Judgment of the General Court (Seventh Chamber) of 14 July 2016 —
Alesa v Commission
(Case T‑99/14)
Public services contracts — Tendering procedure — Supply of technical assistance to the Chinese authorities for the purposes of the project ‘Sustainable urbanisation project — Link between the eco-cities of Europe and China (EC-LINK)’ — Negotiated procedure — Article 266(1) of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012 — Transparency — Equal treatment — Non-contractual liability
1. European Union public contracts — Tender procedure — Award of contracts — Recourse to the negotiated procedure — Exceptional nature (Commission Regulation No 1268/2012, Art. 129) (see para. 45)
2. European Union public contracts — Tender procedure — Award of contracts — Recourse to the negotiated procedure — Conditions — No substantial modification of the initial contract conditions — Concept (Commission Regulation No 1268/2012, Art. 266(1)(d)) (see para. 51)
3. European Union public contracts — Tender procedure — Duty to comply with the principles of equal treatment of tenderers and transparency — Scope — Obligation to formulate clearly, precisely and unequivocally the conditions and procedures for awarding the contract (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 966/2012, Arts 102(1), and 112(1)) (see paras 61-64)
4. European Union public contracts — Tender procedure — Award of contracts — Recourse to a negotiated procedure after closure of an open procedure — Awarding authority not obliged to provide information to tenderers not invited to participate in the negotiated procedure (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 966/2012, Art. 103(1); Commission Regulation No 1268/2012, Arts 127(1), and 266(1)(d)) (see paras 69, 70, 74)
5. Non-contractual liability — Conditions — Unlawfulness — Damage — Causal link — One of the conditions not satisfied — Claim for compensation dismissed in its entirety (Art. 340, second para., TFEU) (see para. 84)
6. Judicial proceedings — Application initiating proceedings — Formal requirements — Identification of the subject-matter of the dispute — No brief summary of the pleas in law on which the application is based — Inadmissibility (Rules of Procedure of the General Court (1991), Art. 44(1)(c)) (see paras 88, 90)
Re:
| First, an application based on Article 263 TFEU and seeking annulment of the Commission decision, published in the Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ 2013/S 234 405244), to award the public contract DCI-ASIA/2013/329-453, relating to the supply of technical assistance to the project ‘Sustainable urbanisation project — Link between the eco-cities of Europe and China (EC-LINK)’ to a tenderer other than the applicant, secondly, an application based on Article 268 TFEU and seeking compensation for damage which the applicant allegedly suffered and, thirdly, an application based on Article 277 TFEU and requesting the General Court to assess ‘the lawfulness/unlawfulness and applicability/inapplicability’ of Article 266 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012 of 29 October 2012 on the rules of application of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union (OJ 2012 L 362, p. 1), and of point 2.4.13 of the Practical Guide to contract procedures for European Union external actions. |
Operative part
The Court:
2. | | Orders Alesa Srl to pay the costs. |