (paper), IT equipment and cleaning agents. The Competence Centre for Sustainable Procurement (KNB) provides model wording.

How does the Blue Angel differ from the EU Ecolabel? The Blue Angel is a national German label with product-category-specific criteria. The EU Ecolabel is a label harmonised across Europe and likewise covers strict environmental requirements. In procurement procedures, both are generally regarded as equivalent evidence.

Last updated: January 2026 All information without guarantee. For legally binding advice, please consult a law firm specialising in public procurement law.