Untitled Document

	May 2008


	>	New Remedies Directive Welcomed

	>	Belgium takes provisional measures to implement 2004 Directives

	>	ECJ confirms principle of effective judicial protection in public procurement cases

Contact
William Timmermans
ALTIUS
Avenue du Port -
Havenlaan 86C b.414
1000 Brussels
Belgium
tel. +32 2 426 14 14
fax. +32 2 426 20 30
william.timmermans@altius.com

Dear all,

There have been fascinating evolutions in the public procurement sector. The European Union has finally issued a new Remedies Directive which will enhance judicial protection for rejected tenderers. Member States have to adapt their national legislation by 20 December 2009.

Unfortunately, Belgium has some difficulties in transposing the public procurement directives. Belgium chose to adopt interim legislation to remedy this situation.

Furthermore, the European Court of Justice confirmed the principle of effective judicial protection in its Lämmerzahl judgement dated 11 October 2007.

We hope you find our newsletter useful. Please feel free to forward it to friends or colleagues who might be interested. We welcome your feedback.

Kind regards,

William Timmermans

New Remedies Directive Welcomed

At the end of 2007, the European Union issued a new Remedies Directive in the sector of public procurement: Directive 2007/66/EC of 11 December 2007 amending directives 89/665/EEC and 92/13/EEC “with regard to improving the effectiveness of review procedures concerning the award of public contracts”. Member States have to transpose the new Directive into their national laws by 20 December 2009.
Companies that regularly submit tenders to contracting authorities and practitioners in the field of public procurement law have welcomed the new Directive. It is expected to enhance the transparency of awarding procurement contracts and to enhance judicial protection of rejected tenderers who wish to challenge contract awarding decisions. (…)

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William Timmermans

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Belgium takes provisional measures to implement 2004 Directives

In 2004, the existing EU public procurement Directives were replaced by two new Directives 2004/17/EC and 2004/18/EC which had to be transposed by the Member States before 31 January 2006. Belgium took the first steps towards this objective with two new public procurement laws dated 15 June 2006 and 16 June 2006 . However, with the exception of a few articles, these laws have not yet entered into force because they need to be implemented by Royal Decrees, which have not, to date, been drafted. (…)

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Ken Pittoors

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ECJ confirms principle of effective judicial protection in public procurement cases

In the Lämmerzahl judgement dated 11 October 2007, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) assessed the validity of a provision of German law which states that if a tenderer becomes aware of a breach of the procurement rules during the procedure to award a public contract, he must immediately make a complaint to the contracting authority. The provision also specifies that breaches that can be identified on the basis of the contract notice must be notified to the awarding authority by the end of the period to file an offer at the latest. This German law provision was assessed against the background of the Remedies Directive 89/665 and the ECJ’s jurisprudence on the principle of effectiveness. (…)

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Tim Bruyninckx

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This newsletter is intended for general informational purposes only. Altius CVBA does not accept liability resulting from reliance on or use of this information. Readers should take legal advice before applying this information to specific issues or transactions.