Judgment of the General Court (Third Chamber) of 14 January 2015 — Veloss International Attimedia v Parliament

(Case T‑667/11)

Public service contracts — Supply of Greek translation services for the Parliament — Rejection of a tenderer’s bid — Obligation to state reasons — Non-contractual liability

1.                     Judicial proceedings — Application initiating proceedings — Formal requirements — Identification of the subject-matter of the dispute — Brief summary of the pleas in law on which the application is based — Application seeking compensation for loss caused by an EU institution — Minimum requirements (Statute of the Court of Justice, Arts 21, first para., and 53, first para.; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 44(1)(c)) (see paras 24, 70)

2.                     EU public contracts — Conclusion of a contract following a call for tenders — Discretion of the institutions — Judicial review — Limits (see para. 38)

3.                     Acts of the institutions — Statement of reasons — Obligation — Scope — Decision, in the procedure for the award of a public service 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 — Assessment having regard to information available to the applicant at the time the action brought — Correction of an error of reasoning during the proceedings before the Court — Not permissible (Art. 296 TFEU; Council Regulation No 1605/2002, Art. 100(2); Commission Regulation No 2342/2002, Art. 149(3)) (see paras 39-43, 56, 59, 63, 65)

4.                     EU public contracts — Tender procedure — Right of tenderers to effective judicial protection — Scope — Right, at any stage of the tendering procedure, to challenge manifestations of the intentions of the awarding authority likely to produce legal effects in relation to the market (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; Council Regulation No 1605/2002, Art. 100(2)) (see paras 47-49)

5.                     Non-contractual liability — Conditions — Unlawfulness — Damage — Causal link — Annulment for lack of reasoning of a decision of the European Parliament having rejected a tender under the procedure for awarding a public service contract — Reality of the unlawfulness and the causal link dependent on the examination of pleas having to be directed against the decision replacing the annulled decision — Claim for compensation premature (Art. 340, second para., TFEU) (see paras 72-74)

Re:

APPLICATION, first, for the annulment of the decision of the European Parliament to select, in second place, the tender submitted by the applicants in response to the call for tenders No EL/2011/EU ‘Translation into Greek’ (OJ 2011, S 56-090374), communicated to the applicants by letter of 18 October 2011, and all related decisions taken by the Parliament, and second, for damages for the loss allegedly suffered.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Annuls the decision of the European Parliament of 18 October 2011 to select, in second position, the tender submitted by Veloss International SA and Attimedia SA in call for tenders EL/2011/EU for the provision of Greek translation services;

2. Dismisses the remainder of the action;

3. Orders the Parliament to pay the costs.