WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3748/97 by Roberta ANGELILLI to the Commission. Purchase of uniforms for the staff of ATAC (the local bus and tram company)/ CO.TRA.L. (the Lazio public transport consortium)
Date: 1997-11-21
Institutions: ANGELILLI, European Parliament
Subjects: Latium, clothing, clothing industry, contract, drivers, fraud, invitation to tender, means of public conveyance, public contract, supplies contract

8. 6. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 174/115

Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission

(9 January 1998)

The report on the implementation of the Recommendation on childcare has been drafted on the basis of replies
from thirteen Member States. This report will be adopted and published in the very near future.

(98/C 174/178)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3748/97

by Roberta Angelilli (NI) to the Commission

(21 November 1997)

Subject: Purchase of uniforms for the staff of ATAC (the local bus and tram company)/ CO.TRA.L. (the Lazio

public transport consortium)

A statement was recently submitted to the Public Prosecutor(cid:146)s Office in Rome concerning alleged irregularities
in  the  supply  of  uniforms  for  the  staff  of  ATAC/CO.TRA.L.  According  to  this  statement,  submitted  by  the
regional  secretariat  of  the  National  Confederation  of  Transport  Workers,  not  only  did  the  uniforms  supplied
under a contract awarded by ATAC as a result of a private bidding procedure to a Rome firm not correspond to
the samples as regards the quality of the material, but the attitude shown by ATAC/CO.TRA.L. was contrary to
that  indicated  in  the  letter  awarding  the  contract,  which  stated  that  if  the  goods  supplied  did  not  match  the
specifications the whole transaction would be called into question. Instead, the company solved the problem on
13 June 1997 by merely obtaining a very small discount on the goods supplied, without refusing the consignment
as laid down. This situation raises doubts about the correctness of the prices indicated in the letter awarding the
contact, in view of the large number of items of clothing needed by the company and the special characteristics of
the materials required for the uniforms.

In view of the above, can the Commission say:

1.  whether the call to tender concerned complied fully with European legislation on public supply contracts, in
particular  Directive  93/38/EEC (1)  coordinating  the  procurement  procedures  of  entities  operating  in  the
transport sector;

2.  what its opinion of the above-mentioned affair is?

(1)  OJ L 199, 9.8.1993, p. 84.

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(6 January 1998)

1.
The  particulars  given  by  the  Honourable  Member,  namely  that,  when  supplied,  the  uniforms  did  not
correspond to the samples on the basis of which the contract had been awarded and that the awarding authority
did not refuse the entire consignment but simply asked for a discount, contrary to what was stipulated in the letter
awarding the contract, do not constitute breaches of Community public procurement legislation.

They relate to the implementation phase of the contract, viz. the obligations to be met by the parties under the
contractual relastionship. They must therefore be assessed in the light of national legislation and not in the light
of  the  Community  public  procurement  directives  that  coordinate  contract  award  procedures  but  leave
implementation to the national legislature.

Nor is the correctness of prices covered by the directives. Consequently, it can at most be assessed by national
courts in the light of the relevant provisions of national law.

2.

For the reasons given above, the Commission is unable to comment on the particulars of this case.