| | Preamble to Directive 1990/531COUNCIL DIRECTIVE of 17 September 1990 on the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and telecommunications sectors (90/531/EEC)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing in the European Economic Community and in particular the last sentence of Article 57 (2), Article 66, Article 100a and Article 113 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),
In cooperation with the European Parliament (2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (3),
Whereas the measures aimed at progressively establishing the internal market, during the period up to 31 December 1992, need to be taken; whereas the internal market consists of an area without internal frontiers in which free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is guaranteed;
Whereas the European Council has drawn conclusions concerning the need to bring about a single internal market;
Whereas restrictions on the free movement of goods and on the freedom to provide services in respect of supply contracts awarded in the water, energy, transport and telecommunications sectors are prohibited by the terms of Articles 30 and 59 of the Treaty;
Whereas Article 97 of the Euratom Treaty prohibits any restrictions based on nationality as regards companies under the jurisdiction of a Member State where they desire to participate in the construction of nuclear installations of a scientific or industrial nature in the Community;
Whereas these objectives also require the coordination of the procurement procedures applied by the entities operating in these sectors;
Whereas the White Paper on the completion of the internal market contains an action programme and a timetable for opening up public procurement markets in sectors which are currently excluded from Council Directive 71/305/EEC of 26 July 1971 concerning the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts (4), as last amended by Council Directive 89/440/EEC (5), and Council Directive 77/62/EEC of 21 December 1976 coordinating procedures for the award of public supply contracts (6), as last amended by Directive 88/295/EEC (7);
Whereas among such excluded sectors are those concerning the provision of water, energy and transport services and, as far as Directive 77/62/EEC is concerned, the telecommunications sector;
Whereas the main reason for their exclusion was that entities providing such services are in some cases governed by public law, in others by private law;
Whereas the need to ensure a real opening-up of the market and a fair balance in the application of procurement rules in these sectors requires that the entities to be covered must be identified on a different basis than by reference to their legal status;
Whereas, in the four sectors concerned, the procurement problems to be solved are of a similar nature, so permitting them to be addressed in one instrument;
Whereas, among the main reasons why entities operating in these sectors do not purchase on the basis of Community-wide competition is the closed nature of the markets in which they operate, due to the existence of special or exclusive rights granted by the national authorities, concerning the supply to, provision or operation of, networks for providing the service concerned, the exploitation of a given geographical area for a particular purpose, the provision or operation of public telecommunications networks or the provision of public telecommunications services;
Whereas the other main reason for the absence of Community-wide competition in these areas results from various ways in which national authorities can influence the behaviour of these entities, including participations in their capital and representation in the entities' administrative, managerial or supervisory bodies;
Whereas this Directive should not extend to activities of those entities which either fall outside the sectors of water, energy and transport services or outside the telecommunications sector, or which fall within those sectors but nevertheless are directly exposed to competitive forces in markets to which entry is unrestricted;
Whereas it is appropriate that these entities apply common procurement procedures in respect of their activities relating to water; whereas certain entities have been covered up to now by the Directives 71/305/EEC and 77/62/EEC in respect of their activities in the field of hydraulic engineering projects, irrigation, land drainage or the disposal and treatment of sewage;
Whereas, however, procurement rules of the type proposed for supplies of goods are inappropriate for purchases of water, given the need to procure water from sources near the area it will be used;
Whereas, when specific conditions are fulfilled, exploitation of a geographical area with the aim of exploring for or extracting oil, gas, coal or other solid fuels may be made subject to alternative arrangements which will enable the same objective of opening up contracts to be achieved; whereas the Commission must ensure that these conditions are complied with by the Member States who implement these alternative arrangements;
Whereas the Commission has announced that it will propose measures to remove obstacles to cross-frontier exchanges of electricity by 1992; whereas procurement rules of the type proposed for supplies of goods would not make it possible to overcome existing obstacles to the purchases of energy and fuels in the energy sector; whereas, as a result, it is not appropriate to include such purchases in the scope of this Directive, although it should be borne in mind that this exemption will be re-examined by the Council on the basis of a Commission report and Commission proposals;
Whereas Regulations (EEC) No 3975/87(8) and (EEC) No 3976/87(9), Directive 87/601/EEC(10) and Decision 87/602/EEC(11) are designed to introduce more competition between the entities offering air transport services to the public and it is therefore not appropriate for the time being to include such entities in the scope of this Directive although the situation ought to be reviewed at a later stage in the light of progress made as regards competition;
Whereas, in view of the competitive position of Community shipping, it would be inappropriate for the greater part of the contracts in this sector to be subject to detailed procedures; whereas the situation of shippers operating sea-going ferries should be kept under review; whereas certain inshore and river ferry services operated by public authorities should no longer be excluded from the scope of Directives 71/305/EEC and 77/62/EEC;
Whereas it is appropriate to facilitate compliance with provisions relating to activities not covered by this Directive;
Whereas this Directive should not apply to procurement contracts which are declared secret or may affect basic State security interests or are concluded according to other rules set up by existing international agreements or international organizations;
Whereas the Community's or the Member States' existing international obligations must not be affected by the rules of this Directive;
Whereas products, works or services must be described by reference to European specifications; whereas, in order to ensure that a product, work or service fulfils the use for which it is intended by the contracting entity, such reference may be complemented by specifications which do not change the nature of the technical solution or solutions set out in the European specification;
Whereas the principles of equivalence and of mutual recognition of national standards, technical specifications and manufacturing methods are applicable in the field of application of this Directive;
Whereas, when the contracting entities define by common accord with tenderers the deadlines for receiving tenders, they shall comply with the principle of non-discrimination, and whereas, if there is no such agreement, it is necessary to lay down suitable provisions;
Whereas it could prove useful to provide for greater transparency as to the requirements regarding the protection and conditions of employment applicable in the Member State in which the works are to be carried out;
Whereas it is appropriate that national provisions for regional development requirements to be taken into consideration in the award of public works contracts should be made to conform to the objectives of the Community and be in keeping with the principles of the Treaty;
Whereas contracting entities must not be able to reject abnormally low tenders before having requested in writing explanations as to the constituent elements of the tender;
Whereas, within certain limits, preference should be given to an offer of Community origin where there are equivalent offers of third country origin;
Whereas this Directive should not prejudice the position of the Community in any current or future international negotiations;
Whereas, based on the results of such international negotiations, this Directive should be extendable to offers of third country origin, pursuant to a Council Decision;
Whereas the rules to be applied by the entities concerned should establish a framework for sound commercial practice and should leave a maximum of flexibility;
Whereas, as a counterpart for such flexibility and in the interest of mutual confidence, a minimum level of transparency must be ensured and appropriate methods adopted for monitoring the application of this Directive;
Whereas it is necessary to adapt Directives 71/305/EEC and 77/62/EEC to establish well-defined fields of application; whereas the scope of Directive 71/305/EEC should not be reduced, except as regards contracts in the water and telecommunications sectors; whereas the scope of Directive 77/62/EEC should not be reduced, except as regards certain contracts in the water sector; whereas the scope of Directives 71/305/EEC and 77/62/EEC should not, however, be extended to contracts awarded by carriers by land, air, sea, inshore or inland waterway which, although carrying out economic activities of an industrial or commercial nature, belong to the State administration; whereas, nevertheless, certain contracts awarded by carriers by land, air, sea, inshore or inland waterway which belong to the State administration and are carried out only for reasons of public service should be covered by those Directives;
Whereas this Directive should be re-examined in the light of experience;
Whereas the opening up of contracts, on 1 January 1993, in the sectors covered by this Directive might have an adverse effect upon the economy of the Kingdom of Spain; whereas the economies of the Hellenic Republic and the Portuguese Republic will have to sustain even greater efforts; whereas it is appropriate that these Member States be granted adequate additional periods to implement this Directive,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
(1) OJ No C 264, 16. 10. 1989, p. 22.
(2) OJ No C 158, 26. 6. 1989, p. 258 and OJ No C 175, 16. 7. 1990, p. 78.
(3) OJ No C 139, 5. 6. 1989, pp. 23 and 31.
(4) OJ No L 185, 16. 8. 1971, p. 5.
(5) OJ No L 210, 21. 7. 1989, p. 1.
(6) OJ No L 13, 15. 1. 1977, p. 1.
(7) OJ No L 127, 20. 5. 1988, p. 1.
(8) OJ No L 374, 31. 12. 1987, p. 1.
(9) OJ No L 374, 31. 12. 1987, p. 9.
(10) OJ No L 374, 31. 12. 1987, p. 12.
(11) OJ No L 374, 31. 12. 1987, p. 19.
(12) OJ No L 40, 11. 2. 1989, p. 12.
(13) OJ No L 185, 16. 8. 1971, p. 15.
(14) OJ No L 13, 15. 1. 1977, p. 15.
(15) OJ No L 217, 5. 8. 1986, p. 21.
(16) OJ No L 36, 7. 2. 1987, p. 31.
(17) OJ No L 148, 28. 6. 1968, p. 1.
(18) OJ No L 363, 23. 12. 1987, p. 30.
(19) OJ No L 298, 16. 11. 1984, p. 51. |
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