Belgian authorities come under attack

Date: 31/10/1996

WHILE they are happy to sign up to single market agreements in the Council of Ministers, governments will often go their own merry way once they are back in the real world of business and local influence.

The Belgian authorities are no exception.

When the Flemish government decided to make its first high-profile contract award only months after the state (at both the federal and regional level) had agreed to Union public procurement rules, it allegedly ignored the regulations. The building of the Flemish parliament, the Vlaamse Raad, was above the 5-million-ecu threshold, but the authorities failed to invite other EU builders to tender for the contract and no advertisement was put in the Official Journal.

The government of Flanders opted instead to award the much-sought after contract to Flemish firms, in spite of regular complaints from the Commission both in 1994 and 1995.

The Commission finally lost patience in July this year and applied to the European Court of Justice for a ruling that the Belgian authorities had breached the rules on the award of public contracts.

For their part, the Belgians claimed that a sovereign independent body such as their national parliament was not covered by the procurement regulations.

But the Commission, in its application to the court, argued that this was a false reading of the laws. Contracting authorities could be state, regional or local authorities, bodies governed by public law or even associations of all these.

A decision is not expected for some months. Meanwhile, the parliament has been built. But the outcome will nevertheless be highly significant, since the Walloon government is close to approving the building of a new parliament in Namur.