Brussels, 08/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - Last week, the European Commission decided to send formal requests to Italy and Greece to comply with Community legislation on open and competitive public procurement.
The case against Italy concerns the procedures followed for the procurement of public service contracts to set up and manage a computerised accounting system for Azienda Sanitaria Locale, an administrative body managing the public health service in Frosinone. Although the total value of the project exceeded the threshold value of the public procurement directive (EUR 200,000), the authority did not publish any calls for tender in the Official Journal of the European Communities. While individual parts of the contract were lower than the threshold value, the Commission considers that it was against the rules of the directive to split the project in this way.
The case in Greece concerns the award by the Municipality of Serres, without a prior call for tender, of a contract for improving the city. Normally a contract for urban development has to be tendered out in accordance wit the rules of the services procurement directive, but the detailed rules of the directive do not apply to the awarding of contracts that quality as Research and Development contracts. Greece maintains that the contract was for R&D, but the Commission considers that the contract is a "specialised and innovative urbanistic study" that should have been awarded through an appropriate call for tender.
In the absence of a satisfactory response from the Member States concerned within two months of receipt of the reasoned opinions, the Commission may decide to refer the cases to the Court of Justice.