Brussels, 07/03/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday, the European Commission decided to agree to Austria's request for an exemption for oil and gas exploration and production from Directive 93/38/EEC establishing procedures to be followed for public procurement of works, supplies or services in the energy, water, transport and telecommunications sectors. This decision comes after a detailed analysis and consultation with Member States. The effect of the decision is that Austrian contracting entities that explore for or extract oil or gas in Austria need no longer apply the detailed procedural rules of the Directive when awarding contracts. These entities should, however, continue to respect the principles of non-discrimination, transparency and competition, as well as meet certain statistical obligations.
The two principal requirements for an exemption are set out in Article 3 of Directive 93/38. The first concerns the conditions under which licenses or authorisation to explore for or extract oil or gas are granted. This requirement may be met through the correct implementation and application of Directive 94/22/EC on the granting and using of authorisations for the prospection, exploration and production of hydrocarbons. The second requirement is the observance of the principles of non-discrimination, transparency and competitive procedure in connection with the award of contracts. The Commission, which reached the conclusion that Austria meet both requirements, brought the matter before the Advisory Committee of the Member States, which issued a favourable opinion. It then adopted its decision, on condition that Vienna notifies it of any relevant laws, regulations or administrative provisions. Similar exemptions were granted by the Commission to the Netherlands (in 1993) and to the United Kingdom (temporarily in 1993 and indefinitely in 1997).