Brussels, 07/04/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has decided to send Spain two letters of formal notice as well as a reasoned opinion relating to public procurement.
Spain is to provide an explanation on the regional law No16/2005 (LUV) on town planning in Valencia. The Commission considers that such a law will not correct the irregularities noted in the previous legislation that was repealed by Law No16/2005. Irregularities could continue to be seen in the content of the market opinions and the specifications as well as in the criteria for awarding contracts for integrated action programmes. The Commission has sent a reasoned opinion to Spain concerning the attribution of a €17 million contract relating to school bus services in the province of Valencia. It challenges the choice of tendering procedure, namely negotiated procedure, given European rules on public procurement. Questions are also raised concerning the fact that two weeks less are allowed for submitting a tender and concerning the fact that the adjudicating authority can have recourse to advice from local transport associations. Finally, Spain will receive a letter of formal notice on the subject of 25 calls for tender published at all administrative levels for the provision of IT material. These calls above all contained specific references to Intel microprocessors. According to European public procurement directives, adjudicating powers may refer to a specific brand to describe a product solely when there is no other possible description which is exact and intelligible. This letter of formal notice completes the infringement procedure opened against Germany, Finland, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden for similar affairs (see EUROPE 8807).