Brussels, 20/02/2007 (Agence Europe) - In a press release, German Christian Democrats Klaus-Heine Lehne and Andreas Schwab gave a warm welcome to “the decision of the European Parliament to back the complaint of the federal German government opposing the Commission's communication on public procurement contracts that are below the thresholds” laid down in the European directives (EUROPE 9266 and 9238). The German parliamentarians say that this decision constitutes a “positive sign” against what they describe as the Commission's “de facto legislation”.
In a letter sent to the president of the European Parliament at the end of December 2006, the EP's legal affairs committee recommended that the European institution intervened in support of Germany's approach. The latter lodged a complaint in September 2006 at the EU Court of Justice against the Commission's communication on public procurement contracts that are not subject to, or only partially subject to, specific European directives (T-258/06). Germany believes that the Commission has over-reached its competencies by proposing creeping legislation in a field where only member states and the EP hold legislative power. The communication indicates that European treaty rules interpret the Court's jurisprudence and outline a number of good practices for awarding public contracts whose amounts fall below European threshold levels.
Supporters of Hans-Gert Pöttering, the president of the EP, indicated at the end of last week that Pöttering had not yet sent the letter giving the EP's official support in this matter, to the Court of Justice. Nonetheless, it appears highly likely that Pöttering will follow the line of the parliamentary committee's recommendation. (mb)