The Italian Supreme Administrative Court issues two decisions concerning the principle of transparency in the selection of the most economic advantageous tender under public procurement law (Fidelitas, I-Faber)

I. Introduction By two different judgments handed down in July this year the grand chamber (Adunanza plenaria) of the Italian Consiglio di Stato, broadly corresponding to the assemblée of the Conseil d'Etat, addressed a number of questions concerning the evaluation of the most economic advantageous tender. The grand chamber is seized by the panels (Sezioni) of the Consiglio di Stato who are ordinarily competent to hear appeals against the judgments passed by the first instance administrative courts. When the trends in case law are conflicting or there is yet no case law on a question of major relevance, the panels can ask the grand chamber to decide the case. In both judgments discussed here, conflicting trends in the case law were an issue. In both cases, the procurement at issue had