Judgment of the General Court (Third Chamber) of 11 June 2014 —Communicaid Group v Commission
(Case T‑4/13)
Public service contracts — Tendering procedure — Provision of language-training services for staff of the institutions, bodies and agencies of the European Union in Brussels — Rejection of tenders submitted by the applicant — Principle of transparency — Non-discrimination — Equal treatment — Article 94 of the Financial Regulation — Selection criteria — Obligation to state reasons — Award criteria — Manifest error of assessment
1. 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 paras 21-24, 28)
2. EU public contracts — Tender procedure — Duty to comply with the principle of equal treatment of tenderers — Need to ensure equal opportunities and comply with the principle of transparency — Scope — Conflict of interests between a tenderer and a member of the evaluation committee — Infringement — Burden of proof (Council Regulation No 1605/2002, Arts 52(2), and 89(1)) (see paras 51-53, 59, 82)
3. EU public contracts — Conclusion of a contract following a call for tenders — Discretion of the institutions — Judicial review — Limits (see paras 95, 96)
4. EU public contracts — Tender procedure — Option conferred on the awarding authority to make contact with a tenderer after the opening of tenders — No obligation to invite a tenderer to complete or explain the supporting documents submitted in relation to the exclusion and selection criteria (Commission Regulation No 2342/2002, Art. 146(3)) (see para. 105)
5. Judicial proceedings — Application initiating proceedings — Formal requirements — Brief summary of the pleas in law on which the application is based — General reference to documents annexed to the application — Inadmissibility (Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 21, first para.; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 44(1)(c)) (see para. 128)
Re:
| APPLICATION for the annulment, in whole or in part, of the decisions by which the Commission refused to rank Communicaid Group Ltd in first place for Lots 1, 2, 4, 7, 8 and 9 of the Call for Tenders HR/R3/PR/2012/002 relating to framework agreements for the provision of language training for staff of the institutions, bodies and agencies of the European Union in Brussels (Belgium). |
Operative part
The Court:
2. | | Orders Communicaid Group Ltd to pay the costs, including those incurred in the proceedings for interim measures. |