Judgment of the General Court (Seventh Chamber) of 9 September 2010 – Carpent Languages v Commission
(Case T-582/08)
Public service contracts – Community tendering procedure – Organisation of meetings and conferences – Rejection of a tenderer’s bid – Award of the contract to another tenderer – Duty to state reasons – Manifest error of assessment – Equal treatment
1.                     European Communities’ public procurement – Conclusion of a contract following a call for tenders – Discretion of the institutions – Judicial review – Limits (see. para. 28)
2.                     Acts of the institutions – Statement of reasons – Obligation – Scope – Decision, in the procedure for awarding a public services contract, to reject a tender – Assessment having regards to information at the applicant’s disposal at the time the action was brought (Art. 253 EC; Council Regulation No 1605/2002, Art. 100(2); Commission Regulation No 2342/2002, Art. 149) (see paras 37-39, 43-46)
3.                     Actions for annulment – Pleas in law – Lack of or inadequate statement of reasons – Manifest error of assessment (Art. 230 EC) (see para. 51)
4.                     Actions for damages – Independent of actions for annulment – Limits – Identical pleas serving as the basis for both actions (Art. 288 EC) (see paras 84-86)
Re:
ACTION brought against the Commission’s decision of 30 October 2008 rejecting the applicant’s bid for lot No 4 ‘Provision of teams of interpreters according to the linguistic requirements of each event’ of contract notice VT/2008/036 (Multiple framework contracts for meeting and conference organisation services), and the Commission’s decision of 17 November 2008 appointing the successful tenderer of lot No 4, and an application for a declaration that the Commission be ordered to pay damages in the event that the General Court does not grant the application for annulment of the decision rejecting the applicant’s bid.
Operative part
The Court:
1.
Dismisses the action;
2.
Orders Carpent Languages SPRL to pay the costs.