WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3749/97 by Roberta ANGELILLI to the Commission. Advertising contract awarded by the municipality of Rome
Date: 1997-11-21
Institutions: ANGELILLI, European Parliament
Subjects: Italy, advertising, award of contract, fraud, invitation to tender, public contract

C 196/14

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

22. 6. 98

It is still too early at this stage to talk about implementation of the measures set out in the Green Paper. However,
a proposal for a Directive to limit the noise emission of machines is under way, and the Commission is also
looking into the best approach to developing a procedure for evaluating and managing ambient noise levels. A
proposal for a Directive on limiting noise from tyres is also in preparation. The implementation of the other
measures listed has still to be examined in detail.

There is no mention in the Green Paper of a decision to grant Community funding to projects aimed at reducing
noise pollution but it does contain a proposal to include noise in the list of criteria to be taken into consideration
when  granting  aid.  This  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  the  Commission  is  investigating  the  possibilities  of
establishing quality objectives for ambient noise levels on a Community level.

Finally, the Commission will contact the Italian authorities to find out if the road work in question was subject to
an environmental impact assessment in accordance with Council Directive 85/337/EEC.

(1)  COM(96) 540 final.

(98/C 196/22)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3749/97

by Roberta Angelilli (NI) to the Commission

(21 November 1997)

Subject: Advertising contract awarded by the municipality of Rome

A few months ago Rome City Council issued a private call to tender for a major advertising project. After an
initial  sifting  process  carried  out  by  the  technical  committee  in  the  department  of  economic  and  production
policies of Rome City Council, three firms remained under consideration › the French firm Decaux, the Greek
firm Panel 2+4 and the Italian firm NDP. It would seem, however, from evidence emerging from the work carried
out by the technical committee, that the French firm Decaux committed a number of irregularities in submitting
its tender, which the municipal legal advisory office confirmed and considered as potential reasons for excluding
Decaux from the tendering procedure.

In view of the above, can the Commission say:

1.  whether the call to tender in question, worth around LIT 60 billion, was conducted in accordance with the
European directives on the award of public supply and service contracts (92/50/EEC (1) and 93/36/EEC (2);

2.  whether the irregularities committed by Decaux are, according European law, sufficient reason for excluding

it from the bidding;

3.  what its opinion of these events is?

(1)  OJ L 209, 24.7.1992, p. 1.
(2)  OJ L 199, 9.8.1993, p. 1.

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(6 January 1998)

The Commission is not in possession of the information it needs in order to take a position on the conformity of
an award procedure carried out by the municipality of Rome in connection with an advertising contract. The
Honourable Member is asked to provide it with the essential details, including the subject matter of the contract
and the date on which the call for tender was published.

The Honourable Member is also asked to supply any information on the alleged irregularities, which could be
assessed in the light of the relevant Community directives.

For the above reasons, the Commission is unable to give an opinion on the facts referred to.