Judgment of the General Court (Fourth Chamber) of 24 April 2013 — Evropaïki Dynamiki v Commission
(Case T‑32/08)
Public service contracts — Tender procedure — Market analysis in view of developing a new approach for a website — Rejection of a tenderer’s bid — Obligation to state reasons — Manifest error of assessment — Selection criteria and award criteria — Non-contractual liability
1. Public contracts of the European Union — Tender procedure — Duty to comply with the principles of equal treatment of tenderers and transparency — Scope (Council Regulation No 1605/2002, Art. 89(1)) (see para. 27)
2. Public contracts of the European Union — Conclusion of a contract following a call for tenders — Discretion of the institutions — Judicial review — Limits (see paras 29-31)
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 — No obligation on the awarding authority to provide a detailed analysis of the tender accepted and the tender of the unsuccessful tenderer (Art. 253 EC; Council Regulation No 1605/2002, Art. 100(2); Commission Regulation No 2342/2002, Art. 149(3)) (see paras 35-38, 43-45)
4. Public contracts of the European Union — Tender procedure — Award of contracts — Most economically advantageous tender — Award criteria — IT consultancy assistance services — Criteria linked to assessment of the technical and professional capacity of the tenderers to carry out the contract in question — Criteria normally used for the selection of tenderers — Application to the award of the contract — Lawfulness — Conditions (Council Regulation No 1605/2002, Arts 93, 94, 96(2)(a), and 97(1); Commission Regulation No 2342/2002, Arts 137 and 138(2)) (see paras 47, 56-64, 68, 71, 72)
5. Public contracts of the European Union — Tender procedure — Award of contracts — Assessment of tenders on the basis of their content and not on the basis of previous experience with the same awarding authority (Commission Regulation No 2342/2002, Art. 138) (see para. 81)
6. Non-contractual liability — Conditions — Unlawfulness — Damage — Causal link — Cumulative conditions — One of the conditions not satisfied — Action dismissed in its entirety (Art. 340, second para., TFEU) (see para. 93)
Re:
| APPLICATION, first, for annulment of the decision of the Commission rejecting the tender submitted by the applicant in connection with the call for tenders for a market analysis in view of developing a new approach for the ‘Environment for Young Europeans’ website and, secondly, for compensation. |
Operative part
The Court:
2. | | Orders Evropaïki Dynamiki — Proigmena Systimata Tilepikoinonion Pliroforikis kai Tilematikis AE to bear its own costs and to pay the costs incurred by the European Commission. |