Enhancing the Effectiveness of the EU Public Procurement Framework

Dr. Asta Gerhardt is a Multilingual executive director, procurement officer, project leader and manager with strong procurement strategic framework and policy expertise in Luxembour.

• I. Public procurement legislation in the EU ......................................... 191 Treaty provisions relevant to public procurement ................................... 191.1 Article 34 TFEU on free movement of goods ................................... 201.2 Prohibition of measures interfering with the free market .............. 211.3 Article 34 TFEU on specification requirements and standards ..... 221.4 De minimis rule under Article 34 TFEU .......................................... 231.4.1 Introduction of the Dundalk case ........................................ 241.4.2 Case discussion and commentary remarks ......................... 251.4.3 Introduction of the UNIX case ............................................. 271.4.4 Case discussion and commentary remarks ......................... 281.5 Conclusions on the main cases ........................................................... 291.6 Articles 49 and 56 TFEU on the right of establishment andright to provide services ..................................................................... 302 The EU public procurement Directive 2014/24/EU ................................ 312.1 The principle of equal treatment ........................................................ 342.2 The principle of non-discrimination ................................................. 372.3 The principle of transparency ............................................................. 392.4 The principle of proportionality ......................................................... 402.5 The principle of mutual recognition .................................................. 422.6 Conclusion of the fundamental principles ........................................ 433 Low-value contracts outside the scope of Directive 2014/24/EU ......... 443.1 The TFEU principles applicable to low-value contracts .................. 453.2 The counter arguments of General Advocate Sharpston ................ 463.3 Transparency obligation ..................................................................... 473.4 Interpretation of the further case law ................................................ 483.5 Conclusions ........................................................................................... 5010 ContentsII. The development of public procurement law in Lithuania ..... 531 The development of public procurement worldwide .............................. 542 GPA ................................................................................................................ 543 The development of public procurement in Europe ............................... 564 The development of public procurement in Lithuania ........................... 594.1 First Lithuanian public procurement law .......................................... 624.2 PHARE assistance programme ........................................................... 644.3 Pre-accession of Lithuania to the European Union ......................... 664.4 Lithuanian accession to the EU .......................................................... 685 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 69III. Implementation of the EU public procurement rules in1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 712 The EU Public Procurement Reform ........................................................ 713 Transposition of the Directive 2014/24/EU into national systems ....... 724 New legal framework of public procurement in Lithuania .................... 754.1 Primary legislation of public procurement ....................................... 764.2 Secondary legislation of public procurement ................................... 774.3 Public Procurement Office .................................................................. 804.4 Definitions of public procurement ..................................................... 814.5 Thresholds ............................................................................................. 844.6 Simplified procurement procedures .................................................. 874.7 Conclusions ........................................................................................... 905 New legal framework of public procurement in Germany .................... 905.1 Act against restraints on competition (GWB) .................................. 925.2 Regulation on the award of public contracts (VgV) ........................ 935.3 Regulation on the award of works contracts (VOB/A) ................... 945.4 Regulation on the award of contracts below the EUthresholds (UVgO) ............................................................................... 95Contents 115.4.1 Scope of UVgO ....................................................................... 965.4.2 Procedures below the thresholds .......................................... 965.5 Thresholds ............................................................................................. 975.6 E-procurement ...................................................................................... 995.7 Conclusions ......................................................................................... 1006 Public procurement procedures in Lithuanian and German legalframeworks ................................................................................................. 1026.1 Open procedure .................................................................................. 1036.1.1 New provisions ..................................................................... 1046.1.2 Provisions in German law ................................................... 1066.1.3 Provisions in Lithuanian law ............................................... 1087 Restricted procedure ................................................................................. 1107.1 Provisions in Germany ...................................................................... 1137.2 Provisions in Lithuania ...................................................................... 1148 Competitive procedure with negotiation and competitive dialogue ...... 1158.1 Provisions in Germany ...................................................................... 1188.2 Provisions in Lithuania ...................................................................... 1199 Negotiated procedure without publication ............................................ 12110 Innovation partnership ............................................................................. 12310.1 Provisions in Germany ...................................................................... 12410.2 Provisions in Lithuania ...................................................................... 12511 Conclusions ................................................................................................ 125IV. Key weaknesses of the EU procurement framework ............... 1291 Wider application of competitive procedure with negotiation ............ 1292 Administrative burden reduction opportunities ................................... 1313 Better participation opportunities for SMEs in publicprocurement ............................................................................................... 1324 The criteria of the most economically advantageous tender ................ 1355 Promoting innovation in public procurement ....................................... 1376 Pre-commercial procurement .................................................................. 14112 Contents7 The need for professionalism among public contractingauthorities staff ........................................................................................... 1438 Conclusions ................................................................................................ 145V. Enforcement of the EU public procurement rules in 1 EU provisions ............................................................................................. 1472 Evolution of legal regulation of public procurement disputes inLithuania ..................................................................................................... 1493 The system of remedies for suppliers in the Republic of Lithuania .... 1593.1 Judicial disputes in public procurement following thelegislation of the Republic of Lithuania ........................................... 1603.2 Litigation efficiency and volumes ..................................................... 1613.3 Pre-litigation procedures in public procurement ........................... 1653.4 Different and mandatory time limits of pre-litigationprocedures ........................................................................................... 1664 Problem of the claim “on the same subject matter” .............................. 1685 Discretion of the public contracting authority as a factor fordispute ......................................................................................................... 1706 Information exchange between the supplier and the publiccontracting authority during pre-litigation procedures ....................... 1747 Review of the decision by the same entity .............................................. 1788 Conclusions and suggestions .................................................................... 179VI. Enforcement of the EU public procurement rules in German 1 History ......................................................................................................... 1832 Remedies system above the thresholds ................................................... 1842.1 Obligation to submit a claim to the public contractingauthority .............................................................................................. 1852.2 First instance review .......................................................................... 186Contents 132.2.1 Competence of the Public Procurement Tribunal ........... 1862.2.2 Identification of facts and decision of PublicProcurement Tribunal ......................................................... 1892.3 Second instance review ...................................................................... 1902.4 Contracts that have already been concluded .................................. 1912.5 Preliminary ruling procedure pursuant to Article 267 TFEU ...... 1912.6 Secondary legal protection ................................................................ 1922.7 Civil claims .......................................................................................... 1922.8 Costs ..................................................................................................... 1922.9 Statistics of the review procedures ................................................... 1932.10 Enforcement of decisions .................................................................. 1943 Public procurement protection below the thresholds ........................... 1943.1 Administrative law ............................................................................. 1953.2 Civil law ............................................................................................... 1963.3 Jurisdiction of ordinary courts ......................................................... 1983.4 Interim legal protection ..................................................................... 1993.5 Submission of a protective letter ...................................................... 2003.6 Disadvantages of legal protection below the thresholds ............... 2013.7 Damages under § 181 GWB .............................................................. 2023.8 Damages under other provisions ..................................................... 2033.9 Conclusions ......................................................................................... 204VII. Advantages and disadvantages of remedies systems in 1 Pre-litigation proceedings ......................................................................... 2072 Judicial proceedings ................................................................................... 2103 Investigation of public procurement value which is below the EUthreshold ..................................................................................................... 2114 Compensation for damages in public procurement disputes .............. 2125 Proposals for revision of German remedies system .............................. 21414 ContentsFinal conclusions .............................................................................................. 217List of figures ...................................................................................................... 221Bibliography ....................................................................................................... 223