Unless an international agreement is signed with Brussels, companies from countries that are not members of the European Union cannot participate in European public tenders. This is the concise decision that came from the European Court of Justice today, following the outbreak of the case regarding the public tender procedure for the construction of the railway network connecting two cities in Croatia. European tenders are a rich source of income for foreign companies aiming to make a name for themselves in the EU market. Suffice it to say that public procurement in the European Union exceeds 2 trillion euros a year, that is, approximately 14 percent of the GDP of the 27 member states.
Türkiye – Croatia
Let’s take a step back. Kolin İnşaat Turizm Sanayi ve Ticaret (Kolin), a company from Turkey, objected to the legitimacy of the decision to award the tender to another bidder, the Croatian company HZ Infrastruktura (case no. C-652/22). Croatia’s Supreme Administrative Court then appealed to the European Court of Justice to clarify the conditions under which contractors can ask bidders to make corrections or clarifications after the bidding deadline has expired.
In other words, the Luxembourg-based court was asked to decide on two issues. First of all, can companies from non-EU countries with which the European Union has not signed a public procurement agreement participate in public tenders in the 27 EU member countries? So, is it still up to the EU bloc countries to determine the conditions for non-European companies to participate in public procurement tenders?
What did the European Court decide?
These are the questions answered by the European Court of Justice, which decided on the interpretation of Directive 2014/25/EU, namely the directive on procurement by organizations operating in the fields of water, energy, transport and postal services.
The Court, based in Luxembourg, has therefore determined that companies from non-EU countries, such as Turkey, which have not concluded an international agreement with the Union, cannot participate in public tenders by demanding equal treatment with companies from member states or the EU. Countries that have signed an agreement with Brussels (have exclusive jurisdiction). For this reason, as stated by the European Court, the case filed by Türk Kolin does not exist.
Are other countries outside the Union also excluded from the scope?
The decision of the European Court of Justice may be a decision not only for Turkey but also for other non-EU countries. In fact, China has become the focus of the Commission’s attention by submitting a bid lower than the auction price for public tenders in several member countries. As is the case with the Chinese company Nuctech, which has received 95% of customs supplies for the control of goods on the territory of Europe and Italy in the last five years.
China maintains security of Italian ports and airports
Source: Today IT
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
