Notice for the OJ
Action brought on 19 May 2005 by N.V. Deloitte Business Advisory against the Commission of the European Communities
(Case T-195/05)
(Language of the case: Dutch)
An action against the Commission of the European Communities was brought before the Court of First Instance of the European Communities on 19 May 2005 by N.V. Deloitte Business Advisory, Brussels, represented by Dirk Van Heuven, Steve Ronse and Sofie Logie, with an address for service in Luxembourg.
The applicant claims that the Court should:
annul the contested decisions;
order the defendant to pay all the costs.
Pleas in law and main arguments
The applicant, which was in a consortium with other undertakings, submitted a tender, under the name EUPHET, in response to the invitation to tender for the 'Sanco Evaluation Framework Contract, Lot 1 (Public Health) - tender No SANCO/2004/01/041', issued by the European Commission. In the application, the applicant seeks annulment of the European Commission's decision not to select EUPHET for the contract, as well as annulment of the award decision, not served on and unknown to the applicant, by which the contract was awarded to a third party.
In support of its application, the applicant pleads infringement of Article 94 of Regulation No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities
1 and infringement of Articles 138 and 147(3) of Regulation No 2342/2002 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Regulation No 1605/2002.
2 The applicant also pleads breach of the tender documents, of the general duty to state reasons and of the principle of the protection of legitimate expectations.
According to the applicant, the reason stated for exclusion, namely that the proposal for measures to prevent a conflict of interest was inadequate and did not provide a sufficient guarantee, is completely unlawful and in breach of the contract documents. The applicant maintains that it is sufficient that the contractor undertake, by signing the draft contract, to inform the Commission immediately of any conflict of interest and to take the necessary steps to resolve such conflict as soon as possible. The applicant also states that it proposed measures which went further than what was required.
The applicant further claims that it was not at any time invited to supply additional information. According to the applicant, that constitutes an infringement of Article 146(3) of Regulation No 2342/2002, a breach of the principle of the protection of legitimate expectations, of the principle of the right to be treated fairly and of the principle of non-discrimination, as well as an infringement of Articles 89(1) and 99 of Regulation No 1605/2002.
____________1 - Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (OJ 2002 L 248, p. 1).2 - Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002 of 23 December 2002 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (OJ 2002 L 357, p. 1).