Brussels, 22/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 20 November, the European Commission sent Greece a reasoned opinion asking it to comply with EU public procurement rules. The Commission is unhappy about Greek rules establishing a system of compulsory registration for national construction companies that predetermines which operators may take part in each tender procedure. Greek law establishes a registry system whereby all approved domestic construction companies are divided into classes, each class corresponding to a specific minimum and maximum budget range. 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 relevant tendering procedure, only because their financial capacity is different - usually greater - than the specific budget class which is allowed for a given procedure. Greece now has two months to bring its rules into line with EU Directive 2004/18/EC and make them non-discriminatory.
Cyprus is failing to comply with EU Directive 2008/6/EC on opening up postal services to competition. Despite an extension of the transposition deadline to 30 December 2012, Cyprus has not yet complied and if measures are not notified to the Commission within the next two months to rectify matters, the Commission may refer the country to the European Court of Justice. (MD/transl.fl)