Brussels, 15/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 14 September, Germany lodged a complaint with the Court of Justice of the European Union against the Commission communication on public procurements which are not subject - or only partially subject - to specific European directives (2004/18/EC and 2004/17/EC). Fully supported by France in this move, Germany contends that the Commission has exceeded its authority in this area by proposing creeping legislation, when the area falls wholly within the competence of the Member States.
In a press release, the German authorities say that the Commission has de facto established a regime for the award of public contracts, particularly for the many contracts below the threshold levels in the European directives. Michael Glos, German economy and technology minister said that the complaint did not run counter to transparent procedures in the award of public contracts, even for low-value public contracts. On the contrary, he said, transparency and competition were basic principles for the procedures. For European legislators, responsibility for small contracts lay solely with the Member States. However, he went on, the Commission had in fact established new arrangements, to be added to existing European directives. “European legislation is a matter for European legislators, for the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament. Legislation with legislators is unacceptable,” he said.
The Commission's interpretative notice, published in July, is non-binding (see EUROPE 9238). It recalls the rules deriving from the European Treaty, interprets the Court's case law and puts forwards, for public authorities, a number of good practices for the award of this type of public contract. In the spring, the notice caused something of a stir before its adoption: during a Competitiveness Council, Germany, Austria and France, supported by the United Kingdom, Finland, Greece and the Czech Republic, pressed the Commission to review the text (see EUROPE 9200).