Common position (EC) No 33/2003

adopted by the Council on 20 March 2003

with a view to adopting Directive 2003/.../EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts

(2003/C 147 E/01)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community and in particular Article 47(2) and Articles 55 and 95 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission(1),

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee(2),

Having regard to the Opinion of the Committee of the Regions(3),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty(4),

Whereas:

(1) On the occasion of new amendments being made to Council Directives 92/50/EEC of 18 June 1992 relating to the coordination of procedures for the award of public service contracts(5), 93/36/EEC of 14 June 1993 coordinating procedures for the award of public supply contracts(6) and 93/37/EEC of 14 June 1993 concerning the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts(7), which are necessary to meet requests for simplification and modernisation made by contracting authorities and economic operators alike in their responses to the Green Paper adopted by the Commission on 27 November 1996, the Directives should, in the interests of clarity, be recast.

(2) The achievement of freedom of movement of goods in the matter of public supply contracts, and the achievement of freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services in the matter of public works contracts and public service contracts, for contracts concluded in the Member States on behalf of the State, regional or local authorities and other bodies governed by public law requires not only the abolition of restrictions but also the implementation of provisions on the coordination of national procedures for the award of public contracts which are based on the rules governing these three freedoms and on the principles deriving therefrom, such as the principles of equal treatment, of which the principle of non-discrimination is no more than a specific expression, the principle of mutual recognition, the principle of proportionality and the principle of transparency, and the opening-up of public procurement to competition. These coordinating provisions should therefore be interpreted in accordance with both the aforementioned rules and principles and other rules of the Treaty.

(3) Such coordinating provisions should comply as far as possible with current procedures and practices in each of the Member States.

(4) Member States should ensure that the participation of a body governed by public law as a tenderer in a procedure for the award of a public contract does not cause any distortion of competition in relation to private tenderers.

(5) Under Article 6 of the Treaty, environmental protection requirements are to be integrated into the definition and implementation of the Community policies and activities referred to in Article 3 of that Treaty, in particular with a view to promoting sustainable development. This Directive therefore clarifies how the contracting authorities may contribute to the protection of the environment and the promotion of sustainable development, whilst ensuring the possibility of obtaining the best value for money for their contracts.

(6) Nothing in this Directive should prevent the imposition or enforcement of measures necessary to protect public policy, public morality, public security, health, human and animal life or the preservation of plant life, in particular with a view to sustainable development, provided that these measures are in conformity with the Treaty.

(7) Council Decision 94/800/EC of 22 December 1994 concerning the conclusion on behalf of the European Community, as regards matters within its competence, of the Agreements reached in the Uruguay Round multilateral negotiations (1986 to 1994)(8), approved in particular the Agreement on Government Procurement, hereinafter referred to as the "Agreement", the aim of which is to establish a multilateral framework of balanced rights and obligations relating to public contracts with a view to achieving the liberalisation and expansion of world trade.

In view of the international rights and commitments devolving on the Community as a result of the acceptance of the Agreement, the arrangements to be applied to tenderers and products from signatory third countries are those defined by the Agreement. This Agreement does not have direct effect. The contracting authorities covered by the Agreement which comply with this Directive and which apply the latter to economic operators of third countries which are signatories to the Agreement should therefore be in conformity with the Agreement. It is also appropriate that those coordinating provisions should guarantee for Community economic operators conditions for participation in public procurement which are just as favourable as those reserved for economic operators of third countries which are signatories to the Agreement.

(8) Before launching a procedure for the award of a contract, contracting authorities may, using a technical dialogue, seek or accept advice which may be used in the preparation of the specifications provided, however, that such advice does not have the effect of precluding competition.

(9) In view of the diversity of public works contracts, contracting authorities should be able to make provision for contracts for the design and execution of work to be awarded either separately or jointly. It is not the intention of this Directive to prescribe either joint or separate contract awards. The decision to award contracts separately or jointly must be determined by qualitative and economic criteria, which may be defined by national law. A contract shall be deemed to be a public works contract only if its subject-matter specifically covers the execution of activities listed in Annex I, even if the contract covers the provision of other services necessary for the execution of such activities. Public service contracts, in particular in the sphere of property management services, may, in certain circumstances, include works. However, insofar as such works are incidental to the principal subject-matter of the contract, and are a possible consequence thereof or a complement thereto, the fact that such works are included in the contract does not justify the qualification of the contract as a public works contract.

(10) A Community definition of framework agreements, together with specific rules on framework agreements concluded for contracts falling within the scope of this Directive, should be provided. Under these rules, when a contracting authority enters into a framework agreement in accordance with the provisions of this Directive relating, in particular, to advertising, time-limits and conditions for the submission of tenders, it may enter into contracts based on such a framework agreement during its term of validity either by applying the terms set forth in the framework agreement or, if all terms have not been fixed in advance in the framework agreement, by reopening competition between the parties to the framework agreement in relation to those terms. The reopening of competition should comply with certain rules the aim of which is to guarantee the required flexibility and to guarantee respect for the general principles, in particular the principle of equal treatment. For the same reasons, the term of the framework agreements should not exceed four years, except in cases duly justified by the contracting authorities.

(11) Certain new electronic purchasing techniques are continuously being developed. Such techniques help to increase competition and streamline public purchasing, particularly in terms of the savings in time and money which their use will allow. Contracting authorities may make use of electronic purchasing techniques, providing such use complies with the rules drawn up under this Directive and the principles of equal treatment, non-discrimination and transparency. To that extent, a tender submitted by a tenderer, in particular where competition has been reopened under a framework agreement or where a dynamic purchasing system is being used, may take the form of that tenderer's electronic catalogue if the latter uses the means of communication chosen by the contracting authority in accordance with Article 42.

(12) In view of the rapid expansion of electronic purchasing systems, appropriate rules should now be introduced to enable contracting authorities to take full advantage of the possibilities afforded by these systems. Against this background, it is necessary to define a completely electronic dynamic purchasing system for commonly used purchases, and lay down specific rules for setting up and operating such a system in order to ensure the fair treatment of any economic operator who wishes to take part therein. Any economic operator which submits an indicative tender in accordance with the specification and meets the selection criteria should be allowed to join such a system. This purchasing technique allows the contracting authority, through the establishment of a list of tenderers already selected and the opportunity given to new tenderers to take part, to have a particularly broad range of tenders as a result of the electronic facilities available, and hence to ensure optimum use of public funds through broad competition.

(13) Since use of the technique of electronic auctions is likely to increase, such auctions should be given a Community definition and governed by specific rules in order to ensure that they operate in full accordance with the principles of equal treatment, non-discrimination and transparency. To that end, provision should be made for such electronic auctions to deal only with contracts for works, supplies or services for which the specifications can be determined with precision. With the same objective, it must also be possible to establish the respective ranking of the tenderers at any stage of the electronic auction. Recourse to electronic auctions enables contracting authorities to ask tenderers to submit new prices, revised downwards, and when the contract is awarded to the most economically advantageous tender, also to improve elements of the tenders other than prices. However, in order to guarantee compliance with the principle of transparency, only the elements suitable for automatic evaluation by electronic means, without any intervention by the contracting authority, may be improved. To this end, such elements must be quantifiable so that they can be expressed in figures or percentages.

(14) Certain centralised purchasing techniques have been developed in Member States. Several contracting authorities are responsible for making acquisitions or awarding public contracts/framework agreements for other contracting authorities. In view of the large volumes purchased, those techniques help increase competition and streamline public purchasing. Provision should therefore be made for a Community definition of central purchasing bodies dedicated to contracting authorities. A definition should also be given of the conditions under which, in accordance with the principles of non-discrimination and equal treatment, contracting authorities purchasing works, supplies and/or services through a central purchasing body may be deemed to have complied with this Directive.

(15) In order to take account of the different circumstances obtaining in Member States, Member States should be allowed to choose whether contracting authorities may use framework agreements, central purchasing bodies, dynamic purchasing systems, electronic auctions or the competitive dialogue procedure, as defined and regulated by this Directive.

(16) Multiplying the number of thresholds for applying the coordinating provisions complicates matters for contracting authorities. Furthermore, in the context of monetary union such thresholds should be established in euro. Accordingly, thresholds should be set, in euro, in such a way as to simplify the application of such provisions, while at the same time ensuring compliance with the thresholds provided for by the Agreement which are expressed in special drawing rights. In this context, provision should also be made for periodic reviews of the thresholds expressed in euro so as to adjust them, where necessary, in line with possible variations in the value of the euro in relation to the special drawing right.

(17) The field of services is best delineated, for the purpose of applying the procedural rules of this Directive and for monitoring purposes, by subdividing it into categories corresponding to particular headings of a common classification and by bringing them together in two Annexes, II A and II B, according to the regime to which they are subject. As regards services in Annex II B, the relevant provisions of this Directive should be without prejudice to the application of Community rules specific to the services in question.

(18) As regards public service contracts, full application of this Directive should be limited, for a transitional period, to contracts where its provisions will permit the full potential for increased cross-frontier trade to be realised. Contracts for other services need to be monitored during this transitional period before a decision is taken on the full application of this Directive. In this respect, the mechanism for such monitoring needs to be defined. This mechanism should, at the same time, enable interested parties to have access to the relevant information.

(19) Public contracts which are awarded by the contracting authorities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors and which fall within the scope of those activities are covered by Directive 2003/.../EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of...coordinating the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors(9). However, contracts awarded by the contracting authorities in the context of their service activities for maritime, coastal or river transport must fall within the scope of this Directive.

(20) In view of the situation of effective market competition in the telecommunications sector following the implementation of the Community rules aiming to liberalise that sector, public contracts in that area should be excluded from the scope of this Directive insofar as they are intended primarily to allow the contracting authorities to exercise certain activities in the telecommunications sector. Those activities are defined in accordance with the definitions used in Articles 1, 2 and 8 of Council Directive 93/38/EEC of 14 June 1993 coordinating the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and telecommunications sector(10), such that this Directive does not apply to contracts which have been excluded from the scope of Directive 93/38/EEC pursuant to Article 8 thereof.

(21) Provision should be made for cases in which it is impossible to apply the measures for coordinating procedures on grounds relating to State security or secrecy, or because specific rules on the awarding of contracts which derive from international agreements, relating to the stationing of troops, or which are specific to international organisations are applicable.

(22) Pursuant to Article 163 of the Treaty, the encouragement of research and technological development is a means of strengthening the scientific and technological basis of Community industry, and the opening-up of public service contracts contributes to this end. This Directive should not cover the cofinancing of research and development programmes: research and development contracts other than those where the benefits accrue exclusively to the contracting authority for its use in the conduct of its own affairs, on condition that the service provided is wholly remunerated by the contracting authority, are not therefore covered by this Directive.

(23) In the context of services, contracts for the acquisition or rental of immovable property or rights to such property have particular characteristics which make the application of public procurement rules inappropriate.

(24) The awarding of public contracts for certain audiovisual services in the field of broadcasting should allow aspects of cultural or social significance to be taken into account which render application of procurement rules inappropriate. For these reasons, an exception must therefore be made for public service contracts for the purchase, development, production or co-production of off-the-shelf programmes and other preparatory services, such as those relating to scripts or artistic performances necessary for the production of the programme and contracts concerning broadcasting times. However, this exclusion does not apply to the supply of technical equipment necessary for the production, co-production and broadcasting of such programmes.

(25) Arbitration and conciliation services are usually provided by bodies or individuals designated or selected in a manner which cannot be governed by procurement rules.

(26) In accordance with the Agreement, the financial services covered by this Directive do not include instruments of monetary policy, exchange rates, public debt, reserve management or other policies involving transactions in securities or other financial instruments, in particular transactions by the contracting authorities to raise money or capital. Accordingly, contracts relating to the issue, purchase, sale or transfer of securities or other financial instruments are not covered. Central bank services are also excluded.

(27) The technical specifications drawn up by public purchasers need to allow public procurement to be opened up to competition. To this end, it must be possible to submit tenders which reflect the diversity of technical solutions. Accordingly, it must be possible to draw up the technical specifications in terms of functional performance and requirements, and, where reference is made to the European standard or, in the absence thereof, to the national standard, tenders based on equivalent arrangements must be considered by contracting authorities. To demonstrate equivalence, tenderers should be permitted to use any form of evidence. Contracting authorities must be able to provide a reason for any decision that equivalence does not exist in a given case. Contracting authorities that wish to define environmental requirements for the technical specifications of a given contract may lay down the environmental characteristics and/or specific environmental effects of product groups or services. They can, but are not obliged to, use appropriate specifications that are defined in eco-labels, such as the European Eco-label, (multi-)national eco-labels or any other eco-label providing the requirements for the label are drawn up and adopted on the basis of scientific information using a procedure in which stakeholders, such as government bodies, consumers, manufacturers, distributors and environmental organisations can participate, and providing the label is accessible and available to all interested parties.

(28) Additional information concerning contracts must, as is customary in Member States, be given in the contract documents for each contract or else in an equivalent document.

(29) Contracting authorities which carry out exceptionally complex projects may, without this being due to any fault on their part, find it objectively impossible to define the means of satisfying their needs or of assessing what the market can offer in the way of technical solutions and/or financial/legal solutions. This situation may arise in particular with the implementation of important integrated transport infrastructure projects, large computer networks or projects involving complex and structured financing the financial and legal make-up of which cannot be defined in advance. To the extent that use of open or restricted procedures does not allow the award of such contracts, a flexible procedure should be provided which preserves not only competition between economic operators but also the need for the contracting authorities to discuss all aspects of the contract with each candidate. However, this procedure must not be used in such a way as to restrict or distort competition, particularly by altering any fundamental aspects of the offers, or by imposing substantial new requirements on the successful tenderer, or by involving any tenderer other than the one selected as the most economically advantageous.

(30) In order to encourage the involvement of small and medium-sized undertakings in the public contracts procurement market, it is advisable to include provisions on subcontracting.

(31) Contract performance conditions are compatible with this Directive provided that they are not directly or indirectly discriminatory and are indicated in the contract notice or in the contract documents. They may, in particular, be intended to favour on-site vocational training, the employment of people experiencing particular difficulty in achieving integration, the fight against unemployment or the protection of the environment. For instance, mention may be made, amongst other things, of the requirements - applicable during performance of the contract - to recruit long-term job-seekers or to implement training measures for the unemployed or young persons, to comply in substance with the provisions of the basic International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions, assuming that such provisions have not been implemented in national law, and to recruit more handicapped persons than are required under national legislation.

(32) The laws, regulations and collective agreements, at both national and Community level, which are in force in the areas of welfare and safety at work apply during performance of a public contract, providing that such rules, and their application, comply with Community law. In cross-border situations, where workers from one Member State provide services in another Member State for the purpose of performing a public contract, Directive 96/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 1996 concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services(11) lays down the minimum conditions which must be observed by the host country in respect of such posted workers. If national law contains provisions to this effect, non-compliance with those obligations may be considered to be grave misconduct or an offence concerning the professional conduct of the economic operator concerned, liable to lead to the exclusion of that economic operator from the procedure for the award of a public contract.

(33) In view of new developments in information and communications technology, and the simplifications these can bring in terms of publicising contracts and the efficiency and transparency of procurement processes, electronic means should be put on a par with traditional means of communication and information exchange. As far as possible, the means and technology chosen should be compatible with the technologies used in other Member States.

(34) To ensure development of effective competition in the field of public contracts, it is necessary that contract notices drawn up by the contracting authorities of Member States be advertised throughout the Community. The information contained in these notices must enable economic operators in the Community to determine whether the proposed contracts are of interest to them. For this purpose, it is appropriate to give them adequate information on the object of the contract and the conditions attached thereto. Improved visibility should therefore be ensured for public notices by means of appropriate instruments, such as standard contract notice forms and the Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) provided for in Regulation (EC) No 2195/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council(12) as the reference nomenclature for public contracts. In restricted procedures, advertisement is, more particularly, intended to enable contractors of Member States to express their interest in contracts by seeking from the contracting authorities invitations to tender under the required conditions.

(35) Directive 1999/93/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 1999 on a Community framework for electronic signatures(13) and Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the internal market ("Directive on electronic commerce")(14) should, in the context of this Directive, apply to the transmission of information by electronic means. The public procurement procedures and the rules applicable to service contests require a level of security and confidentiality higher than that required by these Directives. Accordingly, the devices for the electronic receipt of offers, requests to participate and plans and projects should comply with specific additional requirements. Moreover, the existence of voluntary accreditation schemes could constitute a favourable framework for enhancing the level of certification service provision for these devices.

(36) The use of electronic means leads to savings in time. As a result, provision should be made for reducing the minimum periods where electronic means are used, subject, however, to the condition that they are compatible with the specific mode of transmission envisaged at Community level.

(37) Verification of the suitability of tenderers, in open procedures, and of candidates, in restricted and negotiated procedures with publication of a contract notice and in the competitive dialogue, and the selection thereof, should be carried out in transparent conditions. For this purpose, non-discriminatory criteria should be indicated which the contracting authorities may use when selecting competitors and the means which economic operators may use to prove they have satisfied those criteria. In the same spirit of transparency, the contracting authority should be required, as soon as a contract is put out to competition, to indicate the selection criteria it will use and the level of specific competence it may or may not demand of the economic operators before admitting them to the procurement procedure.

(38) A contracting authority may limit the number of candidates in the restricted and negotiated procedures with publication of a contract notice, and in the competitive dialogue. Such a reduction of candidates should be performed on the basis of objective criteria indicated in the contract notice. These objective criteria do not necessarily imply weightings. For criteria relating to the personal situation of economic operators, a general reference in the contract notice to the situations set out in Article 45 may suffice.

(39) In the competitive dialogue and negotiated procedures with publication of a contract notice, in view of the flexibility which may be required and the high level of costs associated with such methods of procurement, contracting authorities should be entitled to make provision for the procedure to be conducted in successive stages in order gradually to reduce, on the basis of previously indicated contract award criteria, the number of tenders which they will go on to discuss or negotiate. This reduction should, insofar as the number of appropriate solutions or candidates allows, ensure that there is genuine competition.

(40) The relevant Community rules on mutual recognition of diplomas, certificates or other evidence of formal qualifications apply when evidence of a particular qualification is required for participation in a procurement procedure or a design contest.

(41) The award of public contracts to economic operators who have participated in a criminal organisation or who have been found guilty of corruption or of fraud to the detriment of the financial interests of the European Communities or of money laundering should be avoided. Where appropriate, the contracting authorities should ask candidates or tenderers to supply relevant documents and, where they have doubts concerning the personal situation of a candidate or tenderer, they may seek the cooperation of the competent authorities of the Member State concerned. The exclusion of such economic operators should take place as soon as the contracting authority has knowledge of a judgment concerning such offences rendered in accordance with national law that has the force of res judicata. If national law contains provisions to this effect, non-compliance with environmental legislation or legislation on unlawful agreements in public contracts which has been the subject of a definitive judgment or a decision having equivalent effect may be considered an offence concerning the professional conduct of the economic operator concerned or grave misconduct.

(42) In appropriate cases, in which the nature of the works and/or services justifies applying environmental management measures or schemes during the performance of a public contract, the application of such measures or schemes may be required. Environmental management schemes, whether or not they are registered under Community instruments such as Regulation (EC) No 761/2001(15) (EMAS), can demonstrate that the economic operator has the technical capability to perform the contract. Moreover, a description of the measures implemented by the economic operator to ensure the same level of environmental protection should be accepted as an alternative to environmental management registration schemes as a form of evidence.

(43) This Directive allows Member States to establish official lists of contractors, suppliers or service providers or a system of certification by public or private bodies, and makes provision for the effects of such registration or such certification in a contract award procedure in another Member State. As regards official lists of approved economic operators, it is important to take into account Court of Justice case law in cases where an economic operator belonging to a group claims the economic, financial or technical capabilities of other companies in the group in support of its application for registration. In this case, it is for the economic operator to prove that those resources will actually be available to it throughout the period of validity of the registration. For the purposes of that registration, a Member State may therefore determine the level of requirements to be met and in particular, for example where the operator lays claim to the financial standing of another company in the group, it may require that that company be held liable, if necessary jointly and severally.

(44) The contract should be awarded on the basis of objective criteria which ensure compliance with the principles of transparency, non-discrimination and equal treatment and which guarantee that tenders are assessed in conditions of effective competition. As a result, it is appropriate to allow the application of two award criteria only: "the lowest price" and "the most economically advantageous tender".

To ensure compliance with the principle of equal treatment in the award of contracts, it is appropriate to lay down an obligation - established by case law - to ensure the necessary transparency to enable all tenderers to be reasonably informed of the criteria and arrangements which will be applied to identify the most economically advantageous tender. It is therefore the responsibility of contracting authorities to indicate the criteria for the award of the contract and the relative weighting given to each of those criteria in sufficient time for tenderers to be aware of them when preparing their tenders. Contracting authorities may derogate from indicating the weighting of the criteria for the award in duly justified cases for which they must be able to give reasons, where the weighting cannot be established in advance, in particular on account of the complexity of the contract. In such cases, they must indicate the descending order of importance of the criteria.

Where the contracting authorities choose to award a contract to the most economically advantageous tender, they shall assess the tenders in order to determine which one offers the best value for money. In order to do this, they shall determine the economic and quality criteria which, taken as a whole, must make it possible to determine the most economically advantageous tender for the contracting authority. The determination of these criteria depends on the object of the contract since they must allow the level of performance offered by each tender to be assessed in the light of the object of the contract, as defined in the technical specifications, and the value for money of each tender to be measured.

In order to guarantee equal treatment, the criteria for the award of the contract should enable tenders to be compared and assessed objectively. If these conditions are fulfilled, economic and qualitative criteria for the award of the contract, such as meeting environmental requirements, may enable the contracting authority to meet the needs of the public concerned, as expressed in the specifications of the contract. Under the same conditions, a contracting authority may use criteria aiming to meet social requirements, in response in particular to the needs - defined in the specifications of the contract - of particularly disadvantaged groups of people to which those receiving/using the works, supplies or services which are the object of the contract belong.

(45) In the case of public service contracts, the award criteria should not affect the application of national provisions on the remuneration of certain services, such as, for example, the services performed by architects, engineers or lawyers.

(46) Certain technical conditions, and in particular those concerning notices and statistical reports, as well as the nomenclature used and the conditions of reference to that nomenclature, will need to be adopted and amended in the light of changing technical requirements. The lists of contracting authorities in the Annexes will also need to be updated. It is therefore appropriate to put in place a flexible and rapid adoption procedure for this purpose.

(47) The measures necessary for the implementation of this Directive should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission(16).

(48) It is appropriate that Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1182/71 of 3 June 1971 determining the rules applicable to periods, dates and time-limits(17) should apply to the calculation of the time-limits contained in this Directive.

(49) This Directive should not prejudice the time-limits set out in Annex XI, within which Member States are required to transpose and apply Directives 92/50/EEC, 93/36/EEC and 93/37/EEC,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

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TITLE I

DEFINITIONS AND GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Article 1

Definitions

1. For the purposes of this Directive, the definitions set out in paragraphs 2 to 15 shall apply.

2. (a) "Public contracts" are contracts for pecuniary interest concluded in writing between one or more economic operators and one or more contracting authorities and having as their object the execution of works, the supply of products or the provision of services within the meaning of this Directive.

(b) "Public works contracts" are public contracts having as their object either the execution, or both the design and execution, of works related to one of the activities within the meaning of Annex I or a work, or the realisation, by whatever means, of a work corresponding to the requirements specified by the contracting authority. A "work" means the outcome of building or civil engineering works taken as a whole which is sufficient of itself to fulfil an economic or technical function.

(c) "Public supply contracts" are public contracts other than those referred to in (b) having as their object the purchase, lease, rental or hire purchase, with or without option to buy, of products.

A public contract having as its object the supply of products and which also covers, as an incidental matter, the siting and installation operations shall be considered to be a "public supply contract".

(d) "Public service contracts" are public contracts other than public works or supply contracts having as their object the provision of services referred to in Annex II.

A public contract having as its object both products and services within the meaning of Annex II shall be considered to be a "public service contract" if the value of the services in question exceeds that of the products covered by the contract.

A public contract having as its object services within the meaning of Annex II and including activities within the meaning of Annex I that are only incidental to the principal object of the contract shall be considered to be a public service contract.

3. "Public works concession" is a contract of the same type as a public works contract except for the fact that the consideration for the works to be carried out consists either solely in the right to exploit the work or in this right together with payment.

4. "Service concession" is a contract of the same type as a public service contract except for the fact that the consideration for the provision of services consists either solely in the right to exploit the service or in this right together with payment.

5. A "framework agreement" is an agreement between one or more contracting authorities and one or more economic operators, the purpose of which is to establish the terms governing contracts to be awarded during a given period, in particular with regard to price and, where appropriate, the quantity envisaged.

6. A "dynamic purchasing system" is a completely electronic process for making commonly used purchases, the characteristics of which, as generally available on the market, meet the requirements of the contracting authority, which is limited in duration and open throughout its validity to any economic operator which satisfies the selection criteria and has submitted an indicative tender that complies with the specification.

7. An "electronic auction" is a repetitive process involving an electronic device for the presentation of new prices, revised downwards, and/or new values concerning certain elements of tenders, which occurs after an initial full evaluation of the tenders, enabling them to be ranked using automatic evaluation methods.

8. The terms "contractor", "supplier" and "service provider" mean any natural or legal person or public entity or group of such persons and/or bodies which offers on the market, respectively, the execution of works and/or a work, products or services.

The term "economic operator" shall cover equally the concepts of contractor, supplier and service provider. It is used merely in the interest of simplification.

An economic operator who has submitted a tender shall be designated a "tenderer". One which has sought an invitation to take part in a restricted or negotiated procedure or a competitive dialogue shall be designated a "candidate".

9. "Contracting authorities" means the State, regional or local authorities, bodies governed by public law, associations formed by one or several of such authorities or one or several of such bodies governed by public law.

A "body governed by public law" means any body:

(a) established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character,

(b) having legal personality and

(c) financed, for the most part, by the State, regional or local authorities, or other bodies governed by public law; or subject to management supervision by those bodies; or having an administrative, managerial or supervisory board, more than half of whose members are appointed by the State, regional or local authorities, or by other bodies governed by public law.

Non-exhaustive lists of bodies and categories of bodies governed by public law which fulfil the criteria referred to in (a), (b) and (c) of the second subparagraph are set out in Annex III. Member States shall periodically notify the Commission of any changes to their lists of bodies and categories of bodies.

10. A "central purchasing body" is a contracting authority which:

- acquires supplies and/or services intended for contracting authorities or

- awards public contracts or concludes framework agreements for works, supplies or services intended for contracting authorities.

11. "Open procedures" means those procedures whereby any interested economic operator may submit a tender.

"Restricted procedures" means those procedures in which any economic operator may request to participate and whereby only those economic operators invited by the contracting authority may submit a tender.

"Competitive dialogue" is a procedure in which any economic operator may request to participate and whereby the contracting authority conducts a dialogue with the candidates admitted to that procedure, with the aim of developing one or more suitable alternatives capable of meeting its requirements, and on the basis of which the candidates chosen are invited to tender.

"Negotiated procedures" means those procedures whereby the contracting authorities consult the economic operators of their choice and negotiate the terms of contract with one or more of these.

"Design contests" means those procedures which enable the contracting authority to acquire, mainly in the fields of town and country planning, architecture and engineering or data processing, a plan or design selected by a jury after being put out to competition with or without the award of prizes.

12. "Written" or "in writing" means any expression consisting of words or figures which can be read, reproduced and subsequently communicated. It may include information which is transmitted and stored by electronic means.

13. "Electronic means" means using electronic equipment for the processing (including digital compression) and storage of data which is transmitted, conveyed and received by wire, by radio, by optical means or by other electromagnetic means.

14. The "Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)" shall designate the reference nomenclature applicable to public contracts as adopted by Regulation (EC) No 2195/2002, while ensuring equivalence with the other existing nomenclatures.

In the event of varying interpretations of the scope of this Directive, owing to possible differences between the CPV and NACE nomenclatures listed in Annex I, or between the CPV and CPC (provisional version) nomenclatures listed in Annex II, the NACE or the CPC nomenclature respectively shall take precedence.

15. For the purposes of Article 13, Article 57(a) and Article 68(b), the following phrases shall have the following meanings:

(a) "public telecommunications network" means the public telecommunications infrastructure which enables signals to be conveyed between defined network termination points by wire, by microwave, by optical means or by other electromagnetic means;

(b) a "network termination point" means all physical connections and their technical access specifications which form part of the public telecommunications network and are necessary for access to, and efficient communication through, that public network;

(c) "public telecommunications services" means telecommunications services the provision of which the Member States have specifically assigned to, in particular to one or more telecommunications entities;

(d) "telecommunications services" means services the provision of which consists wholly or partly in the transmission and routing of signals on the public telecommunications network by means of telecommunications processes, with the exception of broadcasting and television.

Article 2

Principles of awarding contracts

Contracting authorities shall treat economic operators equally and non-discriminatorily and shall act in a transparent way.

Article 3

Granting of special or exclusive rights: non-discrimination clause

Where a contracting authority grants special or exclusive rights to carry out a public service activity to an entity other than such a contracting authority, the act by which that right is granted shall provide that, in respect of the supply contracts which it awards to third parties as part of its activities, the entity concerned must comply with the principle of non-discrimination on the basis of nationality.

TITLE II

RULES ON PUBLIC CONTRACTS

CHAPTER I

General provisions

Article 4

Economic operators

1. Candidates or tenderers who, under the law of the Member State in which they are established, are entitled to provide the relevant service, shall not be rejected solely on the grounds that, under the law of the Member State in which the contract is awarded, they would have been required to be either natural or legal persons.

However, in the case of public service and public works contracts as well as for public supply contracts covering in addition services and/or siting and installation operations, legal persons may be required to indicate in the tender or the request to participate, the names and relevant professional qualifications of the staff to be responsible for the performance of the contract in question.

2. Groups of economic operators may submit tenders or put themselves forward as candidates. In order to submit a tender or a request to participate, these groups may not be required by the contracting authorities to assume a specific legal form; however, the group selected may be required to do so when it has been awarded the contract, to the extent that this change is necessary for the satisfactory performance of the contract.

Article 5

Conditions relating to agreements concluded within the World Trade Organisation

For the purposes of the award of contracts by contracting authorities, Member States shall apply in their relations conditions as favourable as those which they grant to economic operators of third countries in implementation of the Agreement on Government Procurement (hereinafter referred to as "the Agreement"), concluded in the framework of the Uruguay Round multilateral negotiations. Member States shall, to this end, consult one another within the Advisory Committee for Public Contracts referred to in Article 77 on the measures to be taken pursuant to the Agreement.

Article 6

Confidentiality

This Directive shall not limit the right of economic operators to require a contracting authority, in accordance with the national law to which it is subject, to respect the confidential nature of information which they make available; such information may include, in particular, technical or trade secrets and the confidential aspects of tenders.

CHAPTER II

Scope

Section 1

Thresholds

Article 7

Threshold amounts for public contracts

This Directive shall apply to public contracts which are not excluded in accordance with the exceptions provided for in Articles 10 and 11 and Articles 12 to 18 and which have a value exclusive of value-added tax (VAT) estimated to be equal or greater than the following thresholds:

(a) EUR 162000 for public supply and service contracts others than those covered by point (b), third indent, awarded by contracting authorities which are listed as central government authorities in Annex IV; in the case of public supply contracts awarded by contracting authorities operating in the field of defence, this shall apply only to contracts involving products covered by Annex V;

(b) EUR 249000

- for public supply and service contracts awarded by contracting authorities other than those listed in Annex IV;

- for public supply contracts awarded by contracting authorities which are listed in Annex IV and operate in the field of defence, where these contracts involve products not covered by Annex V;

- for public service contracts awarded by any contracting authority in respect of the services listed in Category 8 of Annex II A, Category 5 telecommunications services the positions of which in the CPV are equivalent to CPC reference Nos 7524, 7525 and 7526 and/or the services listed in Annex II B.

(c) EUR 6242000 for public works contracts.

Article 8

Contracts subsidised by more than 50 % by contracting authorities

This Directive shall apply to the awarding of:

(a) contracts which are subsidised directly by contracting authorities by more than 50 % and the estimated value of which, net of VAT, is equal to or greater than EUR 6242000,

- where those contracts involve civil engineering activities within the meaning of Annex I;

- where those contracts involve building work for hospitals, facilities intended for sports, recreation and leisure, school and university buildings and buildings used for administrative purposes;

(b) service contracts which are subsidised directly by contracting authorities by more than 50 % and the estimated value of which, net of VAT, is equal to or greater than EUR 249000 and which are connected with a works contract within the meaning of (a).

Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the contracting authorities awarding such subsidies ensure compliance with this Directive where that contract is awarded by one or more entities other than themselves or comply with this Directive where they themselves award that contract for and on behalf of those other entities.

Article 9

Methods for calculating the estimated value of public contracts, framework agreements and dynamic purchasing systems

1. The calculation of the estimated value of a public contract shall be based on the total amount, net of VAT, payable as estimated by the contracting authority. This calculation shall take account of the estimated total amount, including any form of option and any renewals of the contract.

Where the contracting authority provides for prizes or payments to candidates or tenderers it shall take them into account when calculating the estimated value of the contract.

2. This estimate must be valid at the moment at which the contract notice is sent, as provided for in Article 35(2), or, in cases where such notice is not required, at the moment at which the contracting authority commences the contract awarding procedure.

3. No works project or proposed purchase of a certain quantity of supplies and/or services may be subdivided to prevent its coming within the scope of this Directive.

4. With regard to public works contracts, calculation of the estimated value shall take account of both the cost of the works and the total estimated value of the supplies necessary for executing the works and placed at the contractor's disposal by the contracting authorities.

5. (a) Where a proposed work or purchase of services may result in contracts being awarded at the same time in the form of separate lots, account shall be taken of the total estimated value of all such lots.

Where the aggregate value of the lots is equal to or exceeds the threshold laid down in Article 7, this Directive shall apply to the awarding of each lot.

However, the contracting authorities may waive such application in respect of lots the estimated value of which net of VAT is less than EUR 80000 for services or EUR 1 million for works, provided that the aggregate cost of those lots does not exceed 20 % of the aggregate value of the lots as a whole.

(b) Where a proposal for the acquisition of similar supplies may result in contracts being awarded at the same time in the form of separate lots, account shall be taken of the total estimated value of all such lots when applying Article 7(a) and (b).

Where the aggregate value of the lots is equal to or exceeds the threshold laid down in Article 7, this Directive shall apply to the awarding of each lot.

However, the contracting authorities may waive such application in respect of lots, the estimated value of which, net of VAT, is less than EUR 80000, provided that the aggregate cost of those lots does not exceed 20 % of the aggregate value of the lots as a whole.

6. With regard to public supply contracts relating to the leasing, hire, rental or hire purchase of products, the value to be taken as a basis for calculating the estimated contract value shall be as follows:

(a) in the case of fixed-term public contracts, if that term is less than or equal to twelve months, the total estimated value for the term of the contract or, if the term of the contract is greater than twelve months, the total value including the estimated residual value;

(b) in the case of public contracts without a fixed term or the term of which cannot be defined, the monthly value multiplied by 48.

7. In the case of public supply or service contracts which are regular in nature or which are intended to be renewed within a given period, the calculation of the estimated contract value shall be based on the following:

(a) either the total actual value of the successive contracts of the same type awarded during the preceding twelve months or financial year, if possible adjusted to take account of the changes in quantity or value which would occur in the course of the twelve months following the initial contract;

(b) or the total estimated value of the successive contracts awarded during the twelve months following the first delivery, or during the financial year if that is longer than twelve months.

The choice of method used to calculate the estimated value of a public contract may not be made with the intention of excluding it from the scope of this Directive.

8. With regard to public service contracts, the value to be taken as a basis for calculating the estimated contract value shall be, where appropriate, the following:

(a) for the following types of services:

(i) insurance services: the premium payable and other forms of remuneration;

(ii) banking and other financial services: the fees, commissions, interest and other forms of remuneration;

(iii) design contracts: fees, commission payable and other forms of remuneration;

(b) for service contracts which do not indicate a total price:

(i) in the case of fixed-term contracts, if that term is less than or equal to forty-eight months: the total value for their full term;

(ii) in the case of contracts without a fixed term or with a term greater than forty-eight months: the monthly value multiplied by 48.

9. With regard to framework agreements and dynamic purchasing systems, the value to be taken into consideration shall be the maximum estimated value net of VAT of all the contracts envisaged for the total term of the framework agreement or the dynamic purchasing system.

Section 2

Specific situations

Article 10

Defence procurement

This Directive shall apply to public contracts awarded by contracting authorities in the field of defence, subject to Article 296 of the Treaty.

Article 11

Public contracts and framework agreements awarded by central purchasing bodies

1. Member States may stipulate that contracting authorities may purchase works, supplies and/or services from or through a central purchasing body.

2. Contracting authorities which purchase works, supplies and/or services from or through a central purchasing body in the cases set out in Article 1(10) shall be deemed to have complied with this Directive insofar as the central purchasing body has complied with it.

Section 3

Excluded contracts

Article 12

Contracts in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors

This Directive shall not apply to public contracts which, under Directive 2003/.../EC, are awarded by contracting authorities exercising one or more of the activities referred to in Articles 3 to 7 of that Directive and are awarded for the pursuit of those activities, or to public contracts excluded from the scope of that Directive under Article 5(2) and Articles 19, 26 and 30 thereof.

However, this Directive shall continue to apply to public contracts awarded by contracting authorities carrying out one or more of the activities referred to in Article 6 of Directive 2003/.../EC and awarded for those activities, insofar as the Member State concerned takes advantage of the option referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 71 thereof to defer its application.

Article 13

Specific exclusions in the field of telecommunications

This Directive shall not apply to public contracts for the principal purpose of permitting the contracting authorities to provide or exploit public telecommunications networks or to provide to the public one or more telecommunications services.

Article 14

Secret contracts and contracts requiring special security measures

This Directive shall not apply to public contracts when they are declared to be secret, when their execution must be accompanied by special security measures in accordance with the laws, regulations or administrative provisions in force in the Member State concerned, or when the protection of the essential interests of that Member State so requires.

Article 15

Contracts awarded pursuant to international rules

This Directive shall not apply to public contracts governed by different procedural rules and awarded:

(a) pursuant to an international agreement concluded in conformity with the Treaty between a Member State and one or more third countries and covering supplies or works intended for the joint implementation or exploitation of a work by the signatory States or services intended for the joint implementation or exploitation of a project by the signatory States; all agreements shall be communicated to the Commission, which may consult the Advisory Committee for Public Contracts referred to in Article 77;

(b) pursuant to a concluded international agreement relating to the stationing of troops and concerning the undertakings of a Member State or a third country;

(c) pursuant to the particular procedure of an international organisation.

Article 16

Specific exclusions

This Directive shall not apply to public service contracts for:

(a) the acquisition or rental, by whatever financial means, of land, existing buildings or other immovable property or concerning rights thereon; nevertheless, financial service contracts concluded at the same time as, before or after the contract of acquisition or rental, in whatever form, shall be subject to this Directive;

(b) the acquisition, development, production or co-production of programme material by broadcasters and contracts for broadcasting time;

(c) arbitration and conciliation services;

(d) financial services in connection with the issue, sale, purchase or transfer of securities or other financial instruments, in particular transactions by the contracting authorities to raise money or capital, and central bank services;

(e) employment contracts;

(f) research and development services other than those where the benefits accrue exclusively to the contracting authority for its use in the conduct of its own affairs, on condition that the service provided is wholly remunerated by the contracting authority.

Article 17

Service concessions

Without prejudice to the application of Article 3, this Directive shall not apply to service concessions as defined in Article 1(4).

Article 18

Service contracts awarded on the basis of an exclusive right

This Directive shall not apply to public service contracts awarded by a contracting authority to another contracting authority or to an association of contracting authorities on the basis of an exclusive right which they enjoy pursuant to a published law, regulation or administrative provision which is compatible with the Treaty.

Section 4

Special arrangement

Article 19

Reserved contracts

Member States may reserve the right to participate in public contract award procedures to sheltered workshops or provide for such contracts to be executed in the context of sheltered employment programmes where most of the employees concerned are handicapped persons who, by reason of the nature or the seriousness of their disabilities, cannot carry on occupations under normal conditions.

The contract notice shall make reference to this provision.

CHAPTER III

Arrangements for public service contracts

Article 20

Service contracts listed in Annex II A

Contracts which have as their object services listed in Annex II A shall be awarded in accordance with Articles 23 to 55.

Article 21

Service contracts listed in Annex II B

Contracts which have as their object services listed in Annex II B shall be subject solely to Article 23 and Article 35(4).

Article 22

Mixed contracts including services listed in Annex II A and services listed in Annex II B

Contracts which have as their object services listed both in Annex II A and in Annex II B shall be awarded in accordance with Articles 23 to 55 where the value of the services listed in Annex II A is greater than the value of the services listed in Annex II B. In other cases, contracts shall be awarded in accordance with Article 23 and Article 35(4).

CHAPTER IV

Specific rules governing specifications and contract documents

Article 23

Technical specifications

1. The technical specifications as defined in point 1 of Annex VI shall be set out in the contract documentation, such as contract notices, contract documents or additional documents.

2. Technical specifications shall afford equal access for tenderers and not have the effect of creating unjustified obstacles to the opening of public procurement to competition.

3. Without prejudice to compulsory national technical rules, to the extent that they are compatible with Community law, the technical specifications shall be formulated:

(a) either by reference to technical specifications defined in Annex VI and, in order of preference, to national standards transposing European standards, European technical approvals, common technical specifications, international standards, other technical reference systems established by the European standardisation bodies or - when these do not exist - to national standards, national technical approvals or national technical specifications relating to the design, calculation and execution of the works and use of the products. Each reference shall be accompanied by the words "or equivalent";

(b) or in terms of performance or functional requirements; the latter may include environmental characteristics. However, such parameters must be sufficiently precise to allow tenderers to determine the subject-matter of the contract and to allow contracting authorities to award the contract;

(c) or in terms of performance or functional requirements as mentioned in (b), with reference to the specifications mentioned in (a) as a means of presuming conformity with such performance or functional requirements;

(d) or by referring to the specifications mentioned in (a) for certain characteristics, and by referring to the performance or functional requirements mentioned in (b) for other characteristics.

4. Where a contracting authority makes use of the option of referring to the specifications mentioned in paragraph 3(a), it cannot reject a tender on the grounds that the products and services tendered for do not comply with the specifications to which it has referred, once the tenderer proves in his tender to the satisfaction of the contracting authority, by whatever appropriate means, that the solutions which he proposes satisfy in an equivalent manner the requirements defined by the technical specifications.

An appropriate means might be constituted by a technical dossier of the manufacturer or a test report from a recognised body.

5. Where a contracting authority uses the option laid down in paragraph 3 to prescribe in terms of performance or functional requirements, it may not reject a tender for works, products or services which comply with a national standard transposing a European standard, with a European technical approval, a common technical specification, an international standard, a technical reference system established by a European standardisation body, if these specifications address the performance or functional requirements which it has laid down.

In his tender, the tenderer must prove to the satisfaction of the contracting authority and by any appropriate means that the work, product or service in compliance with the standard meets the performance or functional requirements of the contracting authority.

An appropriate means might be constituted by a technical dossier of the manufacturer or a test report from a recognised body.

6. Where contracting authorities lay down environmental characteristics in terms of performance or functional requirements as referred to in paragraph 3(b) they may use the detailed specifications, or, if necessary, parts thereof, as defined by European or (multi-) national eco-labels, or by and any other eco-label, providing that:

- those specifications are appropriate to define the characteristics of the supplies or services that are the object of the contract,

- the requirements for the label are drawn up on the basis of scientific information,

- the eco-labels are adopted using a procedure in which all stakeholders, such as government bodies, consumers, manufacturers, distributors and environmental organisations can participate, and

- they are accessible to all interested parties.

The contracting authorities may indicate that the products and services bearing the eco-label are presumed to comply with the technical specifications laid down in the contract documents; they must accept any other appropriate means of proof, such as a technical dossier of the manufacturer or a test report from a recognised body.

7. "Recognised bodies", within the meaning of this Article, are test and calibration laboratories and certification and inspection bodies which comply with applicable European standards.

Contracting authorities shall accept certificates from recognised bodies established in other Member States.

8. Unless justified by the subject-matter of the contract, technical specifications shall not refer to a specific make or source, or a particular process, or to trade marks, patents, types or a specific origin or production with the effect of favouring or eliminating certain undertakings or certain products. Such reference shall be permitted on an exceptional basis, where a sufficiently precise and intelligible description of the subject-matter of the contract pursuant to paragraphs 3 and 4 is not possible; such reference shall be accompanied by the words "or equivalent".

Article 24

Variants

1. Where the criterion for award is that of the most economically advantageous tender, contracting authorities may authorise tenderers to submit variants.

2. The contracting authorities shall indicate in the contract notice whether or not they authorise variants: variants shall not be authorised without this indication.

3. The contracting authorities authorising variants shall state in the contract documents the minimum requirements to be respected by the variants and any specific requirements for their presentation.

4. Only variants meeting the minimum requirements laid down by these contracting authorities shall be taken into consideration.

In the procedures for awarding public supply or service contracts, contracting authorities which have authorised variants may not reject a variant on the sole ground that it would lead, if successful, to either a service contract rather than a public supply contract or a supply contract rather than a public service contract.

Article 25

Subcontracting

In the contract documents, the contracting authority may ask or may be required by a Member State to ask the tenderer to indicate in his tender any share of the contract he may intend to subcontract to third parties and any proposed subcontractors.

This indication shall be without prejudice to the question of the principal economic operator's liability.

Article 26

Conditions for performance of contracts

Contracting authorities may lay down special conditions relating to the performance of a contract, provided that these are compatible with Community law and are indicated in the contract notice or in the specifications. The conditions governing the performance of a contract may, in particular, concern social and environmental considerations.

Article 27

Obligations relating to taxes, environmental protection, employment protection provisions and working conditions

1. The contracting authority may state in the contract documents, or be obliged by a Member State to do so, the body or bodies from which a candidate or tenderer may obtain the appropriate information on the obligations relating to taxes, to environmental protection, to the employment protection provisions and to the working conditions which are in force in the Member State, region or locality in which the works are to be carried out or services are to be provided and which shall be applicable to the works carried out on site or to the services provided during the performance of the contract.

2. The contracting authority which supplies the information referred to in paragraph 1 shall request the tenderers or candidates in the contract award procedure to indicate that they have taken account, when drawing up their tender, of the obligations relating to employment protection provisions and the working conditions which are in force in the place where the works are to be carried out or the service is to be provided.

The first subparagraph shall be without prejudice to the application of the provisions of Article 55 concerning the examination of abnormally low tenders.

CHAPTER V

Procedures

Article 28

Use of open, restricted and negotiated procedures and of competitive dialogue

In awarding their public contracts, the contracting authorities shall apply the national procedures adjusted for the purposes of this Directive.

They shall award these public contracts by applying the open or restricted procedure. In the specific circumstances expressly provided for in Article 29, the contracting authorities may award their public contracts by means of the competitive dialogue. In the specific cases and circumstances referred to expressly in Articles 30 and 31, they may apply a negotiated procedure, with or without publication of the contract notice.

Article 29

Competitive dialogue

1. Member States may provide that where contracting authorities consider that the use of the open or restricted procedure will not allow the award of the contract, the latter may make use of the competitive dialogue in accordance with this Article:

(a) where they are not objectively able to define the technical means in accordance with Article 23(3)(b), (c) or (d), capable of satisfying their needs or objectives, and/or

(b) where they are not objectively able to specify the legal and/or financial make-up of a project.

A public contract shall be awarded on the sole basis of the award criterion for the most economically advantageous tender.

2. The contracting authorities shall publish a contract notice setting out their needs and requirements, which they shall define in that notice and/or in a descriptive document.

3. The contracting authorities shall open, with the candidates selected in accordance with the relevant provisions of Articles 44 to 52, a dialogue the aim of which shall be to identify and define the means best fitted to satisfy their needs. They may discuss all aspects of the contract with the chosen candidates during this dialogue.

During the dialogue, the contracting authorities shall ensure equality of treatment among all tenderers. In particular, they shall not provide information in a discriminatory manner which may give some tenderers an advantage over others.

The contracting authorities may not reveal to the other participants solutions proposed or other confidential information communicated by a candidate participating in the dialogue without his/her agreement.

4. The contracting authorities may provide for the procedure to take place in successive stages in order to reduce the number of solutions to be discussed during the dialogue stage by applying the award criteria in the contract notice or the descriptive document. The contract notice or the descriptive document shall indicate that recourse may be had to this option.

5. The contracting authority shall continue such dialogue until it can identify the solution or solutions, if necessary after comparing them, which are capable of meeting its needs.

6. Having declared that the dialogue is concluded and having so informed the participants, contracting authorities shall ask them to submit their final tenders on the basis of the solution or solutions presented and specified during the dialogue. These tenders shall contain all the elements required and necessary for the performance of the project.

These tenders may be clarified and specified at the request of the contracting authority. However, such clarification, specification or additional information may not involve changes to the basic features of the tender or the call for tender, variations in which are likely to distort competition or have a discriminatory effect.

7. Contracting authorities shall assess the tenders received on the basis of the award criteria laid down in the contract notice or the descriptive document and shall choose the most economically advantageous tender in accordance with Article 53.

At the request of the contracting authority, the tenderer identified as having submitted the most economically advantageous tender may be asked to clarify aspects of the tender or confirm commitments contained in the tender provided this does not have the effect of modifying substantial aspects of the tender or of the call for tender and does not risk distorting competition or causing discrimination.

8. The contracting authorities may specify prices or payments to the participants in the dialogue.

Article 30

Cases justifying use of the negotiated procedure with prior publication of a contract notice

1. Contracting authorities may award their public contracts by negotiated procedure, after publication of a contract notice, in the following cases:

(a) in the event of irregular tenders or the submission of tenders which are unacceptable under national provisions compatible with Articles 4, 24, 25, 27 and Chapter VII, in response to an open or restricted procedure or a competitive dialogue insofar as the original terms of the contract are not substantially altered.

Contracting authorities need not publish a contract notice where they include in the negotiated procedure all of, and only, the tenderers which satisfy the criteria of Articles 45 to 52 and which, during the prior open or restricted procedure or competitive dialogue, have submitted tenders in accordance with the formal requirements of the tendering procedure;

(b) in exceptional cases, when the nature of the works, supplies, or services or the risks attaching thereto do not permit prior overall pricing;

(c) in the case of services, inter alia services within category 6 of Annex II A, and intellectual services such as services involving the design of works, insofar as the nature of the services to be provided is such that contract specifications cannot be established with sufficient precision to permit the award of the contract by selection of the best tender according to the rules governing open or restricted procedures;

(d) in respect of public works contracts, for works which are performed solely for purposes of research, testing or development and not with the aim of ensuring profitability or recovering research and development costs.

2. In the cases referred to in paragraph 1, contracting authorities shall negotiate with tenderers the tenders submitted by them in order to adapt them to the requirements which they have set in the contract notice, the specifications and additional documents, if any, and to seek out the best tender in accordance with Article 53(1).

3. During the negotiations, contracting authorities shall ensure the equal treatment of all tenderers. In particular, they shall not provide information in a discriminatory manner which may give some tenderers an advantage over others.

4. Contracting authorities may provide for the negotiated procedure to take place in successive stages in order to reduce the number of tenders to be negotiated by applying the award criteria in the contract notice or the specifications. The contract notice or the specifications shall indicate whether recourse has been had to this option.

Article 31

Cases justifying use of the negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice

Contracting authorities may award public contracts by a negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice in the following cases:

1. for public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts:

(a) when no tenders or no suitable tenders or no applications have been submitted in response to an open procedure or a restricted procedure, provided that the initial conditions of contract are not substantially altered and on condition that a report is sent to the Commission if it so requests;

(b) when, for technical or artistic reasons, or for reasons connected with the protection of exclusive rights, the contract may be awarded only to a particular economic operator;

(c) insofar as is strictly necessary when, for reasons of extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable by the contracting authorities in question, the time-limit for the open, restricted or negotiated procedures with publication of a contract notice as referred to in Article 30 cannot be complied with. The circumstances invoked to justify extreme urgency must not in any event be attributable to the contracting authority;

2. for public supply contracts:

(a) when the products involved are manufactured purely for the purpose of research, experiment, study or development; this provision does not extend to quantity production to establish commercial viability or to recover research and development costs;

(b) for additional deliveries by the original supplier which are intended either as a partial replacement of normal supplies or installations or as the extension of existing supplies or installations where a change of supplier would oblige the contracting authority to acquire material having different technical characteristics which would result in incompatibility or disproportionate technical difficulties in operation and maintenance; the length of such contracts as well as that of recurrent contracts may not, as a general rule, exceed three years;

(c) for supplies quoted and purchased on a commodity market;

(d) for the purchase of supplies on particularly advantageous terms, from either a supplier which is definitively winding up its business activities, or the receivers or liquidators of a bankruptcy, an arrangement with creditors, or a similar procedure under national laws or regulations;

3. for public service contracts, when the contract concerned follows a design contest and must, under the applicable rules, be awarded to the successful candidate or to one of the successful candidates, in the latter case, all successful candidates must be invited to participate in the negotiations;

4. for public works contracts and public service contracts:

(a) for additional works or services not included in the project initially considered or in the original contract but which have, through unforeseen circumstances, become necessary for the performance of the works or services described therein, on condition that the award is made to the economic operator performing such works or services:

- when such additional works or services cannot be technically or economically separated from the original contract without major inconvenience to the contracting authorities,

or

- when such works or services, although separable from the performance of the original contract, are strictly necessary for its completion.

However, the aggregate value of contracts awarded for additional works or services may not exceed 50 % of the amount of the original contract;

(b) for new works or services consisting in the repetition of similar works or services entrusted to the economic operator to whom the same contracting authorities awarded an original contract, provided that such works or services are in conformity with a basic project for which the original contract was awarded according to the open or restricted procedure.

As soon as the first project is put up for tender, the possible use of this procedure shall be disclosed and the total estimated cost of subsequent works or services shall be taken into consideration by the contracting authorities when they apply the provisions of Article 7.

This procedure may be used only during the three years following the conclusion of the original contract.

Article 32

Framework agreements

1. Member States may provide that contracting authorities may conclude framework agreements.

2. For the purpose of concluding a framework agreement, contracting authorities shall follow the rules of procedure referred to in this Directive for all phases up to the award of contracts based on that framework agreement. The parties to the framework agreement shall be chosen by applying the award criteria set in accordance with Article 53.

Contracts based on a framework agreement shall be awarded in accordance with the procedures laid down in paragraphs 3 and 4. Those procedures may be applied only between the contracting authorities and the economic operators originally party to the framework agreement.

When awarding contracts based on a framework agreement, the parties may under no circumstances make substantial amendments to the terms laid down in that framework agreement, in particular in the case referred to in paragraph 3.

The term of a framework agreement may not exceed four years, save in exceptional cases duly justified, in particular by the subject of the framework agreement.

Contracting authorities may not use framework agreements improperly or in such a way as to prevent, restrict or distort competition.

3. Where a framework agreement is concluded with a single economic operator, contracts based on that agreement shall be awarded within the limits of the terms laid down in the framework agreement.

For the award of those contracts, contracting authorities may consult the operator party to the framework agreement in writing, requesting it to supplement its tender as necessary.

4. Where a framework agreement is concluded with several economic operators, the latter must be at least three in number, insofar as there is a sufficient number of economic operators to satisfy the selection criteria and/or of admissible tenders which meet the award criteria.

Contracts based on framework agreements concluded with several economic operators may be awarded either:

- by application of the terms laid down in the framework agreement without reopening competition, or

- where not all the terms are laid down in the framework agreement, when the parties are again in competition on the basis of the same and, if necessary, more precisely formulated terms, and, where appropriate, other terms referred to in the specifications of the framework agreement, in accordance with the following procedure:

(a) for every contract to be awarded, contracting authorities shall consult in writing the economic operators capable of executing the subject of the contract;

(b) contracting authorities shall fix a time-limit which is sufficiently long to allow tenders for each specific contract to be submitted, taking into account factors such as the complexity of the subject of the contract and the time needed to send in tenders;

(c) tenders shall be submitted in writing, and their content shall remain confidential until the stipulated time-limit for reply has expired;

(d) contracting authorities shall award each contract to the tenderer who has submitted the best tender on the basis of the award criteria set out in the specifications of the framework agreement.

Article 33

Dynamic purchasing systems

1. Member States may provide that contracting authorities may use dynamic purchasing systems.

2. In order to set up a dynamic purchasing system, contracting authorities shall follow the rules of the open procedure in all its phases up to the award of the contracts to be concluded under this system. All the tenderers satisfying the selection criteria and having submitted an indicative tender which complies with the specification and any possible additional documents shall be admitted to the system; indicative tenders may be improved at any time provided that they continue to comply with the specification. With a view to setting up the system and to the award of contracts under that system, contracting authorities shall use solely electronic means in accordance with Article 42(2) to (5).

3. For the purposes of setting up the dynamic purchasing system, contracting authorities shall:

(a) publish a contract notice making it clear that a dynamic purchasing system is involved;

(b) indicate in the specification, amongst others, the nature of the purchases envisaged under that system, as well as all the necessary information concerning the purchasing system, the electronic equipment used and the technical connection arrangements and specifications;

(c) offer by electronic means, on publication of the notice and up to the expiry of the system, unrestricted, direct and full access to the specification and to any additional documents and shall indicate in the notice the internet address at which such documents may be consulted.

4. Contracting authorities shall give any economic operator, throughout the entire period of the dynamic purchasing system, the possibility of submitting an indicative tender and of being admitted to the system under the conditions referred to in paragraph 2. They shall complete evaluation within a maximum of 15 days from the date of submission of the indicative tender. However, they may extend the evaluation period provided that no invitation to tender is issued in the meantime.

The contracting authority shall inform the tenderer referred to in the first subparagraph at the earliest possible opportunity of its admittance to the dynamic purchasing system or of the rejection of its indicative tender.

5. Each specific contract must be the subject of an invitation to tender. Before issuing the invitation to tender, contracting authorities shall publish a simplified contract notice inviting all interested economic operators to submit an indicative tender, in accordance with paragraph 4, within a time-limit that may not be less than 15 days from the date on which the simplified notice was sent. Contracting authorities may not proceed with tendering until they have completed evaluation of all the indicative tenders received by that deadline.

6. Contracting authorities shall invite all tenderers admitted to the system to submit a tender for each specific contract to be awarded under the system. To that end they shall set a time-limit for the submission of tenders.

They shall award the contract to the tenderer which submitted the best tender on the basis of the award criteria set out in the contract notice for the establishment of the dynamic purchasing system. Those criteria may, if appropriate, be formulated more precisely in the invitation referred to in the first subparagraph.

7. A dynamic purchasing system may not last for more than four years, except in duly justified exceptional cases.

Contracting authorities may not resort to this system to prevent, restrict or distort competition.

No charges may be billed to the interested economic operators or to parties to the system.

Article 34

Public works contracts: particular rules on subsidised housing schemes

In the case of public contracts relating to the design and construction of a subsidised housing scheme the size and complexity of which, and the estimated duration of the work involved require that planning be based from the outset on close collaboration within a team comprising representatives of the contracting authorities, experts and the contractor to be responsible for carrying out the works, a special award procedure may be adopted for selecting the contractor most suitable for integration into the team.

In particular, contracting authorities shall include in the contract notice as accurate as possible a description of the works to be carried out so as to enable interested contractors to form a valid idea of the project. Furthermore, contracting authorities shall, in accordance with the qualitative selection criteria referred to in Articles 45 to 52, set out in such a contract notice the personal, technical, economic and financial conditions to be fulfilled by candidates.

Where such a procedure is adopted, contracting authorities shall apply Articles 2, 35, 36, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43 and 45 to 52.

CHAPTER VI

Rules on advertising and transparency

Section 1

Publication of notices

Article 35

Notices

1. Contracting authorities shall make known, by means of a prior information notice published by the Commission or by themselves on their "buyer profile", as described in point 2(b) of Annex VIII:

(a) where supplies are concerned, the estimated total value of the contracts or the framework agreements by product area which they intend to award over the following twelve months, where the total estimated value, taking into account Articles 7 and 9, is equal to or greater than EUR 750000.

The product area shall be established by the contracting authorities by reference to the CPV nomenclature;

(b) where services are concerned, the estimated total value of the contracts or the framework agreements in each of the categories of services listed in Annex II A which they intend to award over the following twelve months, where such estimated total value, taking into account the provisions of Articles 7 and 9, is equal to or greater than EUR 750000;

(c) where works are concerned, the essential characteristics of the contracts or the framework agreements which they intend to award, the estimated value of which is equal to or greater than the threshold specified in Article 7, taking into account Article 9.

The notices referred to in (a) and (b) shall be sent to the Commission or published on the buyer profile as soon as possible after the beginning of the budgetary year.

The notice referred to in (c) shall be sent to the Commission or published on the buyer profile as soon as possible after the decision approving the planning of the works contracts or the framework agreements that the contracting authorities intend to award.

Contracting authorities who publish the prior information notice on their buyer profiles shall send the Commission, electronically, a notice of the publication of the prior information notice on a buyer profile, in accordance with the format and modalities for sending notices indicated in point 3 of Annex VIII.

The publication of the notices referred to in (a), (b) and (c) shall be compulsory only where the contracting authorities take the option of shortening the time-limits for the receipt of tenders as laid down in Article 38(4).

This paragraph shall not apply to negotiated procedures without the prior publication of a contract notice.

2. Contracting authorities which wish to award a public contract or a framework agreement by open, restricted or, under the conditions laid down in Article 30, negotiated procedure with the publication of a contract notice or, under the conditions laid down in Article 29, a competitive dialogue, shall make known their intention by means of a contract notice.

3. Contracting authorities which wish to set up a dynamic purchasing system shall make known their intention by means of a contract notice.

Contracting authorities which wish to award a contract based on a dynamic purchasing system shall make known their intention by means of a simplified contract notice.

4. Contracting authorities which have awarded a public contract or concluded a framework agreement shall send a notice of the results of the award procedure no later than 48 days after the award of the contract or the conclusion of the framework agreement.

In the case of framework agreements concluded in accordance with Article 32 the contracting authorities are not bound to send a notice of the results of the award procedure for each contract based on that agreement.

Contracting authorities shall send a notice of the result of the award of contracts based on a dynamic purchasing system within 48 days of the award of each contract. They may, however, group such notices on a quarterly basis. In that case, they shall send the grouped notices within 48 days of the end of each quarter.

In the case of public contracts for services listed in Annex II B, the contracting authorities shall indicate in the notice whether they agree to its publication. For such services contracts the Commission shall draw up the rules for establishing statistical reports on the basis of such notices and for the publication of such reports in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 77(2).

Certain information on the contract award or the conclusion of the framework agreement may be withheld from publication where release of such information would impede law enforcement or otherwise be contrary to the public interest, would harm the legitimate commercial interests of economic operators, public or private, or might prejudice fair competition between them.

Article 36

Form and manner of publication of notices

1. The notices shall include the information mentioned in Annex VII A and, where appropriate, any other information deemed useful by the contracting authority in the format of standard forms adopted by the Commission in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 77(2).

2. Notices sent by contracting authorities to the Commission shall be sent either by electronic means in accordance with the format and modalities of transmission indicated in Annex VIII, paragraph 3, or by other means. In the event of recourse to the accelerated procedure set out in Article 38(8), notices must be sent either by telefax or by electronic means, in accordance with the format and modalities of transmission indicated in point 3 of Annex VIII.

The notices shall be published in accordance with the technical characteristics for publication set out in point 1(a) and (b) of Annex VIII.

3. Notices drawn up and transmitted by electronic means in accordance with the format and modalities of transmission indicated in point 3 of Annex VIII, shall be published no later than five days after they are sent.

Notices which are not transmitted by electronic means in accordance with the format and modalities of transmission indicated in point 3 of Annex VIII, shall be published not later than twelve days after they are sent, or in the case of accelerated procedure referred to in Article 38(8), not later than five days after they are sent.

4. Contract notices shall be published in full in an official language of the Community as chosen by the contracting authority, this original language version constituting the sole authentic text. A summary of the important elements of each notice shall be published in the other official languages.

The costs of publication of such notices by the Commission shall be borne by the Community.

5. The notices and their contents may not be published at national level before the date on which they are sent to the Commission.

Notices published at national level shall not contain information other than that contained in the notices dispatched to the Commission or published on a buyer profile in accordance with the first subparagraph of Article 35(1), but shall mention the date of dispatch of the notice to the Commission or its publication on the buyer profile.

Prior information notices may not be published on a buyer profile before the dispatch to the Commission of the notice of their publication in that form; they shall mention the date of that dispatch.

6. The content of notices not sent by electronic means in accordance with the format and modalities of transmission indicated in point 3 of Annex VIII, shall be limited to approximately 650 words.

7. The contracting authorities shall be able to supply proof of the dates on which notices are dispatched.

8. The Commission shall give the contracting authority confirmation of the publication of the information sent, mentioning the date of that publication. Such confirmation shall constitute proof of publication.

Article 37

Non-mandatory publication

Contracting authorities may publish in accordance with Article 36 notices of public contracts which are not subject to the publication requirement laid down in this Directive.

Section 2

Time-limits

Article 38

Time-limits for receipt of requests to participate and for receipt of tenders

1. When fixing the time-limits for the receipt of tenders and requests to participate, contracting authorities shall take account in particular of the complexity of the contract and the time required for drawing up tenders, without prejudice to the minimum time-limits set by this Article.

2. In the case of open procedures, the minimum time-limit for the receipt of tenders shall be 52 days from the date on which the contract notice was sent.

3. In the case of restricted procedures, negotiated procedures with publication of a contract notice referred to in Article 30 and the competitive dialogue

(a) the minimum time-limit for receipt of requests to participate shall be 37 days from the date on which the contract notice was sent;

(b) in the case of restricted procedures, the minimum time-limit for the receipt of tenders shall be 40 days from the date on which the invitation was sent.

4. When contracting authorities have published a prior information notice, the minimum time-limit for the receipt of tenders under paragraphs 2 and 3(b) may, as a general rule, be shortened to 36 days, but under no circumstances to less than 22 days.

The time-limit shall run from the date on which the contract notice was sent in open procedures, and from the date on which the invitation to tender was sent in restricted procedures.

The shortened time-limits referred to in the first subparagraph shall be permitted, provided that the prior information notice has included all the information required for the contract notice in Annex VII A, insofar as that information is available at the time the notice is published and that prior information notice was sent for publication between no less than 52 days and no more than twelve months before the date on which the contract notice was sent.

5. Where notices are drawn up and transmitted by electronic means in accordance with the format and modalities of transmission indicated in point 3 of Annex VIII, the time-limits for the receipt of tenders referred to in paragraphs 2 and 4 in open procedures, and the time-limit for the receipt of the requests to participate referred to in paragraph 3(a), in restricted and negotiated procedure