WRITTEN QUESTION E-2969/01

by Antonios Trakatellis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(26 October 2001)

Subject: Breaches of Community law in connection with the award of public contracts in Greece

In case C-311/95 the European Court of Justice ruled that Greece had failed to comply with Directive 92/50/EEC(1) relating to the coordination of procedures for the award of public contracts for the provision of services, since it should have adopted the requisite laws, regulations and administrative provisions and had not done so. The Commission suggested that a financial penalty (fine) of 39 975 euros per day be paid.

In view of the large number of public contracts which are awarded in Greece, and particularly in view of the Olympic Games, as well as the frequent delays in the allocation and execution of public contracts, accompanied by a loss of Community appropriations, could the Commission answer the following questions:

1. Has Greek legislation on the award of public contracts been adjusted, and what has happened about payment of the above fine?

2. Have the necessary measures been taken for the introduction of a joint steering committee, as provided for by the Community support framework in Greece, in order to ensure effective compliance with the measures specified for the completion of projects?

3. How far is Greek law consistent with Community legislation on the subject of the direct awarding of public contracts, and how is the public interest protected and the overall transparency of procedures ensured?

4. Has the legal framework which will govern contracts awarding infrastructure projects under the third CSF been devised to conform to the self-financing system, and if so, is this consistent with Community law?

(1) OJ L 209, 24.7.1992, p. 1.

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(19 December 2001)

The Commission informs the Honourable Member that:

1. Council Directive 92/50/EEC of 18 June 1992, relating to the coordination of procedures for the award of public service contracts(1) was transposed in Greece by Presidential Decree No 346/1998 of 12 October 1998. The Court of Justice has not imposed a fine upon Greece in relation to the transposition procedure in question.

2. The 1994-1999 Community Support Framework (CSF) referred to the need to improve the arrangements for awarding public works. A Joint Steering Committee was set up in January 1995, as a sub-Committee of the CSF Monitoring Committee, with the remit of contributing to this reform. It produced some studies and submitted proposals based on some 15 topics. Several of these proposals led to important legal and/or administrative provisions being taken. Others are still being examined at political level. The 2000-2006 CSF refers clearly to the need to continue and complete this reform and provides for a detailed action plan to be submitted to the Commission for the completion of the main part of this reform by the end of 2001. It is also planned to set up a committee of experts to assist the managing authority for the CSF in this regard.

3. With the exception of Directive 98/4/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 1998 amending Directive 93/38/EEC coordinating the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and telecommunications sectors(2), for which a draft presidential decree is, however, currently in the process of being adopted, Greece has transposed all the Community directives on the award of public contracts.

4. As regards the award of public works concessions, in particular, Greece has also transposed into its national legislation the relevant rules from Council Directive 93/37/EEC of 14 June 1993 concerning the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts(3) (Presidential Decree No 334/2000 of 21 December 2000). As for the rest of your question, and according to the information available to the Commission, Greece has not adopted any legislative framework specific to the award of public works concessions in addition to the rules of Community law for the purposes of managing the award and execution of such contracts. For this reason, public works concessions that are currently put up for competition in Greece are governed by ad hoc rules, adopted specifically for each individual case. It must nevertheless be added that a draft law is being prepared by the Greek authorities to make up for this lacuna, but it is not yet known within what timescale it will be adopted.

(1) OJ L 209, 24.7.1992.

(2) OJ L 101, 1.4.1998.

(3) OJ L 199, 9.8.1993.