Should public contracting authorities strictly align their procurement decisions with business management criteria, or can they also incorporate political objectives, such as favoring businesses that promote women's advancement, excluding the use of tropical timber, or requiring that workers receive the collective wage during the execution of the contract? This question, often discussed under the term "non-procurement" or "non-award criteria," is the subject of this paper. In the first part, the author clarifies the terminology and elaborates on the underlying substantive issues. Additionally, she introduces distinctions that are significant for the legal assessment that follows in the second part. There, she examines procurement law itself, specifically the EU procurement directives and the GWB (German Act Against Restraints of Competition).