Brussels, 29/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - At the Competitiveness Council on Monday 29 May, three delegations (France, Austria and Germany) came out against a planned report on public procurement not covered by EU directives. Supported by other Member States, the three argue that it is not the European Commission's job to provide interpretation of resulted applying to public contracts for amounts of money below the thresholds set in Directive 2004/1/8EC on public procurement and Directive 2004/17/EC on special areas of public procurement. The three argue that when EU directives do not apply, it is sufficient to abide by the principles set out in the EU treaty, like fair and non-discriminatory treatment.
The European Commission has observed differences among the Member States in this domain. It was planning to publish a report at the end of the month outlining the rules and EU case law. The Austrian Presidency has asked the European Commission to continue consulting Member States. A spokesperson for EU Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy said on Monday that the Commission had taken note of the view expressed by the Member States in question and would be holding an internal debate to decide on a new timetable.