1. For the purposes of this Directive, 'contracting entities' means entities which pursue one of the activities referred to in Annex II and award a concession for the pursuit of one of those activities, and which are one of the following:

(a) State, regional or local authorities, bodies governed by public law or associations formed by one or more such authorities or one or more such bodies governed by public law;

(b) public undertakings as defined in paragraph 4 of this Article;

(c) entities other than those referred to in points (a) and (b) of this paragraph, but which operate on the basis of special or exclusive rights, granted for the exercise of one of the activities referred to in Annex II.

2. Entities which have been granted special or exclusive rights by means of a procedure in which adequate publicity has been ensured and where the granting of those rights was based on objective criteria shall not constitute 'contracting entities' within the meaning of point (c) of paragraph 1. Such procedures shall include: