The Problem of the Admissibility of Modifications to Public Procurement (and Concession Contracts)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4335/20.3.685-714(2022)Keywords:
public procurement, concessions, substatial modification of the contract, directive 2014/23/EU, directive 2014/24/EU, directive 2014/25/EUAbstract
The central part of the scientific article is the analysis of the problem of the admissibility of modifications of public procurement contracts and concession contracts. After the awarding of a concession or a public procurement contract, these may not be substantially changed by an agreement between the contracting authority and the successful tenderer. The research is initially focused to an analysis of the development of the legal institute in the case law of the Court of Justice and its transposition into secondary legislation of the European Union. This is followed by a comparison of the regulation in the acquis communautaire with the regulation in Slovenian positive law. The problems of the admissibility of modifications to public procurement contracts/concessions (this is the central part of the article) should be supplemented by formulating a thesis on the possible extension of comparable standards of interpretation of admissibility from the contractual (implementation) to the tendering stage of public procurement/concession.
In this scientific paper, I therefore point out (which was the purpose of the scientific paper) the hypothesis that all modifications in public procurement procedures and concession award procedures must be treated equally, regardless of the stage a relationship creation or implementation process. A different position would be administrative and contrary to the necessary functional interpretation of EU law. The modification cannot becomes admissible at the time of the conclusion of the contract, while prior to that, this modification (which would already form part of the contractual relationship) is not admissible.
References
Arrowsmith, S. (2018) The Law of Public and Utilities Procurement: Regulation in the EU and UK, Volume 2, 3rd Edition (London: Sweet & Maxwell), pp. 48-49, p. 1043.
Aquilina, D. (2018) The Valuation of Contracts for the Purposes of the EU Public Contracts Directive, Public Procurement Law Review, 2018(1), p. 19.
Brown, A. (2008) When Do Changes to an Existing Public Contract Amount to the Award of a New Contract for the Purposes of the EU Procurement Rules? Guidance at Last in pressetext Nachrichtenagentur GmbH (Case C-454/06), Public Procurement Law Review, 2008(6), p. NA260.
Brown, A. (2008, 2) Changing a Sub-contractor Under a Public Services Concession: Wall AG v Stadt Frankfurt am Main, Public procurement law Review, 5/2010, C-91/08, p. NA 165.
Craven, R. (2014) The EU's 2014 Concessions Directive, Public Procurement Law Review, 2014(4), p. 195.
Skovgaard ØlYkke, G. & Fanøe Andersen, C. (2015) A State Aid Perspective on Certain Elements of Article 12 of the New Public Sector Directive on In-house Provision, Public Procurement Law Review, 2015(1), p. 9.
Halonen, K. M. (2017) Termination of a Public Contract Lifting the Veil on art.73 of 2014/24 Directive, Public Procurement Law Review, 2017(4), p. 187.
Hartlev, K. & Liljenbol, M. W. (2013) Changes to existing contract under the EU public procrement rules and drafting od review clauses to avoid the need for the new tender, Public Procurement Law Review, 2013(2), p. 58 et seq.
González, H. & Francisco L. (2016) The Evolving Concept of Works and Service Concessions in European Union Law, Public Procurement Law Review, 2016(2), p. NA 59.
Istituto per l'innovazione e trasparenza degli appalti e la compatibilita’ ambientale (2015) Documento di analisi della direttiva 2014/23/UE in materia di contratti di concessioni, Conferenza delle regioni e delle province autonome, p. 122.
Kotsonis, T. (2014) The 2014 Utilities Directive of the EU: Codification, Flexibilisation and Other Misdemeanours, Public Procurement Law Review, 2014(4), p. 182, p. 185.
Kranjc, J. (2000) Latinski pravni reki (Ljubljana: Založba Obzorja), p. 66.
Mužina, A., & Žvipelj, M. (2012) Spremembe javne pogodbe med njenim izvajanjem, In: Dnevi slovenskih pravnikov 2012 od 11. do 12. oktobra, Portorož, Podjetje in delo, 38(6/7), (Ljubljana: GV Založba), pp. 1030-1043.
Mužina, A. (2015) Ali je ZJN-3 strožji od pravil evropskega prava?, In: Dnevi javnih naročil: "Najpomembnejše novosti v ZJN3 in njihova povezava z ostalo zakonodajo ter praktične izkušnje pri uporabi aktualne zakonodaje", Konferenca Dnevi javnih naročil (Ljubljana: Agencija za management), pp. 41-52.
Mužina, A. & Rejc, Ž. (2017) Pravilo de minimis o spremembah pogodb o izvedbi javnega naročila in koncesijskih pogodb, Pravna praksa, 2017(16), pp. 17-19.
Mužina, A. (2019) Pregled zadnje sodne prakse sodišča EU s področja javnih naročila, In: Kako se uspešno izogniti pastem javnega naročanja?, Konferenca Dnevi javnih naročil (Škofja Loka: Agencija za management), pp. 29-36.
Mužina, A., Kostanjevec, V., Čas, P., Čepeljnik, M., Kašnik, B. & Trtnik Basta, M. (2020) Zakon o nekaterih koncesijskih pogodbah (ZNKP) s komentarjem (Ljubljana: Uradni list RS).
Novak, M. & Avbelj, M. (2013) Pravna argumentacija v praksi (Ljubljana: Planet GV).
Pavčnik, M. (2013) Argumentacija v pravu, 3. spremenjena in dopolnjena izdaja (Ljubljana: GV Založba).
Plas, E. (2021) Amendments to Public Contracts: In Search od Sufficent Degree of Transparency, Public Procurement Law Review, 2021 pp. 21-28.
Simovart, M. A. (2018) The Power of Termination under art. 73(a) of Directive 2014/24/EU: The Challenges of Balancing Implementation, Procurement Law Review, 2018(6), p. 280.
Trtnik Basta, M., Kostanjevec, V., Matas, S., Potočnik, M. & Klima Skok, U. (2016) Zakon o javnem naročanju (ZJN-3) s komentarjem (Ljubljana: Uradni list RS), pp. 456-464, p. 466.
Verri, P. (2015) Le concessioni alla luce del diritto europeo sui contratti pubblici (Milano: Bicocca), p. 183.
Wolswinkel, J. (2015) From Public Contracts to Limited Authorisations and Vice Versa: Exploring General Award Requirements from the EU Court's Corollary Approach, Public Procurement Law Review, 2015(5), p. 160.
Williams R. (2016) New Standard Forms for Public Procurement Notices, Public Procurement Law Review, 2016(2), p. NA 36.
List of sources:
Directive 2014/23/EU, OJ No L. 94.
Directive 2014/24/EU, OJ No L. 94.
Directive 2014/25/EU, OJ No L. 94.
European Commission (2011) Proposal for a Directive on public procurement under EU law, (COM (2011) 897 final, 2011/0438 (COD)).
European Commission (2011) Proposal for a Directive on the award of concession contracts under EU law, (COM (2011) 897 final, 2011/0437) (COD)).
Public Procurement Act.
Public-Private Partnership Act.
Certain Concession Contracts Act.
List of case-law:
C-337/98, Commission of the European Communities v French Republic, ECLI: EU: C: 2000: 543.
C-144/04, Werner Mangold v Rüdiger Helm, ECLI:EU:C:2005:709.
C-454/06, pressetext Nachrichtenagentur GmbH v. (Federal) Republic of Austria, APA-OTS Originaltext-Service GmbH in APA Austria Presse Agentur registrierte Genossenschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, ECLI:EU:C:2008:351.
C-261/07, VTB-VAB NV v Total Belgium NV, ECLI:EU:C:2009:244 joined to Case C-299/07, Galatea BVBA v Sanoma Magazines Belgium NV, ECLI:EU:C:2007:484.
C 160/08, European Commission v Federal Republic of Germany, ECLI:EU:C:2010:230.
C-206/08, Wasser- und Abwasserzweckverband Gotha und Landkreisgemeinden (WAZV Gotha) v Eurawasser Aufbereitungs- und Entsorgungsgesellschaft mbH, ECLI:EU:C:2009:540);
C-274/09, Privater Rettungsdienst und Krankentransport Stadler v Zweckverband für Rettungsdienst und Feuerwehralarmierung Passau, ECLI:EU:C:2011:130.
C-368/10, European Commission v Kingdom of the Netherlands, ECLI:EU:C:2012:284.
C 576/10, European Commission v Kingdom of the Netherlands, ECLI:EU:C:2013:510.
C 576/10, Opinion of the European Commission v Kingdom of the Netherlands, ECLI:EU:C:2013:219.
C-348/10, Norma-A SIA and Dekom SIA v Latgales plānošanas reģions, ECLI:EU:C:2011:721.
C-225/15, Criminal proceedings against Domenico Politanò, ECLI:EU:C:2016:645.
C-567/15, „LitSpecMet“ UAB v „Vilniaus lokomotyvų remonto depas“ UAB, ECLI:EU:C:2017:736.
C 526/17, European Commission v Italian Republic, ECLI:EU:C:2019:756.
C 526/17, Opinion of the European Commission v Italian Republic, ECLI:EU:C:2019:244.
C 461/20, Advania Sverige in Kammarkollegiet, ECLI:EU:C:2022:72
C-721/19, Opinion in the Sisal Case, ECLI:EU:C:2021:60.
Judgement of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia, X Ips 208/2013, ECLI:SI:VSRS:2015:X.IPS.208.2013.
Judgement of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia, IV Ips 64/2017, ECLI:SI:VSRS:2018:IV.IPS.64.2017.
Judgement of the Higher Court in Ljubljana, I Cpg 548/2019, SI:VSLJ:2020:I.CPG.548.2019.
Judgement of the Higher Court in Ljubljana, PRp 463/2021, dated 9 December 2021 (Not yet published).
Aquilina, D. (2018) The Valuation of Contracts for the Purposes of the EU Public Contracts Directive, Public Procurement Law Review, 2018(1), p. 19.
Brown, A. (2008) When Do Changes to an Existing Public Contract Amount to the Award of a New Contract for the Purposes of the EU Procurement Rules? Guidance at Last in pressetext Nachrichtenagentur GmbH (Case C-454/06), Public Procurement Law Review, 2008(6), p. NA260.
Brown, A. (2008, 2) Changing a Sub-contractor Under a Public Services Concession: Wall AG v Stadt Frankfurt am Main, Public procurement law Review, 5/2010, C-91/08, p. NA 165.
Craven, R. (2014) The EU's 2014 Concessions Directive, Public Procurement Law Review, 2014(4), p. 195.
Skovgaard ØlYkke, G. & Fanøe Andersen, C. (2015) A State Aid Perspective on Certain Elements of Article 12 of the New Public Sector Directive on In-house Provision, Public Procurement Law Review, 2015(1), p. 9.
Halonen, K. M. (2017) Termination of a Public Contract Lifting the Veil on art.73 of 2014/24 Directive, Public Procurement Law Review, 2017(4), p. 187.
Hartlev, K. & Liljenbol, M. W. (2013) Changes to existing contract under the EU public procrement rules and drafting od review clauses to avoid the need for the new tender, Public Procurement Law Review, 2013(2), p. 58 et seq.
González, H. & Francisco L. (2016) The Evolving Concept of Works and Service Concessions in European Union Law, Public Procurement Law Review, 2016(2), p. NA 59.
Istituto per l'innovazione e trasparenza degli appalti e la compatibilita’ ambientale (2015) Documento di analisi della direttiva 2014/23/UE in materia di contratti di concessioni, Conferenza delle regioni e delle province autonome, p. 122.
Kotsonis, T. (2014) The 2014 Utilities Directive of the EU: Codification, Flexibilisation and Other Misdemeanours, Public Procurement Law Review, 2014(4), p. 182, p. 185.
Kranjc, J. (2000) Latinski pravni reki (Ljubljana: Založba Obzorja), p. 66.
Mužina, A., & Žvipelj, M. (2012) Spremembe javne pogodbe med njenim izvajanjem, In: Dnevi slovenskih pravnikov 2012 od 11. do 12. oktobra, Portorož, Podjetje in delo, 38(6/7), (Ljubljana: GV Založba), pp. 1030-1043.
Mužina, A. (2015) Ali je ZJN-3 strožji od pravil evropskega prava?, In: Dnevi javnih naročil: "Najpomembnejše novosti v ZJN3 in njihova povezava z ostalo zakonodajo ter praktične izkušnje pri uporabi aktualne zakonodaje", Konferenca Dnevi javnih naročil (Ljubljana: Agencija za management), pp. 41-52.
Mužina, A. & Rejc, Ž. (2017) Pravilo de minimis o spremembah pogodb o izvedbi javnega naročila in koncesijskih pogodb, Pravna praksa, 2017(16), pp. 17-19.
Mužina, A. (2019) Pregled zadnje sodne prakse sodišča EU s področja javnih naročila, In: Kako se uspešno izogniti pastem javnega naročanja?, Konferenca Dnevi javnih naročil (Škofja Loka: Agencija za management), pp. 29-36.
Mužina, A., Kostanjevec, V., Čas, P., Čepeljnik, M., Kašnik, B. & Trtnik Basta, M. (2020) Zakon o nekaterih koncesijskih pogodbah (ZNKP) s komentarjem (Ljubljana: Uradni list RS).
Novak, M. & Avbelj, M. (2013) Pravna argumentacija v praksi (Ljubljana: Planet GV).
Pavčnik, M. (2013) Argumentacija v pravu, 3. spremenjena in dopolnjena izdaja (Ljubljana: GV Založba).
Plas, E. (2021) Amendments to Public Contracts: In Search od Sufficent Degree of Transparency, Public Procurement Law Review, 2021 pp. 21-28.
Simovart, M. A. (2018) The Power of Termination under art. 73(a) of Directive 2014/24/EU: The Challenges of Balancing Implementation, Procurement Law Review, 2018(6), p. 280.
Trtnik Basta, M., Kostanjevec, V., Matas, S., Potočnik, M. & Klima Skok, U. (2016) Zakon o javnem naročanju (ZJN-3) s komentarjem (Ljubljana: Uradni list RS), pp. 456-464, p. 466.
Verri, P. (2015) Le concessioni alla luce del diritto europeo sui contratti pubblici (Milano: Bicocca), p. 183.
Wolswinkel, J. (2015) From Public Contracts to Limited Authorisations and Vice Versa: Exploring General Award Requirements from the EU Court's Corollary Approach, Public Procurement Law Review, 2015(5), p. 160.
Williams R. (2016) New Standard Forms for Public Procurement Notices, Public Procurement Law Review, 2016(2), p. NA 36.
List of sources:
Directive 2014/23/EU, OJ No L. 94.
Directive 2014/24/EU, OJ No L. 94.
Directive 2014/25/EU, OJ No L. 94.
European Commission (2011) Proposal for a Directive on public procurement under EU law, (COM (2011) 897 final, 2011/0438 (COD)).
European Commission (2011) Proposal for a Directive on the award of concession contracts under EU law, (COM (2011) 897 final, 2011/0437) (COD)).
Public Procurement Act.
Public-Private Partnership Act.
Certain Concession Contracts Act.
List of case-law:
C-337/98, Commission of the European Communities v French Republic, ECLI: EU: C: 2000: 543.
C-144/04, Werner Mangold v Rüdiger Helm, ECLI:EU:C:2005:709.
C-454/06, pressetext Nachrichtenagentur GmbH v. (Federal) Republic of Austria, APA-OTS Originaltext-Service GmbH in APA Austria Presse Agentur registrierte Genossenschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, ECLI:EU:C:2008:351.
C-261/07, VTB-VAB NV v Total Belgium NV, ECLI:EU:C:2009:244 joined to Case C-299/07, Galatea BVBA v Sanoma Magazines Belgium NV, ECLI:EU:C:2007:484.
C 160/08, European Commission v Federal Republic of Germany, ECLI:EU:C:2010:230.
C-206/08, Wasser- und Abwasserzweckverband Gotha und Landkreisgemeinden (WAZV Gotha) v Eurawasser Aufbereitungs- und Entsorgungsgesellschaft mbH, ECLI:EU:C:2009:540);
C-274/09, Privater Rettungsdienst und Krankentransport Stadler v Zweckverband für Rettungsdienst und Feuerwehralarmierung Passau, ECLI:EU:C:2011:130.
C-368/10, European Commission v Kingdom of the Netherlands, ECLI:EU:C:2012:284.
C 576/10, European Commission v Kingdom of the Netherlands, ECLI:EU:C:2013:510.
C 576/10, Opinion of the European Commission v Kingdom of the Netherlands, ECLI:EU:C:2013:219.
C-348/10, Norma-A SIA and Dekom SIA v Latgales plānošanas reģions, ECLI:EU:C:2011:721.
C-225/15, Criminal proceedings against Domenico Politanò, ECLI:EU:C:2016:645.
C-567/15, „LitSpecMet“ UAB v „Vilniaus lokomotyvų remonto depas“ UAB, ECLI:EU:C:2017:736.
C 526/17, European Commission v Italian Republic, ECLI:EU:C:2019:756.
C 526/17, Opinion of the European Commission v Italian Republic, ECLI:EU:C:2019:244.
C 461/20, Advania Sverige in Kammarkollegiet, ECLI:EU:C:2022:72
C-721/19, Opinion in the Sisal Case, ECLI:EU:C:2021:60.
Judgement of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia, X Ips 208/2013, ECLI:SI:VSRS:2015:X.IPS.208.2013.
Judgement of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia, IV Ips 64/2017, ECLI:SI:VSRS:2018:IV.IPS.64.2017.
Judgement of the Higher Court in Ljubljana, I Cpg 548/2019, SI:VSLJ:2020:I.CPG.548.2019.
Judgement of the Higher Court in Ljubljana, PRp 463/2021, dated 9 December 2021 (Not yet published).
Published
2022-06-21
Issue
Section
Article
