Judgment of the General Court (Ninth Chamber) of 13 June 2019.Strabag Belgium v European Parliament.Public works contracts — Tendering procedure — General contractor works in the European Parliament buildings in Brussels — Rejection of the bid of one tenderer and award of the contract to other tenderers — Abnormally low tender — Action for annulment — Measure not open to challenge — Inadmissibility — Obligation to state reasons — Manifest error of assessment.Case T-299/18.

Judgment // 13/06/2019 // 3 min read
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Judgment of the General Court (Ninth Chamber) of 13 June 2019 –Strabag Belgium v Parliament

(Case T‑299/18)

(Public works contracts — Tendering procedure — General contractor works in the European Parliament buildings in Brussels — Rejection of the bid of one tenderer and award of the contract to other tenderers — Abnormally low tender — Action for annulment — Measure not open to challenge — Inadmissibility — Obligation to state reasons — Manifest error of assessment)

  1. Action for annulment — Actionable measures — Measures producing binding legal effects — Measures altering the applicant’s legal situation

(Art. 263 TFEU)

(see paras 33, 35)

  1. Action for annulment — Actionable measures — Measures producing binding legal effects — Assessment of those effects by reference to the substance of the measure

(Art. 263 TFEU)

(see para. 34)

  1. European Union public contracts — Conclusion of a contract following a call for tenders — Abnormally low offer — Obligation to state reasons — Scope

(Art. 296, second para. TFEU; European Parliament and Council Regulation No 966/2012, Art. 113(2); Commission Regulation No 1268/2012, Art 151(1) and (2) and 161(2) and (3))

(see para. 44)

  1. Acts of the institutions — Statement of reasons — Obligation — Scope — Assessment of the duty to state reasons by reference to the circumstances of the case

(Art. 296, second para. TFEU)

(see paras 45, 48)

  1. European Union public contracts — Conclusion of a contract following a call for tenders — Abnormally low offer — Obligation on the contracting authority to examine the abnormally low nature of the tender — Scope — Elements to be taken into consideration

(European Parliament and Council Regulation No 966/2012; Commission Regulation No 1268/2012, Art. 151(1) and (2))

(see paras 60, 62, 64, 114, 122, 123)

  1. European Union public contracts — Conclusion of a contract following a call for tenders — Abnormally low offer — Obligation on the awarding authority to implement an inter partes verification procedure — Scope

(European Parliament and Council Regulation No 966/2012; Commission Regulation No 1268/2012, Art. 151(1))

(see para. 63)

  1. European Union public contracts — Conclusion of a contract following a call for tenders — Discretion of the institutions — Judicial review — Limits

(see para. 65)

  1. Action for annulment — Pleas in law — Action against a decision rejecting a tender submitted by a tenderer in the context of a public procurement procedure launched by an EU institution — Plea in law alleging a manifest error of assessment on the part of the contracting authority — Burden of proof incumbent on the applicant

(Art. 263 TFEU)

(see para. 66)

  1. EU law — Principles — Principle of sound administration — Duty of diligence — Scope

(Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 41)

(see para. 113)

  1. Judicial proceedings — Application initiating proceedings — Formal requirements — Brief summary of the pleas in law on which the application is based — Abstract statement — Inadmissibility

(Statute of the Court of Justice, Arts 21, first para. and 53, first para.; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 76(d))

(see para. 127)

Re:

Application under Article 263 TFEU for annulment, first, of the Parliament decision of 19 April 2018 to maintain in force its decision of 24 November 2017 rejecting the applicant’s tender and awarding to five tenderers a framework contract involving general contractor works for Parliament buildings in Brussels (call for tenders 06D 20/2017/M036) and, secondly, of the addendum to the Parliament’s tender assessment report of 26 March 2018.

Operative part

The Court:

  1. Dismisses the action;

  2. Orders Strabag Belgium to pay the costs, including those related to the interlocutory proceedings.