Press Release: Public procurement: Commission acts to enforce EU law in Germany, France, Denmark, Italy and the Netherlands

The European Commission decided on 25 October 2004 to refer Germany to the European Court of Justice over its non-compliance with a previous Court judgement requiring it to rectify the illegal award of contracts for waste water collection in Bockhorn and for waste disposal in Braunschweig (both in Lower Saxony). The Commission requested the Court to impose daily fines of €31,680 and €126,720 respectively. The Commission also decided to refer France to the Court concerning the incompatibility of its town planning code with EU public procurement law. The Commission decided to send a formal request to Denmark to set up review procedures permitting a decision awarding a public procurement contract to be suspended and annulled at a stage where the infringement could still be put right. It was also formally asking Italy to rectify the award without competition of contracts for a series of hydraulic projects in Stintino, Sardinia. The Netherlands was being asked to rectify the extension without competition of a contract for the supply of road safety barriers. The Commission requests took the form of reasoned opinions, which is the second stage of the infringement procedure laid down in Article 226 of the EC Treaty. Finally, after examining new national legislation, the Commission decided to close an infringement procedure against Italy over the procedures used to select the operators of local public services.