Brussels, 28/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 27 January, the European Commission moved to the next stage in the infringement proceedings against Greece in connection with EU public procurement rules, sending it a Reasoned Opinion requesting that the country review the award of school transport contracts awarded from 2007 to 2009 inclusive in the districts of Drama, Pella and Thessalonica for sums of between €2 million and €5 million. The Commission believes the procedure was not justified because no call for tenders was published. It is also challenging the award of a contract by the Greek electricity company for the supply of electric cables because the company that won the contract actually dropped its prices after the submission deadline.
The Commission has ended its investigation into possible infringements of EU law in the award of a contract to extend and maintain a power station in Delimara, Malta because the changes to Maltese legislation that took place during the adjudication procedure do not seem to have influenced the choice of technology, namely diesel engines. Likewise, the lack of immediate and individual notification of the decision to award the contract does not seem to have prevented the unsuccessful bidders from exercising their right of appeal.
An infringement procedure against Portugal has also been dropped over its decision, after intervention by the Commission, to issue a call for tenders for the supply of laptops for educational establishments. The Portuguese authorities initially justified the award of the contract to telecoms companies without a call for tenders as being the counterpart for running mobile telephone services. The Commission found that the contracts included technical specifications for microprocessors for the devices and this restricted the range of products that could be supplied. (M.B./transl fl)