Judgment of the General Court (Ninth Chamber) of 14 September 2015 —
Brouillard v Court of Justice
(Case T‑420/13)
Public service contracts — Tender procedure — Conclusion of framework contracts — Translation of legal texts into French — Invitation to submit a tender — Exclusion of a proposed subcontractor — Professional capacity — Full legal education requirement — Recognition of professional qualifications — Proportionality — Transparency
1.                     Actions for annulment — Admissibility — Decision to dismiss the action on the merits without ruling on admissibility — Discretion of the Courts of the Union (Art. 263 TFEU) (see para. 18)
2.                     EU public contracts — Conclusion of a contract following a call for tenders — Discretion of the institutions — Judicial review — Limits (see para. 25)
3.                     EU public contracts — Conclusion of a contract following a call for tenders — Criteria for selecting candidates — Criterion requiring a full legal education for providing legal translation services at the Court of Justice — Lawfulness (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 42; Council Regulation No 966/2012; Commission Regulation No 1268/2012) (see paras 29, 30)
4.                     Actions for annulment — Grounds — Misuse of powers — Concept (Art. 263 TFEU) (see para. 56)
5.                     EU public contracts — Tender procedure — Applicability of directives — Limits — Comparison of diplomas and qualifications obtained in the various Member States in accordance with the provisions of Directive 2005/36 — Discretion of the awarding authority — Limits — Compliance with the principles of free movement of persons and freedom of establishment (Arts 45 TFEU, 49 TFEU and 288, third para., TFEU; European Parliament and Council Regulation No 2005/36, Title III) (see paras 65, 77, 78, 81, 93)
6.                     Judicial proceedings — Application initiating proceedings — Formal requirements — Identification of the subject-matter of the dispute (Statute of the Court of Justice, Arts 21, first para., and 53, first para.; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 44(1)(c)) (see para. 67)
7.                     Freedom of movement for persons — Freedom of establishment — Freedom to provide services — Workers — Access to professions — No harmonisation of conditions for access — Competence of the Member States — Limits (Arts 45 TFEU and 49 TFEU; European Parliament and Council Directive 2005/36) (see paras 88-91)
8.                     EU law — Principles — Proportionality — Scope (see para. 103)
9.                     EU public contracts — Tender procedure — Duty to comply with the principles of equal treatment of tenderers and transparency — Scope — No obligation to inform the sub-contractors proposed by a tenderer in the event of their not satisfying the conditions on professional capacity laid down in the contract notice (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 966/2012, Arts 102(1), and 113(2)) (see paras 110, 111)
Re:
ACTION for annulment of the letters of 5 June 2013 that the Court of Justice of the European Union addressed to IDEST Communication SA, by which it invited that company, first, to submit tenders in the context of a negotiated tender procedure relating to the conclusion of framework contracts for the translation of legal texts from certain official languages of the European Union into French (OJ 2013/S 47-075037) and, second, to confirm that the applicant would not be engaged in providing the services required under the contract.
Operative part
The Court:
1.
Dismisses the action;
2.
Orders Mr Alain Laurent Brouillard to pay the costs.