University of Bristol - Law School

Albert Sánchez Graells

University of Bristol - Law School
Professor of Economic Law

Professor Albert Sanchez-Graells is a professor of law at Bristol University in Bristol. He specialises in EU economic law and, in particular, in competition and public procurement law and policy. His research concentrates on the way the public sector interacts with the market and in the way it organises the delivery of public services, especially healthcare. He is also interested in general issues of sectorial regulation and, more broadly, in the rules supporting the development and expansion of the European Union’s internal market. He takes an economically-informed approach to his legal research and is particularly keen on the analysis of the systems of incentives and enforcement mechanisms that law creates or facilitates. Albert is currently researching the impact of digital technologies such as machine learning, blockchain and the internet of things on procurement governance. Albert is a Member of the European Procurement Law Group and keeps close connections with leading research groups in the UK and abroad. He is a regular speaker at international conferences and regularly engages with policy-makers. Albert is a former Member of the Procurement Lawyers Association Brexit Working Group (2017) and of the European Commission Stakeholder Expert Group on Public Procurement (2015-18). Albert has also been invited by the European Court of Auditors and the EFTA Surveillance Authority as an academic expert in public procurement and competition matters. He has also advised the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and other international institutions regarding public procurement reform. His written evidence to the House of Commons and the House of Lords has influenced debates on Brexit-related issues and on procurement healthcare regulation.

Distinctions

Linked author

University of Bristol - Law School

Articles

25772 Bulletin

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Commission publishes its notice providing tools on how to fight collusion in public procurement and on guidance on how to apply the related exclusion ground

407

FIRST THOUGHTS ON THE COMMISSION’S BID RIGGING EXCLUSION GUIDANCE — WHAT DIFFERENCE WILL IT MAKE?* On 18 March 2021, the European Commission officially published its Notice on tools to fight collusion in public procurement and on guidance on how to apply the related exclusion ground (the (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice upholds the Commission’s decision finding that e-procurement is a service of general interest which can be commercially exploited insofar as the State does not offer the service itself (TenderNed)

2625

In its Judgment of 7 November 2019 in Aanbestedingskalender and Others v Commission, C-687/17 P, EU:C:2019:932 (the ‘TenderNed’ case), the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) rejected the appeal against the earlier Judgment of the General Court (GC) of 28 September 2017 (T-138/15, (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The Spanish Competition Authority issues decision in bid rigging case, thus revealing several related legislative and interpretative issues (Vossloh Laeis)

47

Bid rigging conspiracy in railroad electrification works: A very Spanish ’sainete’* A case of bid rigging in works contracts for high-speed and conventional railroad electrification in Spain evidences a number of shortcomings in the domestic transposition of the 2014 rules on discretionary (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice AG Campos Sánchez-Bordona suggests interpretation concerning the limitations of the contracting authority’s ability to demand full and unrestricted cooperation from undertakings seeking to reassure them that they have self-cleaned after participating in collusive practices in public markets (Vossloh Laeis / Stadtwerke München)

1226

BID RIGGING, SELF-CLEANING, LENIENCY AND CLAIMS FOR DAMAGES: A BEAUTIFUL PROCUREMENT MESS? (C-124/17)* In his Opinion of 16 May 2018 in Vossloh Laeis, C-124/17, EU:C:2018:316 (not available in English), Advocate General Campos Sánchez-Bordona has offered an interesting view on the (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice holds that there is no obligation to revise prices payable under public contracts (Consorzio Italian Management e Catania Multiservizi)

102

NO OBLIGATION TO REVISE PRICES PAYABLE UNDER PUBLIC CONTRACTS. OK, BUT FOR THE WRONG REASONS? (C-152/17)* In its recent Judgment of 19 April 2018 in Consorzio Italian Management e Catania Multiservizi, C-152/17, EU:C:2018:264, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) clarified that (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice holds that a Member State must establish that the national security interest protection could not be reached with the EU public procurement rules to obtain a derogation (Austria / EU Commission)

173

WHY CALL IT ESSENTIAL NATIONAL INTEREST WHEN YOU MEAN CONTROL? THOUGHTS ON THE CONVERGING EXCEPTIONS TO THE EU PROCUREMENT RULES A PROPOS THE AUSTRIAN PASSPORTS CASE (C-187/16)* In its Judgment of 20 March 2018 in Commission v Austria (Imprimerie d’État), C-187/16, EU:C:2018:194, the Court (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice holds that it is not acceptable for assets to be transferred to a bidder that had initially participated in the process as a member of a consortium when analyzing a measure of State aid for restructuring and recapitalisation involving a bidding process (SNCF Mobilités)

234

Do EU procurement & State aid rules conflict on possibility for consortium members to ’go it alone’? (C-127/16 P)* In its Judgment of 7 March 2018 in SNCF Mobilités v Commission, C-127/16 P, EU:C:2018:165, in the context of the analysis of a measure of State aid for restructuring and (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice accepts the compatibility with EU procurement rules of domestic provisions which enable tenderers for public contracts to remedy any irregularities in their tenders (MA.T.I. SUD)

101

CJEU GREENLIGHTS ‘REMEDYING PROCEDURAL SHORT-COMINGS IN RETURN FOR (PROPORTIONATE) PAYMENT’ (C-523/16 & C-536/16)* In its Judgment of 28 February 2018 in MA.T.I. SUD, C-523/16, EU:C:2018:135, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) accepted the compatibility with EU public (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice AG Campos Sánchez-Bordona suggests that contracting authorities duty to require tenderers providing certificates attesting compliance with the applicable technical specifications needs not always be before the award of the contract (VAR)

155

WHEN WILL YOU SHOW ME THE PAPERS? TECHNICAL CAPACITY, TECHNICAL DOSSIERS AND VERIFICATION DURING THE PROCUREMENT PROCESS (C-14/17)* In his Opinion of 28 February 2018 in VAR, C-14/17, EU:C:2018:135 (not available in English), AG Campos Sánchez-Bordona addressed a tricky preliminary question (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice confirms that the absence of self-certification is a discretionary exclusion ground in a public procurement sector (Impresa di Costruzioni Ing. E. Mantovani / RTI Mantovani e Guerrato)

196

ECJ confirms discretion to exclude tenderers for not updating self-certifications and points towards potential general obligation of sincere cooperation (C-178/16)* In its Judgment of 20 December 2017 in Impresa di Costruzioni Ing. E. Mantovani and RTI Mantovani e Guerrato, C-178/16, (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice AG Campos-Bordona proposes to declare fines for clarification or supplementation of procurement documents as contrary to EU law only if disproportionate (Ma.t.i. Sud)

347

AG suggests CJUE should declare fines for clarification or supplementation of procurement documents as contrary to EU law only if disproportionate (C-523/16)* In his Opinion of 15 November 2017 in case MA.T.I. SUD, C-523/16, EU:C:2017:868, Advocate General Campos Sánchez-Bordona has (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice implicitly rejects the General Court’s views on subjective assessment of two-part State aid measures under Art 107(1) TFEU (MOL Magyar Olaj)

196

CJEU implicitly rejects GC’s views on subjective assessment of two-part State aid measures under Art 107(1) TFEU (C-15/14)* In its Judgment in Commission v MOL, C-15/14, EU:C:2015:362, the CJEU upheld the previous Judgment of the GC where the selectivity of two-part State aid measures was (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice Advocate General Szpunar states that taxing only fissionable nuclear materials used for the production of electricity does not constitute State aid (Kernkraftwerke Lippe-Ems / Hauptzollamt Osnabrück)

224

AG Szpunar submits that German nuclear taxes are not State aid, but his reasoning is totally unimaginative (C-5/14)* In its Opinion in Kernkraftwerke Lippe-Ems, C-5/14, EU:C:2015:51 (not available in English), AG Spuznar has submitted to the CJEU that a German tax on fissionable nuclear (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice rules that allowing London taxis to use bus lanes while prohibiting private hire vehicles from doing so does not constitute State aid (Eventech / Parking Adjudicator)

269

A criticism of the CJEU’s ruling that allowing London taxis to use bus lanes while prohibiting private hire vehicles from doing so does not appear to involve State aid (Eventech, C-518/13)* In its judgment of 14 January 2015 in Eventech (C-518/13, EU:C:2015:9), the Court of Justice of the EU (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Advocate General analyses whether the UK rule allowing black taxis to use bus lanes, while preventing private hire vehicles from doing so, amounts to State aid (Eventech)

196

Neighbouring the Uber conflicts: AG Wahl’s Opinion on London’s bus/taxi lanes as State aid (C-518/13)* The attention raised by recent complaints and strikes against Uber’s intended revolution of the local ground transportation system in big cities has put the taxi sector on the spotlight. (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice clarifies the threshold of competitive distortion required in the application of Articles 102 and 106(1) TFEU to State measures concerned with public undertakings or undertakings with special or exclusive rights (Greek Lignite case)

453

CJEU fuels joint application of Arts 102 & 106(1) TFEU to suppress unequal conditions of competition (C-553/12P)* In its Judgment in Commission v DEI, C-553/12 P, EU:C:2014:2083, the CJEU has (further) clarified the threshold of competitive distortion required in the application of Arts (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU General Court affirms the incompatibility of the state aid related to culture facilities and requires the applicant to divest its € 274 million stake in the film studios (Ciudad de la Luz)

124

... and Cut! Lights Out for the €274mn Spanish "Ciudad de la Luz" Film Studios (T-319/12)* In its Judgment of 3 July 2014 in Spain v Commission (Ciudad de la Luz), joined cases T-319/12 and T-321/12, EU:T:2014:604 (not available in English), the General Court (GC) reviewed Commission’s (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU General Court rejects an action for annulment against the requirement of the Commission to provide a guarantee issued by a bank with a long term credit rating AA as a condition for deferred fines payment (Quimitécnica.com / José de Mello)

198

Competition infringer: You don’t want the EU Commission as your banker (T-564/10)* In its Judgment in Quimitécnica.com and de Mello v Commission, T-564/10, EU:T:2014:583, the General Court has addressed a rather strange issue concerning the interest rates applicable by the European (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice issues a new decision concerned with the in-house exception to the application of the EU public procurement rules (Centro Hospitalar de Setúbal)

207

It Won’t Last Long? CJEU takes a functional, competition-based approach to in-house provision that questoins the criteria in the new EU procurement directives (C-574/12)* In its Judgment in Centro Hospitalar de Setúbal and SUCH, C-574/12, EU:C:2014:2004, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU General Court dismisses an action for annulment brought by a competitor against a Commission decision finding no state aid in relation to licensing of software terms offered by a university (Scheepsbouwkundig Advies / en Rekencentrum)

278

State aid and (university) software licensing: who’s interested? (T-488/11)* In its Judgment of 12 June 2014 in case Sarc v Commission, T-488/11, EU:T:2014:441, the General Court of the EU (GC) has assessed an interesting case concerned with the licensing of software developed at a Dutch (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU General Court upholds the Commission’s decision in consideration of two exclusionary practices on the market for the supply of CPUs, opening the door to a further appeal to the Court of Justice and a possible application before the ECtHR (Intel)

747

Could Intel challenge its 1bn Euro fine on grounds of ’corporate human rights’* After last week’s General Court Judgment in Intel v Commission, T-286/09, EU:T:2014:475, the 2 month period for Intel to appeal the confirmation of its 1bn Euro fine before the Court of Justice of the EU on (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU General Court imposes an onerous burden of proof requiring evidence on the existence of a de facto advantage derived from the existence of a conflict of interest with a view on the annulment of a tender decision for the provision of language training services for staff of the EU institutions in Brussels (Communicaid Group)

226

GC sets burden of proof of conflicts of interest in procurement too high (T-4/13)* In its Judgment in Communicaid Group v Commission, T-4/13, EU:T:2014:431, the General Court (GC) decided another appeal against EU Institution’s public procurement decisions. In this case, the procurement was (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells, Sebastian Peyer The EU Court of Justice establishes that national provisions on civil liability for loss caused by a cartel shall include compensation for loss resulting from price setting above the level expected in competitive conditions by a non-party to the cartel (Kone / ÖBB-Infrastruktur)

579

This article has been nominated for the 2015 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. When the CJEU opens the umbrella, lawyers and economists get ready for a warm shower of damages claims (C-557/12)* In its Judgment in Kone, C-557/12, (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU General Court issues a convoluted decision regarding accumulation of claims and their degree of specificity in public procurement litigation (European Dynamics / ECB)

228

A new European Dynamics challenge rejected: let’s focus on admissibility of claims (T-553/11)* In its Judgment of 23 May 2014 in case T-553/11 European Dynamics Luxembourg v ECB, the General Court (GC) has ruled on yet another challenge filed by European Dynamics (ED) against procurement (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice establishes that a horizontal in-house acquisition of goods fell within the scope of the procurement directive in force at the relevant time (Datenlotsen Informationssysteme)

221

Has Directive 2014/24 come too late for horizontal in-house provision? (C-15/13)* In its recent Judgment in case C-15/13 of 8 May 2014 Datenlotsen Informationssysteme, the CJEU has addressed a so-called ’horizontal’ in-house provision of goods and rejected the proposal of AG Mengozzi to (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice Advocate General Yves Bot proposes to reduce the safe harbour for directly awarded public contracts subjected to prior transparency (Fastweb)

189

AG proposes to reduce safe harbour for directly awarded public contracts subjected to prior transparency (C-19/13)* In his Opinion of 10 April 2014 in case C-19/13 Fastweb, Advocate General Bot has proposed an interpretation of Art 2d(4) of Directive 89/665 (as amended by dir 2007/66) that (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU General Court rules that the context in which an administrative decision is adopted may reduce the burden of motivation imposed on an institution (ABN Amro)

218

GC hints at a reduction of the burden of motivation of administrative decisions under EU law (T-319/11)* In its Judgment of 8 April 2014 in case T-319/11 ABN Amro Group v Commission, the General Court has indicated that the context in which an administrative decision is adopted may reduce (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice follows its non-formalistic approach to the application of the market economy private investor test in relation to capital injection subject to repayment (ING Groep)

290

CJEU further pushes for a universal application of the ’market economy private investor test’ (C-224/12)* In its Judgment of 3 April 2014 in case C-224/12 Commission v Netherlands and ING Groep, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has followed its antiformalistic approach to (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice refuses to apply the Charter of Fundamental Rights to a purely national situation (Cruciano Siragusa / Soprintendenza Beni Culturali e Ambientali di Palermo)

197

CJEU clearly indicates total lack of will to effectively become EU’s constitutional court (C-206/13)* In its Judgment of 6 March 2014 in case C-206/13 Siragusa, the Court of Justice of the EU has continued developing its case law on the lack of applicability / jurisdiction to interpret the (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The European Parliament and the Council indite an area of application for the directive on the award of concession contracts meant to combine the scopes of the directive on public sector awards and the directive on the award of utilities contracts

163

Directive 2014/23 on concessions and the ’Frankenstein effect’* The more one analyses the content of Directive 2014/23 on concessions (the Concessions Directive), the more one realises that it is full of unnecessary complexities and that it is (unfortunately) a horrible example of the (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The AG Kokott of the EU Court of Justice issues opinion on the scope of the civil cartel liability in favour of allowing an action for compensation for loss resulting from umbrella pricing (KONE)

434

A first reaction to AG Kokott’s KONE Opinion (C-557/12)* AG Kokott’s Opinion of 30 January 2014 in case C-557/12 KONE is generating significant debate (see the very interesting criticism in EUTopia) as it deals with a very complicated and controversial issue that could either spur or (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice AG Wathelet finds that the effectiveness of State aid rules would be significantly impaired if Member States could use the protection of brand image as an economic rationality argument (SNCM)

194

"National brands" and State aid: AG Wathelet on investing in "State branding" (C-533 & 536/12)* In his Opinion of 15 January 2014 in joined cases C-533/12 P and C-536/12 P SNCM v Corsica Ferries France, Advocate General Wathelet has addressed an interesting (and creative) argument (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice rules that a mechanism for offsetting in full the additional costs imposed on undertakings because of an obligation to purchase wind-generated electricity at a price higher than the market price is imputable to the state (Association Vent De Colère / Ministre de l’Écologie)

316

CJEU follows AG Jääskinen in revisiting PreussenElektra and minimising Doux Elevages’ requirements for State imputability of aid measures (C-262/12)* In its Judgment of 19 December 2013 in case C-262/12 Vent De Colère and Others, the Court of Justice of the EU has largely followed AG (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice reinforces the Plaumann test and re-emphasizes the role attributed to the national courts within the framework of the preliminary ruling procedure to ensure judicial review of the legality of EU acts (Telefónica)

433

What’s left of the ’new limb’ of Art 263(4) TFEU after Inuit and Telefonica? (C-274/12 P)* In its Judgment of 19 December in case C-274/12 P Telefonica v Commission, the CJEU has continued to define (and minimise) the scope of Article 263(4) TFEU and, particularly, the ’new’ third limb (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice declares that a scheme of compulsory minimum tariffs for certification services addressed to tenderers in a public procurement procedure is not illegal per se under the EU competition and free movement rules (SOA Nazionale Costruttori)

238

CJEU rubber stamps Italian minimum tariffs for certification in public procurement, subject to proportionality (C-327/12)* In its Judgment of 12 December 2013 in case C-327/12 Soa Nazionale Costruttori, the Court of Justice of the EU has followed rather closely AG Cruz Villalon’s Opinion (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice rules that the authorities of a Member State may rely on the provisions of a non-transposed directive against a body holding a public service concession (Portgás)

252

CJEU: vertical effect of Directives goes both ways (C-425/12)* The Judgment of the CJEU of 12 December 2013 in case C-425/12 Portgás may appear to be of interest only for public procurement aficionados (and, even then, only for hardcore ones), as it deals with the potential applicability of (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice rules on the interpretation of article 30(2) of Directive 2004/18 as regards the negotiation of technical elements between a contracting authority and the participants in a negotiated procedure (Nordecon / Rahandusministeerium)

221

CJEU on renegotiation of mandatory technical conditions in negotiated procedures: A good case? (C-561/12)* In its Judgment of 5 December 2013 in case C-561/12 Nordecon and Ramboll Eesti, the CJEU has ruled on the interpretation of Article 30(2) of Directive 2004/18 as regards the negotiation (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice rules on the distribution of powers between the Council and the Commission in the area of state aid enforcement (EU Commission / EU Council)

186

CJEU strengthens Commission’s enforcement monopoly in State aid (C-111/10) and jeopardises its consistent enforcement with other EU policies (C-272/12)* In two recent Judgments of 4 December 2013 (C-111/10, Commission v Council) and 10 December 2013 (C-272/12, Commission v Ireland and (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU General Court rules on the boundaries of the duty to state reasons in decisions addressed to tenderers whose offers are rejected in public procurement procedures (UAB Gaumina / EIGE)

199

Of lost emails, the duty to state reasons and a dimming light in the horizon of eProcurement (T-424/12)* In its Judgment of 28 November 2013 in case T-424/12 UAB Gaumina v Institut européen pour l’égalité entre les hommes et les femmes (EIGE), the General Court has ruled once more on the (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice rules on the procedural and substantial provisions applicable to an antitrust claim and establishes that court proceedings of an excessive duration violated Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU (Groupe Gascogne)

287

It’s for the GC to decide, but it’s not ok: CJEU rules on ’excessive duration’ of competition law litigation (C-40/12 P)* In a batch of impatiently expected Judgments of 26 November 2012, the CJEU has ruled on the procedural and substantial rules applicable to a claim that (competition law) (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice establishes that a concession not being capable of generating substantial net revenue can still be of economic interest to undertakings located in a different member state (Comune di Ancona / Regione Marche)

183

CJEU kicks new #concessions Directive in the shins (C-388/12)* In its Judgment of 14 November 2013 in case C-388/12 Comune di Ancona, the CJEU has put forward an argument for the existence of cross-border interest in the award of (public service) concession contracts that openly challenges (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice establishes that avoidance of litigation does not constitute an overriding reason of general interest that can be invoked in order to uphold a direct award of a concession contract (Belgacom)

188

CJEU rejects avoidance of litigation as a valid ’overriding reason in the public interest’ justifying a direct award of a concession contract (C-212/12)* In its Judgment of 14 November 2013 in case C-221/12 Belgacom, the CJEU has rejected that the avoidance of litigation can be considered a (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU General Court finds that an authorisation agreement on the mining fees payable for the exploitation of hydrocarbon reserves does not constitute State aid incompatible with the internal market (MOL)

162

GC rules on two-part State aid measures and selectivity under Art 107(1) TFEU (T-499/10)* In its Judgment of 12 November 2013 in case T-499/10 MOL v Commission, the General Court has found that an authorisation agreement that froze the mining fees payable for the exploitation of hydrocarbon (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice rules in favour of the appellant and allows the action for annulment against the Commission decision to reopen an inquiry on the alleged incompatibility of a state aid measure (Deutsche Post)

319

"Ne bis in idem" in State aid control? CJEU quashes Deutsche Post decision (C-77/12 P)* In its Judgment of 24 October 2013 in case C-77/12 P Deutsche Post v Commission, the Court of Justice of the EU quashed a Judgment of the General Court (T-421/07) and (indirectly) questioned a decision (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice applies private vendor test and upholds the Commission’s approach on the incompatibility of a state aid for the privatisation of an Austrian bank (Land Burgenland)

549

Maybe not such a global appraisal of State aid after all: CJEU backtracks from a truly economic approach (C-124/10)* In an interesting recent paper, Pablo Ibáñez Colomo conducts a very detailed statistical overview of State Aid Litigation before EU Courts (2004–2012) Journal of European (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU General Court rules that a contracting authority must provide explanations about its reasons not to consider the winning offer as being abnormally low (European Dynamics / EMA)

194

3 more instalments in the Evropaïki Dynamiki saga: one successful appeal (T-638/11)* Today (15 October 2013), the General Court has issued three judgments that add to the ’Evropaïki Dynamiki saga’. In two of them (T-474/10 and T-457/10), the famous challenger of EU Institutions’ procurement (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice rules that a general interdiction to rely on the capacities of more than one undertaking for the same qualification category imposed on tenderers is precluded by law (Mannocchi Luigino)

166

A jigsaw of qualifications or a procurement puzzle?: CJEU launches a depth charge against certification systems (C-94/12)* In its Judgment of 10 October 2013 in case C-94/12 Swm Costruzioni 2 and Mannocchi Luigino, the Court of Justice of the EU has followed the Opinion of AG Jääskinen (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice rules that the principle of equal treatment must be interpreted as not precluding a contracting authority from asking a candidate to provide additional information after the deadline (Manova)

147

CJEU flexibilises treatment of formally non-compliant bids in public procurement (C-336/12)* In its Judgment of 10 October 2013 in case C-336/12 Manova, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has followed its own approach in Slovensko and created some room for the flexible interpretation of (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice AG Cruz Villalón deals in his opinion with the exceptions to the right of access to public documents implying that it cannot be excluded that the commercial interests of the leniency applicants may be damaged by disclosure (Energie Baden-Württemberg)

200

AG Cruz Villalon on access to leniency applications: A stringent test. Really? (C-365/12)* In his Opinion of 3 October 2013 in case C-365/12 EnBW Energie, Advocate General Cruz Villalon has proposed a holistic interpretation of the regulatory schemes relating to access to documents of the (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The Spanish Competition Authority publishes a report on the application of its guide on public procurement and competition to public health care provision-related procurement in Spain

222

Spanish competition watchdog CNMC issues report on health care outsourcing procurement* The Spanish Competition Authority has recently published a report on the application of its Guide on Public Procurement and Competition to public health care provision-related procurement in Spain (only (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The AG Villalón of the CJEU finds that a tariff calculation formula that automatically multiplies the rate payable for the certification activities according to the number of tenders is precluded by EU law (SOA Nazionale Costruttori)

178

AG Cruz Villalon opposes Italian minimum #tariffs for #public procurement #certification (C-327/12)* In his Opinion of 5 September 2013 in case C-327/12 Soa Nazionale Costruttori (not available in English), AG Cruz Villalon analyses the compatibility with EU free movement (ie freedom of (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice rules that social housing schemes may not be public contracts and thereby shows potentially excessive deference towards social policy in public procurement (Libert)

318

In its Judgment of 8 May 2013 in Joined Cases C-197/11 & C-203/11 Libert and Others, the Court of Justice of the European Union has quashed the Belgian ’Living in Your Own Region’ scheme, whereby the acquisition of land and property in certain parts of the country was restricted on grounds (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice Advocate General Jääskinen postulates that the prohibition of reliance on the capacities of more than one auxiliary undertaking in order to fulfil the selection criteria is precluded by EU public procurement law (Mannocchi Luigino)

169

With a little help from my friends: A flexible and competition-oriented interpretation of rules on reliance on third party capabilities in public procurement (Opinion in C-94/12)* (This is an extended version of the comment previously posted on Albert’s personal blog). According to the (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice Advocate General Jääskinen puts forward that an absolute level of protection should be afforded by legislative means to the leniency applicants (Donau Chemie)

243

Why is #competition law so special? Or how #leniency will kill private #damages actions (AG C-536/11)* In his Opinion of 7 February 2013 in case C-536/11 Donau Chemie and Others, Advocate General Jääskinen has developed a line of reasoning that goes well beyond the issue at hand (whether (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The Spanish Administrative Tribunal of Contractual Appeals rules on the need to cancel the award and rerun a tender when faulty documents and their interpretation can give rise to discrimination (Cespa Espa Conten / Valladolid Regional Logistics Unit of the Army)

247

On 22 January 2013, the Spanish Central Administrative Tribunal of Contractual Appeals (Tribunal Administrativo Central de Recursos Contractuales, SCATCA) issued its Decision 29/2013 regarding the award of a contract for the disposal of waste and hazardous substances generated by the regional (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice reaffirms its dictum on in-house providing as an exception to the applicability of the EU public procurement directives (Econord / Varese)

179

In-house providing and (minimum) "effective" public control: Sunset or breaking dawn for purely public (commercial) service providers? (C‑182 and 183/11)* In its Judgment of 29 November 2012 in Joined Cases C‑182/11 and C‑183/11, Econord SpA v Comune di Cagno and Comune di Varese (C-182/11) (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The EU Court of Justice rules that the risk of anticompetitive collusion as a consequence of an excessive level of transparency in the debriefing of disappointed bidders must be taken into consideration by the Commission (Evropaïki Dynamiki)

144

Risk of anti-competitive collusion after excessive level of transparency in public procurement debriefing?* In its Judgment of 4 October 2012 in case C‑629/11 P Evropaïki Dynamiki v Commission (ESP-ISEP), the Court of Justice has issued another interesting decision on what should be (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The Spanish Central Administrative Tribunal of Contractual Appeals grants public buyers wide discretion to exclude supplies of reused or refurbished goods (FREMAP)

194

On 30 March 2012, the Spanish Central Administrative Tribunal of Contractual Appeals (Tribunal Administrativo Central de Recursos Contractuales) issued its Decision 83/2012 regarding the award of a contract for the supply of IT consumables where the contracting authority had excluded the (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The Spanish Central Administrative Tribunal of Contractual Appeals issues its first decision on treatment of confidential information in procurement debriefing (AIR-RAIL)

223

On 29 February 2012, the Spanish Central Administrative Tribunal of Contractual Appeals (Tribunal Administrativo Central de Recursos Contractuales, CATCA) issued its Decision 33/2012 regarding the treatment of confidential information and the protection of business secrets in tender debriefing (...)

Albert Sánchez Graells The Spanish Central Administrative Tribunal of Contractual Appeals determines that breach of labour law collective agreements does not prevent the award of public contracts (Monfragüe Archivo Logístico, Transporte y Servicios SLU c. Dirección Provincial de Madrid del Servicio Público de Empleo Estatal y Centro de Negocios OCÓN)

170

On 5 January 2012, the Spanish Central Administrative Tribunal of Contractual Appeals (Tribunal Administrativo Central de Recursos Contractuales) issued its Decision 08/2012 regarding the award of a services contract to a tenderer that had submitted an apparently anormally low tender. The (...)

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