Bruun-Nielsen

In a recent preliminary ruling (C-737/22) the CJEU is on the basis of general principles of equal treatment and transparency essentially dealing with what amending of bids and negotiating mean. The ruling concerned an open tender launched by SKI, a central purchasing body established by Danish central government and municipalities, to conclude a framework agreement for provision of… Continue reading The East/West Model – book procurement in Denmark

The EU public procurement directive concerning public sector procurements, also known as the Public Sector Directive[1] lists in Art.57 a number of mandatory and facultative grounds for excluding bidders. The mandatory grounds include mainly various serious criminal activity whereas the facultative grounds include in a more general manner for example grave professional misconduct, significant deficiencies in… Continue reading Exclusion and self-cleaning in public procurement

A recently published decision of the Danish Complaints Board[1] for Public Procurement dealt with details of evaluating award criteria. The procurement in question concerned a contract for supply and servicing of medical equipment. The procuring authority was a Danish authority at regional level (Region Zealand) and the award criteria included in addition to “economy” various quality-related… Continue reading Absolutely Relative Evaluations of Award Criteria

A recent decision from the Danish Public Procurement Complaints Board[1] deals with a tender procedure involving negotiation with bidders. Negotiation is normally not allowed in EU tender procedures because of the risk of unequal treatment of bidders. It is on the other hand recognized that complex procurement may require dialogue with bidders, for example for the… Continue reading Shades of Green

In a recent case on public procurement the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) once again dealt with national legislation allowing automatic  reactions in relation to bidders, notably in cases where collusion is suspected. The case (C-769/21) was about a Latvian contract concerning health insurance for employees in a Government department. Amongst the bidders… Continue reading Automatics in Public Procurement

The Smiley labelling scheme of the Danish Working Environment Supervisory Authority is aimed at informing the public in a straightforward manner about results of recent inspections of working premises in all types of enterprises. Labelling such premises with green smiling smileys indicate a high level of working environment protection with the “crown-smiley” signalling that the… Continue reading Smiling Smileys

A European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling from February this year (C‑461/20)   deals with the question whether contracts already awarded in a public procurement procedure can be changed “down the road” without the need for a new tender. Surprisingly, it is a relatively uncharted area of EU law which during the 2014 reform of the public procurement… Continue reading Succession and effectiveness in public procurement

 The Beentjes- ruling C-31/87 from the European Court of Justice (ECJ)  is well-known for introducing at a relatively early stage in public procurement case-law the notion of contract performance conditions as an additional category of criteria alongside requirements to what is to be delivered and by whom.  This and subsequent rulings provided an important basis for laying down contract… Continue reading A Tale of Hazardous Waste

A small Irish coastal town has during recent years witnessed a bitter dispute  about fishermen’s right to keep fishing vessels in a newly developed marina intended mainly for pleasure boats. The marina development is a public private partnership (PPP) project and the  dispute escalated this summer  when the private operator attempted to seize and remove a fishing vessel… Continue reading PPP for the People

Digital-ready legislation is high on the international agenda, at EU-level and elsewhere. The aim is essentially to ensure that digital solutions are worked in at the earliest stages of the legislative process. This includes first and foremost a conversion of any traditional requirements concerning physical documents and signatures into digital equivalents. It will also naturally… Continue reading The computer says “no” – IT and administrative law