Public procurement rules do not apply to patient transport services provided in emergencies by non-profit organisations or associations, the European Court of Justice ruled in a judgment delivered on Thursday 21 March (Case C-465/17).
The German group Falck challenged before the German Courts the award by the city of Solingen to two non-profit associations, without prior competitive tender, of a contract for emergency services consisting of the care of the patient by a paramedic and their transport by ambulance.
The Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court asks the Court whether the supply contract in question falls within the scope of the concept of "risk prevention services" which are excluded from the Directive (2014/24/EU) governing the award of traditional public contracts in the EU, provided that the contracts: - correspond to certain common vocabulary codes (CPV) for public contracts (emergency services or ambulance services); - are performed by non-profit organisations.
The Court finds that EU law does not apply to public contracts for civil defence, civil protection and risk prevention services, if they fall within the CPV codes corresponding to "emergency services" or "ambulance services" and if they are provided by non-profit associations. However, this exception does not apply to emergency patient transport services.
According to the European judge, the care of patients in emergency situations provided in an emergency vehicle by a paramedic/ambulance staff is covered by the CPV code corresponding to "emergency services".
However, qualified ambulance transport is only covered by the CPV code for "ambulance services" if it is possible to establish the urgency of the transport. This will be the case when a patient presents a risk of deterioration in their health during ambulance transport. This risk implies that the ambulance service must be provided by personnel appropriately trained in first aid.
When these assumptions are verified, the Court considers that the general rules on public procurement do not apply, provided that these services are provided by non-profit organisations or associations.
See the judgment: http://bit.ly/2Tn1DHR. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)