Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber) of 20 March 2024 –Westpole Belgium v Parliament
(Case T‑640/22) (1)
( Public service contracts – Tendering procedure – External provision of IT services – Rejection of a tenderer’s bid and awarding of lot to other tenderers – Exclusion criteria – No final judgment or final administrative decision establishing an infringement of competition law – Abnormally low tender )
1.      Acts of the institutions – Statement of reasons – Obligation – Scope – Decision, in the procedure for the award of a public service contract, not to accept a tender – Obligation to communicate, following a written request, the characteristics and relative advantages of the tender accepted and the name of the tenderer – Obligation to disclose the documents provided by other tenderers – None
(Art. 296 TFEU; European Parliament and Council Regulation 2018/1046, Art. 170(2) and (3) and Annex I, point 31.1)
(see paragraphs 24-27, 29)
2.      European Union public contracts – Tendering procedure – Award of contracts – Exclusion of tenderers for non-payment of social security contributions – Conditions – Existence of a final judgment
(European Parliament and Council Regulation No 966/2012, Arts 106(1)(b) and 107(1)(a) and (b))
(see paragraphs 61-63)
3.      EU budget – Financial regulation – Administrative penalties which may be imposed by the Commission – Exclusion of an operator from a public procurement procedure – Absence of a final decision establishing that an economic operator is in breach of its contractual obligations – Compliance with the principle of proportionality in the examination of consequences to be drawn from a non-final decision
(European Parliament and Council Regulations No 966/2012, Arts 106(2), first subpara., and (3), and 108, and 2018/1046, Arts 135(4) and 143)
(see paragraphs 65-68, 74, 85, 86)
4.      European Union public contracts – Conclusion of a contract following a call for tenders – Abnormally low tender – Obligation on the contracting authority to examine the abnormally low nature of the tender – Scope – Elements to be taken into consideration
(European Parliament and Council Regulations No 966/2012, Art. 102(1), and 2018/1046)
(see paragraphs 102, 105-111, 124, 125, 127)
Operative part
The Court:
1.
Dismisses the action;
2.
Orders Westpole Belgium to bear its own costs and to pay the costs incurred by the European Parliament, including those relating to the proceedings for interim relief.
1 OJ C 451, 28.11.2022.