Judgment of the General Court (Sixth Chamber) of 22 April 2015 —
Evropaïki Dynamiki v Frontex

(Case T‑554/10)

Public procurement — Tendering procedures — Information technology services, hardware and software licences — Rejection of a tenderer’s bids — Obligation to state reasons — Selection and award criteria — Manifest error of assessment — Non-contractual liability

1.                     EU public contracts — Conclusion of a contract following a call for tenders — Discretion of the institutions — Judicial review — Limits (see paras 47, 130)

2.                     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 — No obligation on the awarding authority to provide a detailed comparative analysis of the tender accepted and the tender of the unsuccessful tenderer (Art. 296 TFEU; Council Regulation No 1605/2002, Art. 100(2); Commission Regulation No 2342/2002, Art. 149(3)) (see paras 48-51, 59, 61, 131)

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 — Assessment in the light of information available to the applicant at the time the action brought (Art. 296 TFEU; Council Regulation No 1605/2002, Art. 100(2); Commission Regulation No 2342/2002, Art. 149(3)) (see para. 52)

4.                     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 — No obligation on the awarding authority to communicate the report of the assessment committee and the accepted tenders to an unsuccessful tenderer without comparison of its tender with those of other tenderers (Art. 296 TFEU; Council Regulation No 1605/2002, Art. 100(2); Commission Regulation No 2342/2002, Art. 149(3)) (see paras 63, 91)

5.                     EU public contracts — Tender procedure — Right of tenderers to effective judicial protection — Right of appeal against the decision awarding a contract to another tenderer — Infringement of the obligation of the awarding authority to state reasons — Infringement of essential procedural requirements — Consequence — Annulment of the said decision (Art. 296 TFEU; Council Regulation No 1605/2002, Art. 100(2); Commission Regulation No 2342/2002, Art. 149(3)) (see paras 79-81)

6.                     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 — No obligation on the awarding authority to hold a discussion with the unsuccessful tenderer on the merits of its tender (Art. 296 TFEU; Council Regulation No 1605/2002, Art. 100(2); Commission Regulation No 2342/2002, Art. 149(3)) (see para. 115)

7.                     Judicial proceedings — Application initiating proceedings — Formal requirements — Brief summary of the pleas in law on which the application is based — Simple reference to annexes — Inadmissibility (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 44(1)) (see para. 145)

8.                     Non-contractual liability — Conditions — Unlawfulness — Damage — Causal link — Absence of one of those conditions — Claim for compensation dismissed in its entirety (Art. 340, second para., TFEU) (see paras 164, 165)

Re:

APPLICATION, first, for annulment of the decisions to reject the applicant’s bids for the call for tenders Frontex/OP/87/2010 relating to a framework contract for ‘ICT Services’ in the field of management technologies and information security (OJ 2010/S 66-098323) and for the call for tenders Frontex/OP/98/2010 concerning the Eurosur big pilot project in the field of information technologies and communications (OJ 2010/S 90-134098), and also of all associated decisions, including the decisions to award the contracts to other tenderers, and, secondly, for damages for the harm allegedly sustained as a result of the contracts being awarded to those tenderers.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Annuls the decision of the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (Frontex) of 18 October 2010 to reject the bid of Evropaïki Dynamiki — Proigmena Systimata Tilepikoinonion Pliroforikis kai Tilematikis AE, filed in response to call for tenders 2010/S 66-098323, for Lot 1 (Information systems), for the supply of informatics services, hardware and software licences;

2. Annuls the decision of Frontex of 18 October 2010 to reject the bid of Evropaïki Dynamiki — Proigmena Systimata Tilepikoinonion Pliroforikis kai Tilematikis AE, filed in response to call for tenders 2010/S 66-098323, for Lot 6 (Enterprise content management systems), for the supply of informatics services, hardware and software licences;

3. Dismisses the action as to the remainder;

4. Orders Evropaïki Dynamiki — Proigmena Systimata Tilepikoinonion Pliroforikis kai Tilematikis AE to bear 50% of its own costs and pay 50% of the costs incurred by Frontex, and Frontex to bear 50% of its own costs and pay 50% of those incurred by Evropaïki Dynamiki — Proigmena Systimata Tilepikoinonion Pliroforikis kai Tilematikis AE.