The European Commission has
today taken the decision to refer Greece to the Court of Justice of the
EU for non-compliance with EU public procurement rules in the
construction sector.
Greek
legislation establishes a system of compulsory registration for all
approved national construction companies, dividing them into classes,
each class corresponding to a specific minimum and maximum budget range.
When it comes to tender procedures, contracting authorities may
admit only the companies that are registered in some of these classes,
corresponding to the budget range foreseen for the contract envisaged.
In this way, Greek legislation establishes a system
that predetermines which economic operators may take part in each tender
procedure. This system of compulsory registration results in the
exclusion of companies that have the economic, financial, professional
and technical capacity to perform a given contract from the tender, only
because their financial capacity is different - usually greater - than
the specific budget class which is allowed for a given procedure.
Consequently,
national provisions restrict market opportunities for enterprises and
hinder competition amongst economic operators. The Commission considers
that this restrictive legal regime is in breach of Directive 2004/18/EC
and of the fundamental principles of equal treatment and
non-discrimination, on which the EU public procurement rules are
founded.
Background...
The Commission addressed a reasoned opinion (the second stage of the infringement procedure) to Greece in November 2013 (MEMO/13/1005),
asking the Greek authorities to amend the national legislation which
hinders access to public procurement markets for qualified economic
operators. However, the necessary legislative steps have not been taken
and the restrictive national provisions are still in place. In view of
this, the European Commission has decided today to refer Greece to the
Court of Justice.
