Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 10 May 2012 - European Commission v Kingdom of the Netherlands
(Case C-368/10)
(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations - Directive 2004/18/EC - Procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts - Contract for the supply, installation and maintenance of dispensing machines for hot drinks, and the supply of tea, coffee and other ingredients - Article 23(6) and 23(8) - Technical specifications - Article 26 - Conditions for performance of the contract - Article 53(1) - Criteria for award of the contracts - Most economically advantageous tender - Products derived from organic agriculture and fair trade - Use of labels in the formulation of the technical specifications and the award criteria - Article 39(2) - Concept of 'additional information' - Article 2 - Principles for award of contracts - Principle of transparency - Articles 44(2) and 48 - Verification of the suitability and choice of participants - Minimum level of technical or professional abilities - Compliance with 'criteria of sustainability of purchases and socially responsible business')
Language of the case: Dutch
Parties
Applicant: European Commission (represented by: C. Zadra and F. Wilman, acting as Agents)
Defendant: Kingdom of the Netherlands (represented by: C. Wissels and M. de Ree, acting as Agents)
Re:
Failure to fulfil obligations - Infringement of Article 2, Article 23(6) and (8), Article 44(2), Article 48(1) and (2) and Article 53(1) of Directive 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts (OJ 2004 L 134, p. 114) - Principles for the award of contracts - Technical specifications - Verification of the capacity and choice of operators, award of contracts - Technical or professional capacities - Criteria for the award of contracts - Supply, installation and maintenance of coffee machines
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
On account of the fact that, in the tendering procedure for a public contract for the supply and management of coffee machines, which was the subject of a contract notice published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 16 August 2008, the province of North Holland:
- established a technical specification incompatible with Article 23(6) of Directive 2004/18 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts, as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1422/2007 of 4 December 2007, by requiring that certain products to be supplied were to bear a specific eco-label, rather than using detailed specifications;
- established award criteria incompatible with Article 53(1)(a) of Directive 2004/18 by providing that the fact that certain products to be supplied bore specific labels would give rise to the grant of a certain number of points in the choice of the most economically advantageous tender, without having listed the criteria underlying those labels and without having allowed proof that a product satisfies those underlying criteria by all appropriate means;
- established a minimum level of technical ability not authorised by Articles 44(2) and 48 of Directive 2004/18 by requiring, on the basis of suitability requirements and minimum capacity levels stated in the specifications applicable in the context of that contract, that tenderers comply with the 'criteria of sustainable purchasing and socially responsible business' and state how they comply with those criteria and 'contribute to improving the sustainability of the coffee market and to environmentally, socially and economically responsible coffee production', and
- prescribed a clause contrary to the obligation of transparency provided for in Article 2 of Directive 2004/18 by requiring that tenderers comply with 'the criteria of sustainable purchasing and socially responsible business' and state how they comply with those criteria and 'contribute to improving the sustainability of the coffee market and to environmentally, socially and economically responsible coffee production',
the Kingdom of the Netherlands has failed to fulfil its obligations under the aforementioned provisions.
Dismisses the action as to the remainder;
Orders the Kingdom of the Netherlands to pay the costs.
____________1 - OJ C 328, 4.12.2010.