Case C-195/21: Judgment of the Court (Eighth Chamber) of 31 March 2022 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Rayonen sad Lukovit — Bulgaria) — LB v Smetna palata na Republika Bulgaria (Reference for a preliminary ruling — Public procurement — Directive 2014/24/EU — Applicability to a purely internal situation — Article 58(1) and (4) — Selection criteria — Technical and professional ability of the tenderers — Protection of the financial interests of the European Union — Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 — Article 8(3) — Control measures — Possibility for national authorities protecting the financial interests of the European Union to assess differently a public procurement procedure)
Date: 2022-03-31
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: EU control, administrative sanction, application of EU law, award of contract, building industry, principle of legal certainty, principle of proportionality, professional qualifications, restriction on competition, tendering








C_2022207EN.01000502.xml










23.5.2022   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 207/5






Judgment of the Court (Eighth Chamber) of 31 March 2022 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Rayonen sad Lukovit — Bulgaria) — LB v Smetna palata na Republika Bulgaria
(Case C-195/21) (1)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Public procurement - Directive 2014/24/EU - Applicability to a purely internal situation - Article 58(1) and (4) - Selection criteria - Technical and professional ability of the tenderers - Protection of the financial interests of the European Union - Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 - Article 8(3) - Control measures - Possibility for national authorities protecting the financial interests of the European Union to assess differently a public procurement procedure)
(2022/C 207/07)
Language of the case: Bulgarian

Referring court

Rayonen sad Lukovit

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicant: LB

Defendant: Smetna palata na Republika Bulgaria

Operative part of the judgment







1.


Article 58(1) and (4) of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC, as amended by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/2365 of 18 December 2017, must be interpreted as not precluding, in a public procurement procedure, a contracting authority from being able to impose, under the selection criteria relating to the technical and professional abilities of the economic operators, stricter requirements than the minimum requirements set by the national legislation, provided that such requirements are appropriate to ensure that a candidate or tenderer has the technical and professional abilities to perform the contract to be awarded, that they are related to the subject matter of the contract and that they are proportionate to it.










2.


Article 8(3) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 of 18 December 1995 on the protection of the European Communities financial interests, read in conjunction with Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013, laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006, must be interpreted as meaning that, subject to the principle of proportionality, it does not preclude national authorities protecting the financial interests of the European Union from assessing the same facts in a public procurement procedure differently.






(1)  OJ C 228, 14.6.2021.