Order of the President of the Fourth Chamber of the General Court of 15 October 2015 — Ahrend Furniture v Commission

(Case T‑482/15 R)

‛Interim measures — Public procurement — Call for tenders — Provision of furniture — Rejection of a tenderer’s bid and award of the contract to another tenderer — Application for interim measures — Prima facie case not made out’

1. Application for interim measures — Suspension of operation of a measure — Interim measures — Conditions for granting — Prima facie case — Urgency — Serious and irreparable damage — Cumulative nature — Order of examination and method of verification — Discretion of the court hearing the application for interim relief (Arts 256(1) TFEU, 278 TFEU and 279 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 156) (see paras 20-22)

2. Application for interim measures — Suspension of operation of a measure — Conditions for granting — Urgency — Assessment in public procurement litigation — Serious damage — Sufficient where particularly strong prima facie case constituted by manifest and serious illegality — Condition — Application for interim measures brought in the standstill period before conclusion of the contract with the successful tenderer (Art. 278 TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; Commission Regulation No 1268/2012, Art. 171(1)) (see paras 24-28, 30)

3. Application for interim measures — Suspension of operation of a measure — Conditions for granting — Prima facie case — Prima facie examination of the pleas in law put forward in support of the main action — Action against a Commission decision to reject a tender for a public contract and award the contract to another tenderer — Plea alleging errors in the technical and financial assessment of the tender in question — Plea claiming non-notification of matters relating to the financial assessment of tenders — Pleas prima facie lacking foundation (Arts 278 TFEU and 296 TFEU; European Parliament and Council Regulation No 966/2012, Arts 97(1), and 113(2); Commission Regulation No 1268/2012, Art. 161(3)) (see paras 29, 31-105)

4. Application for interim measures — Suspension of operation of a measure — Interim measures — Conditions for granting — Urgency — Serious and irreparable damage — Burden of proof — Financial loss — Situation liable to endanger the existence of the applicant company — Damage capable of being subsequently remedied by financial compensation — Not irreparable (Arts 278 TFEU and 279 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 156) (see paras 107, 112)

5. Application for interim measures — Suspension of operation of a measure — Interim measures — Conditions for granting — Urgency — Serious and irreparable damage — Loss of opportunity arising from exclusion of a tenderer from an award procedure — Loss not in itself constituting serious damage (Arts 278 TFEU and 279 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 156; European Parliament and Council Regulation No 966/2012, Art. 114, first para.) (see paras 109-111)

Re:

Primarily, application for suspension of operation of the Commission’s decision by which that institution awarded Lot No 1 of the call for tenders OIB.DR.2/PO/2014/055/622 — ‘Provision of furniture’ to another tenderer and, in the alternative, an application seeking an order for the production of documents concerning the financial analysis of the tenders and for suspension of operation of that decision until the expiry of a new standstill period of ten days from the date on which those documents are sent.

Operative part

1. The application for interim measures is dismissed.

2. The order of 26 August 2015 delivered in Case T‑482/15 R is set aside.