Judgment of the General Court (Fourth Chamber) of 9 April 2019 –
Close and Cegelec v Parliament

(Case T‑259/15)

(Public works contracts — Tender procedure — Construction of an energy unit — Extension and refurbishment of the Konrad Adenauer building in Luxembourg — Rejection of tender submitted by a tenderer — Award of the contract to another tenderer — Selection criteria — Financial and economic capacity — Technical and professional capacity — Obligation to state reasons — Manifest error of assessment)

1.      Acts of the institutions — Statement of reasons — Obligation — Scope — Decision, in the award of a public contract, not to accept a tender — Assessment by reference to the circumstances of the particular case

(Art. 296, 2^nd para. TFEU; European Parliament and Council Regulation No 966/2012, Art. 113(2); Commission Regulation No 1268/2012, Art. 161(2))

(see paras 44, 45, 51)

2.      Acts of the institutions — Statement of reasons — Obligation — Scope — Decision, in the award procedure for a public works contract, not to accept a tender — Obligation to communicate, following a written request, the characteristics and relative advantages of the tender accepted and the name of the tenderer — Obligation to provide a detailed summary as how every detail of the rejected tender was taken into account for assessment purposes, or a detailed comparative analysis of the accepted tender and the unsuccessful tender — Obligation to provide the supporting documents furnished by the successful tenderer under the selection criteria in order to establish his economic, financial, technical or professional capacity — None (Art. 296, 2^nd para. TFEU; European Parliament and Council Regulation No 966/2012, Art. 113(2); Commission Regulation No 1268/2012, Art. 161(2))

(see paras 49, 50, 57)

3.      European Union public contracts — Tender procedure — Obligation to comply with the principle of equal treatment of tenderers — Need to ensure equal opportunities and comply with the principle of transparency — Scope

(European Parliament and Council Regulation No 966/2012, Art. 102(1))

(see paras 68-70)

Re:

Application based on Article 263 TFEU seeking annulment of the Parliament’s decision of 19 March 2015 rejecting the tender submitted by the applicants in the context of the call for tenders INLO-D-UPIL-T‑14-AO 4, relating to public works contracts in respect of Lot No 73 (energy unit) for the project to extend and refurbish the Konrad Adenauer building in Luxembourg and awarding that lot to another tenderer.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Dismisses the action;

2. Orders SA Close and Cegelec, on the one hand, and the European Parliament, on the other, each to bear their own costs, including the costs relating to the application for interim measures.