Enforcement of Ineffectiveness of Unlawfully Modified Public Contracts

• Author: Mari Ann Simovart
• Pages: 43-54

43

JURIDICA INTERNATIONAL 24/2016

Mari Ann Simovart

Associate Professor of Civil Law

University of Tartu

Enforcement of Ineffectiveness

of Unlawfully Modif‌i ed

Public Contracts*1

Introduction

Originating from the general principles of the EU public procurement law, the restrictions on modifying

public contracts have been developed further by the EU legislator in the 2014 public and utilities procure-

ment directives.*2 The directives follow the rationale of the CJEU case law,*3 prohibiting any substantial

modif‌i cation of public contracts, and introduce detailed criteria for distinguishing acceptable contract mod-

if‌i cations from unacceptable (substantial) ones.

While the criterion of materiality as a measure of an amendment’s lawfulness has received a good amount

of attention in legal literature,*4 equal attention has not been paid to wider legal implications and possible

contradictions that can accompany the enforcement of these rules, particularly when the interaction with

national legal systems of the EU is taken into account.

Қ This work is supported by Estonian Research Council grant PUTҟҜҢ.

қ Directive қҙҚҝ/қҜ/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of қҟ February қҙҚҝ on the award of concession

contracts, OJ L Ңҝ, қҡ/ҙҜ/қҙҚҝ, pp. Қ–ҟҝ (the Concessions Directive); Directive қҙҚҝ/қҝ/EU of the European Parliament

and of the Council of қҟ February қҙҚҝ on public procurement and repealing Directive қҙҙҝ/Қҡ/EC; OJ L Ңҝ, қҡ/Ҝ/қҙҚҝ,

pp. ҟҞ–қҝқ (the Public Procurement Directive); Directive қҙҚҝ/қҞ/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council

of қҟ February қҙҚҝ on procurement by entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors and

repealing Directive қҙҙҝ/ҚҠ/EC OJ L Ңҝ, қҡ/Ҝ/қҙҚҝ, pp. қҝҜ–ҜҠҝ (the Utilities Directive).

Ҝ Commission of the European Communities v. CAS Succhi di Frutta SpA, case C-ҝҟҢ/ҢҢ P, ECLI:EU:C:қҙҙҝ:қҜҟ; pressetext

Nachrichtenagentur GmbH v. Republik Österreich (Bund), APA-OTS Originaltext-Service GmbH and APA Austria Presse

Agentur registrierte Genossenschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, case C-ҝҞҝ/ҙҟ, ECLI:EU:C:қҙҙҡ:ҜҞҚ; Wall AG v. La ville

de Francfort-sur-le-Main and Frankfurter Entsorgungs- und Service (FES) GmbH, case C-ҢҚ/ҙҡ, ECLI:EU:C:қҙҚҙ:Қҡқ.

ҝ A. Brown. When do changes to an existing public contract amount to the award of a new contract for the purpose of the EU

procurement rules? Guidance at last in case C-ҝҞҝ/ҙҟ. – Public Procurement Law Review , қҙҙҡ, pp. NAқҞҜ–қҟҠ; K.

Hartlev, M.W. Liljenbøl. Changes to existing contracts under the EU public procurement rules and the drafting of review

clauses to avoid the need for a new tender. – Public Procurement Law Review , қҙҚҜ; S. Treumer. Regulation of contract

changes leading to a duty to retender the contract: The European Commission’s proposals of December қҙҚҚ. – Public

Procurement Law Review , қҙҚқ; S. Treumer. Contract changes and the duty to retender under the new EU public procure-

ment Directive. – Public Procurement Law Review , қҙҚҝ; M.A. Simovart. Lepinguvabaduse piirid riigihankes: Euroopa

Liidu hankeõiguse mõju Eesti eraõigusele [‘Limits to Freedom of Contract: the Inf‌l uence of EC Public Procurement Law on

Estonian Private Law’], doctoral thesis], қҙҚҙ, available at https://dspace.utlib.ee/dspace/bitstream/handle/Қҙҙҟқ/ҚҞҚҝҡ/

simovart_mari_ann.pdf?sequence=Ҟ (most recently accessed on Қҟ.Ҝ.қҙҚҟ); M.A. Simovart. Amendments to procurement

contracts: Estonian law in the light of the Pressetext ruling. – Juridica International қҙҚҙ, No. Қ, pp. ҚҞҚ–Қҟҙ, available at

http://www.juridicainternational.eu/index.php?id=ҚҝҞҡҚ (most recently accessed on Қҟ.Ҝ.қҙҚҟ); Hankelepingu lubatud ja

keelatud muudatused uute riigihankedirektiivide ülevõtmise järel [‘Permitted and Prohibited Amendments After Transposi-

tion of the New Public Procurement Directives’]. Juridica қҙҚҟ/I, pp. Ҟқ–ҟҙ.

http://dx.doi.org/10.12697/JI.2016.24.05