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Textbook Public Procurement and The Eu Competition Rules Second Edition Albert Sanchez Graells Ebook All Chapter PDF
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HART STUDIES IN COMPETITION LAW
PUBLIC
PROCUREMENT
AND THE EU
COMPETITION
RULES
SECOND EDITION
Public procurement and competition law are both important fields of EU law and policy,
intimately intertwined in the creation of the internal market. Hitherto their close con-
nection has been noted, but not closely examined. This work is the most comprehensive
attempt to date to explain the many ways in which these fields, often considered inde-
pendent of one another, interact and overlap in the creation of the internal market. This
process of convergence between competition and public procurement law is particularly
apparent in the new 2014 Directives on public procurement that, in a novel way, consoli-
date the principle of competition in terms very close to those advanced by the author in
the first edition. This second edition of the book builds upon this principled approach and
continues to ask how competition law principles inform and condition public procurement
rules, and whether the latter (in their revised form) are adequate to ensure that competi-
tion is not distorted in markets where public procurement is particularly significant. The
second edition of the book also deepens the analysis of the market behaviour of the public
buyer from a competition perspective. The analysis remains both legal and economic.
Proceeding through a careful assessment of the general rules of competition and public
procurement, the book constantly tests the efficacy of the rules in competition and public
procurement against a standard of the proper functioning of undistorted competition in
the market for public procurement. It also traces the increasing relevance of competition
considerations in the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and sets out
criteria and recommendations to continue influencing that line of development of EU
Economic Law.
ISBN: 978-1-84946-612-7
ISBN (ePDF): 978-1-78225-999-2
To Jule
Foreword to the Second Edition
Foreword to the Second Edition
vii
viii Foreword to the Second Edition
Similarly, the directives, though articulated at the European level, are transposed and
applied at the national level. Despite appearing more like Regulations (than Directives)
with each iteration, the Member States continue to retain discretion in the way in which
they manage their own public purchasing, albeit within the expanding limits of the direc-
tives. Some Member States pursue this possibility with conviction; others less so. Member
States pursue a variety of more strategic procurement policies aligned to national objec-
tives such as greater promotion of SMEs, enhanced environmentally friendly procurement,
greater integrity through targeted anti-corruption measures, improved technical efficiency
and value for money. These are not mutually exclusive objectives; they are often comple-
mentary, sometimes contradictory. But they are national objectives rather than European
ones even though the regulator introduces some confusion by referring to some of these
in the directives. Value for money, a long-standing UK objective, now appears in the direc-
tives but is not one of their objectives and could even be inconsistent with some of them.
Many of the provisions of the directives, some of which may have been inspired by
national objectives as is the way in the European legislative arena, are the result of decisions
far removed from the stated goals of the directives and are political ones at that. That is not
to say that this should not be the case. National governments have long used procurement
as a policy tool and there is no reason why the European regulator as, apparently, an agent
of national governments, should not also use the directives as a tool of policy. The pity is
perhaps that the goals arguably made explicit in the directives themselves do not reflect
the reality of the goals they are being used to achieve. This has been the history of the
directives. The objectives have appeared constant but those are not the objectives that have
been pursued. This perhaps partly explains the contortions of the European judiciary in
seeking to align the directives with the reality of their application. The point is that policy
goals need to be expressed clearly in the directives and not hidden in the detailed provi-
sions where they cause confusion. It is a question of regulatory honesty.
At the same time, procurement sits within an economic reality and involves the pur-
chase by public authorities of goods, works and services from the market. It is an activity
of the market economy and is dependent on the laws of supply and demand. The regula-
tion of procurement does not exist in a vacuum and will either affect or be affected by
the participation of the public purchaser in the marketplace. An understanding of public
procurement requires an understanding of how the procurement market works, espe-
cially when one of the parties to the transaction is a public buyer. This is not a normative
exercise but one which consists in recognising the market effects of public procurement
regulation. At a very basic level, distortions in the market affect the competitive structures
in place and have the ability to distort the outcomes envisaged (or at least promoted) by
the procurement directives.
The degree of distortion, if that is what it is, depends on the degree of regulatory inter-
vention. The directives began life as relatively simple prohibitions of non-discrimination
to be applied in public procurement. The original directives did not, as do the later direc-
tives, impose the use of certain procedures; they merely indicated the requirements that
were to be imposed (in relation to advertising, for example) in the event that such pro-
cedures were used and provided examples of common procedures used at the time. Since
then, the procedures required to be used, the conditions of use and the detailed steps to
be followed in applying those procedures have been increasingly regulated, thus affecting
Foreword to the Second Edition ix
the conduct of the purchaser in the market to an ever greater extent. That conduct and its
effect deserves attention.
In economic terms, the core procurement method of open tendering is dependent on
‘contestability’ (an expression of competition) meaning that neither buyer nor seller can
exert control over the market prices and are thus price takers. In such circumstances,
contestability, or competition through competitive tendering, serves to reflect the true cost
of production and indicates, through the discovery process, those suppliers who are the
most efficient producers. Contestability is also a key element in reaching a state of perfect
competition, a construct which in reality is never achieved, since it is competition which
acts as the primary discovery process through which market prices are identified.
Where conditions exist that detract from perfect competition and economic efficiency,
there is a market failure. These market failures affect this efficiency and in turn the degree
and effectiveness of contestability. At the most obvious level in this context, a market
failure exists where suppliers are not price takers, eg where they are able to control the
prices in the market. This could be either through bid-rigging and other forms of cartelisa-
tion or through the exercise of monopoly power.
But market failures do not occur only at the hands of suppliers, they also occur at
the hands of buyers and are affected by their actions on the market. The fact that the
buyer is a public body already presents challenges (because its preferences and hence what
might be considered the value it places on its purchases are unlike those of a private pur-
chaser, thus affecting the concept value for money) but the issue is broader than that. The
way in which they manage their purchasing and the vehicles they choose to do so have
implications for the market. Centralised purchasing is a case in point. The aggregation of
demand by public purchasers to benefit from scale economies could have serious supply-
side implications. Larger contracts may benefit larger suppliers and reduce opportunities
for national suppliers or SMEs. Such arrangements may create supply-side monopolies
or reduce prices to such an extent that some suppliers are forced to leave the market and
new entrants are excluded. This is not a qualitative statement. These consequences may
be either beneficial or disadvantageous depending on the market in question. The point is
that the procurement decisions (guided or constrained as they might be by the directives)
will have an effect on the market. It is an effect that cannot be ignored.
The original edition of this book was the first to provide a comprehensive analysis
of the intersection between procurement law and competition law as an expression of
how procurement affects the competitive structure of markets. It explained the concepts
involved and carefully described the relevant provisions of both public procurement law
and competition law at the European level. In drawing conclusions on the effect of the
actions of the public purchaser in competitive markets, Dr Sánchez Graells was able to
demonstrate in some detail the potential causes and effects of market distortions cre-
ated by the participation of public buyers in the market, notably by concentrating on
the demand side of the equation. In doing so, he raised much needed awareness of the
issue and, in making some normative proposals based on his findings, precipitated some
spirited debate along the way.
This second edition focuses even more on the demand side distortions and elevates
that ongoing debate. With shrinking budgets, governments and their administrations are
seeking ways of generating savings. In some cases, the mechanisms chosen will affect
supply-side competition and the structure of the market. The concentration of purchasing
x Foreword to the Second Edition
power in fewer and larger procuring entities which follows the internal centralisation of
some procuring entities in the market and the removal of multiple purchasers within them
(sometimes referred to as discrete operational units) may result in larger, longer contracts
with fewer, bigger suppliers and could force the exit of other suppliers from the market.
The increasing use made of the Teckal exemption for in-house contracting and of hori-
zontal cooperation between public authorities (both of which devices are now codified in
the new directives which provide for exemption from their provisions) may well remove
a number of procurement opportunities from the market which previously supplied them
with a similar effect. A reduction in contract opportunities may ultimately result in a
reduction of suppliers. Whilst governments may benefit in the short term from cost sav-
ings brought about by apparently clever use of strategic procurement, the long-term effect
on supply markets (and on future procurement) might be devastating.
Given the lack of constancy in the objectives sought to be pursued in the name of the
directives and the confusion which results from the lack of regulatory honesty, it is little
surprise that even the key principles have been subject to significant interpretation and
re-articulation over the years. The concept of competition raises its head in the directives
and the jurisprudence at many points but there is no consensus over its meaning and its
implications for public procurement regulation in general. Even if such a consensus could
be found, there is no reason to assume that this concept should remain static. It may well
be subject to further interpretation or elucidation as has been the case with other key
principles of the directives and who is to say that this will also not generate a need to
respond through further instrumental regulation. This second edition provides a strong
analytical basis for such a debate. And that debate is not over …
Dr Peter Trepte
Senior Fellow in Public Procurement Law
School of Law, University of Nottingham, UK
Foreword to the First Edition
Foreword to the First Edition
xi
xii Foreword to the First Edition
Francisco Marcos
Professor of Law
IE Law School, Madrid, Spain
Author’s Note to the Second Edition
Author’s Note to the Second Edition
xiii
xiv Author’s Note to the Second Edition
Professor Sue Arrowsmith contends that the pro-competitive framework on which this book
is based constitutes a stretched and distorted reading of the competition elements included in
the EU public procurement directives and their interpreting case law.
Professor Sue Arrowsmith criticises my competition-oriented approach in a section of
her article ‘The Purpose of the EU Procurement Directives: Ends, Means and the Implica-
tions for National Regulatory Space for Commercial and Horizontal Procurement Policies’
((2011–12) 14 Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies 1–47). She argues for her
own interpretation of the goal of the EU rules and tries to limit their scope in search for
some ‘regulatory space’ for Member States. This is part of a larger endeavour of hers, likely
to carry on in the written proceedings of her conference on “Rethinking ‘economic’ dero-
gations and justifications under the EU’s free movement rules” within the Current Legal
Problems 2014–15 series. In her 2012 paper, Professor Arrowsmith considered that my
book espouses ‘a broad notion of competition as a tool for replicating the private sector
market’ in the public procurement setting. She considers that such point of departure
should be rejected, as it is a misunderstanding of the concept of competition embedded
in the pre-2014 public procurement directives, which she considers limited to ‘removing
discrimination and barriers to entry into the competitive market, and implementation
of the competitive procedures for transparency reasons’. She adopted a rather positivistic
approach and stressed that ‘[i]t seems significant that while non-discrimination, trans-
parency and equal treatment were written into the directives as general principles, [its]
“competition” provisions are confined to specific areas’. She eventually concluded that ‘a
broad interpretation of the directives as being concerned with replicating market competi-
tion is incorrect. While apparently supported by some statements in the jurisprudence
these are based on misunderstanding and such a broad interpretation, it is submitted,
represents unwarranted judicial reorientation of the directives’ rules’ (all quotes from pp
25–34). My reaction to the line of criticism voiced by Professor Arrowsmith is as follows.
Firstly, I am not sure that my approach can be conceptualised as an attempt to make
the directives ‘replicate market competition’. I would submit that it is rather an attempt to
properly integrate them within an environment of market competition. Or, put differently,
this is an attempt to avoid public procurement rules from distorting or restricting the
competition that already takes place in the market, or from preventing the competition
that would emerge but for the constraints imposed by the procurement rules.
Author’s Note to the Second Edition xv
Secondly, as to the point that this approach is flawed and based on misunderstand-
ings, taking exclusively into account the pre-2014 materials, I would suggest that Professor
Arrowsmith’s views do not lie on the strongest economic foundations. Professor Arrow-
smith basically comes to the view that EU public procurement rules are concerned with
preventing barriers to trade within the internal market (by means of transparency and
non-discrimination), but that this has nothing to do with economic efficiency derived
from undistorted competition because the ultimate objective of the rules (beyond internal
market integration per se) belongs to the domestic regulatory space of the Member States.
However, economic efficiency must, by necessity, derive from the completion of the
internal market if that results in stronger competitive pressures for economic operators.
Furthermore, as the Court of Justice of the EU has very recently stressed in an inter-
pretation of the 2004 public procurement directives, the ultimate objective of the internal
market rules and the EU public procurement directives is to allow all the economic operators
involved to achieve economic efficiency derived from competition strategies unaffected by
restrictive procurement decisions—in particular, even if that is attained by deriving a com-
petitive advantage from the differences between the respective rates of pay applicable in
different Member States (Judgment in Bundesdruckerei, C-549/13, EU:C:2014:2235, 34). It
seems very clear that EU public procurement rules, just as everywhere else, are concerned
with economic efficiency. Hence, limited doubt can seriously be cast on the fundamental
proposition that the development of the internal market, including public procurement
rules, and its supporting system of competition rules aim at generating economic effi-
ciency by relying on (economic) market mechanisms.
Thirdly, and from a more legalistic perspective, the development of the EU public
procurement rules in the revised 2014 directives also disprove the point that the general
principle of competition does not exist and that competition considerations are limited
or confined to specific areas. As discussed at length in chapter five of this second edition,
article 18(1) of Directive 2014/24 now clearly consolidates the principle of competition
amongst the general principles of the system. It is true that the wording of this provi-
sion could have been clearer and that there are significant interpretative questions that
need being addressed, but it should be acknowledged that by clearly stating that ‘[t]he
design of the procurement shall not be made with the intention … of artificially nar-
rowing competition [and that c]ompetition shall be considered to be artificially narrowed
where the design of the procurement is made with the intention of unduly favouring
or disadvantaging certain economic operators’. Directive 2014/24 stresses the relevance
of competition considerations across the board and provides an interpretative tool that
is likely to further develop the pro-competitive orientation of the system of EU public
procurement rules in the coming years. In my view, this is a truly welcome development,
and not only because it clearly supports the ideas and approach developed in the first edi-
tion of this book and now further refined in this second edition. As has always been my
conviction, a competition-oriented public procurement system is necessary for the public
sector to properly carry out their missions with the minimum distortion of private sector
activities and, ultimately, with the minimum loss of social welfare.
In the 2005 second edition of her magnificent treatise The Law of Public and Utili-
ties Procurement, 2nd edn (London, Sweet & Maxwell, 2005) 432, she had indicated that
‘competition might be developed as a general principle with the same status as transparency
and equal treatment. The very broad conception of competition endorsed by the Advocate
xvi Author’s Note to the Second Edition
General [Stix-Hackl in Case C-247/02 Sintesi] was criticised … it was suggested that the
directives are merely concerned with removing restrictions on participation in competi-
tions held in public markets. However, a general principle of competition could properly be
developed to support this latter objective of removing restrictions on participation.’ Conse-
quently, even if back in 2005 she already stressed the same points she later emphasised in
the 2012 paper regarding transparency and non-discrimination, she seemed to be open
to a development such as the ‘creation’ of a principle of competition like the one now
included in article 18(1) of Directive 2014/24. However, when she now reads that article in
2014, she considers that it ‘appears to be simply a manifestation of the more general equal
treatment principle, as designing any aspect of the procurement for this reason [ie, ‘unduly
favouring or disadvantaging certain economic operators’] rather than based on the needs
and preferences in the project would clearly infringe that principle’ (The Law of Public and
Utilities Procurement. Regulation in the EU and the UK, vol 1, 3rd edn (London, Sweet &
Maxwell, 2014) 631). Professor Arrowsmith has overlooked the first part of the clause of
article 18(1) of Directive 2014/24, where contrary to what she concluded regarding the
2004 rules, it is at least clear that competition is ‘elevated’ to the same altar of the general
principles of the EU public procurement system as equality, non-discrimination, transpar-
ency and proportionality.
Overall, there is very little left to support Professor Arrowsmith’s view that the pro-
competitive approach advocated for in this book is based on misunderstanding. On the
contrary, I would claim that the arguments presented in the first edition paved the way for
a stronger recognition of the existence of the principle of competition embedded in the
EU public procurement directives, which has now culminated in its explicit consolidation
in article 18(1) of Directive 2014/24. That being said, this second edition will provide the
reader with arguments why this is a development that still requires further fine-tuning
and optimisation. And this is an endeavour to which I plan to continue dedicating my
academic efforts.
Professor Peter Kunzlik argues that this book ‘as well as being a scholarly analysis within
the neoliberal normative frame, is a manifesto for the neoliberalisation of public procure-
ment regulation in the EU’ and is ‘the most systematic statement’ of the argument that ‘the
dominating aim of the EU procurement directives is to advance competition in the sense of
a competition doctrine intended only to achieve efficiency’.
The further debate with Professor Peter Kunzlik was equally refreshing. Indeed, Pro-
fessor Kunzlik thought that Arrowsmith had fallen short of exhausting the criticism of
the first edition of this book and further expanded it in his article ‘Neoliberalism and the
European Public Procurement Regime’ ((2012–13) 15 Cambridge Yearbook of European
Legal Studies 283, 312–56). Interestingly, Kunzlik took a completely different approach and
focused his criticism on the ideology that he imputes to the book (and myself, by exten-
sion). I must say that I am not completely dissatisfied by the label of ‘neoliberal manifesto’
and that, as Kunzlik recognises, this is something I disclose rather openly in the book
when I warn the reader that this is a ‘free-market type’ study of competition in the public
procurement environment. However, when it comes to the details of his criticism, I think
that Kunzlik fails to provide a convincing argument for the following reasons.
Kunzlik starts off with a very lengthy discussion of neoliberalism to set the tone for
his criticism, and then goes on to acknowledge Arrowsmith’s position. Taking issue with
Author’s Note to the Second Edition xvii
both positions, Kunzlik indicates that he aims to ‘offer a third approach to the relevance of
competition and value for money in EU public procurement regulation’. Indeed, Kunzlik
considers that
the concept of ‘competition’ to which the public procurement directives relate is not the ‘effi-
ciency’ concept suggested by [Sánchez] Graells, but rather a ‘structure of competition’ concept
that is concerned to protect the structure of the market and equality of competitive opportunity
of traders in the interests of customers, competitors and ultimate consumers. It is a concept that
in the public procurement context simply requires that the law must ensure equality of oppor-
tunity for potential tenderers and a structure of competition for public contracts that allows
sufficient opportunities for EU-wide competition, thereby ensuring the integrity of the internal
market—the very same objectives that are asserted by Arrowsmith. (327, 335)
Kunzlik was trying to square a circle between Arrowsmith’s and my position. However,
beyond the dismissive way in which he uses the terms ‘efficiency’ and ‘neoliberalism’, there
are no such differences in the implications of his and my arguments. Indeed, I do not see
any third view in his proposal.
I find it even harder to understand how his argument deviates from the ones presented
in this book when he stresses that
the public procurement directives do have a competition objective. However, … the objective in
question is not to achieve ‘efficiency’ in the sense contended by [Sánchez] Graells, but to ensure
a structure of competition for public contracts to be opened up to EU-wide competition on the
basis of equality of competitive opportunity. (340)
Contents
Part One
Introduction 1
1 Introduction and Framework for Analysis 3
I. Introduction 3
A. The Current Situation from a Competition Law Perspective 7
B. The Current Situation from a Public Procurement Law Perspective 10
C. Overall Perspective 12
II. General Approach to the Interrelationship between Competition and
Public Procurement Law 13
III. Aim of the Study 14
IV. Structure of the Study and General Overview 15
A. General Overview 15
B. Foundations and Principles: On the Economic and Legal Basics of
Public Procurement and Competition Law 15
C. General Part: Public Procurement Viewed from a Competition
Perspective, and Competition Elements of Public Procurement
Rules—The Building Blocks of the Framework for the Competition
Analysis of Public Procurement 16
D. Special Part: Operationalisation of the General Framework through
Current Public Procurement Rules—Proposals for the Further
Development of a More Pro-Competitive Public Procurement System 17
E. General Conclusions 19
V. Methodology: An Eclectic and Heuristic Multi-Disciplinary and
Functional Approach to EU Law 19
VI. Normative Assumptions 24
VII. Delimitation of the Study: Exclusions and Limitations 26
A. Exclusions from the Object of Study 27
B. Limitations on the Sources Used in the Study 30
xix
xx Contents
Part Two
Foundations and Principles: The Economic and Legal
Basics of Public Procurement and Competition Law 35
2 An Economic Approach to Public Procurement and Competition 37
I. Introduction 37
II. Types of ‘Public Procurement Markets’ 39
A. The Limitations of the ‘Public Market’ Paradigm 39
B. A More Detailed Taxonomy of ‘Public Procurement Markets’ 41
i. The ‘Regulatory Situation’ of Public Procurement Markets 41
ii. The Relative Importance of the Public Buyer in the Market:
Exclusive, Dependent, Commercial and Private Markets 43
iii. Temporal Considerations of Relevance for Public
Procurement Markets 47
iv. Relevance of the Geographic Dimension of the Market 49
v. Other Considerations: ‘Prescriptive Role’ of Public
Procurement and ‘Adjacent’ Markets 49
C. Preliminary Conclusion as Regards the Proposed Taxonomy of
Public Procurement Markets 51
III. Economic Dimensions of Public Procurement 52
A. Public Procurement as a Public Investment/Public Expense Tool 52
B. Public Procurement as a ‘Working’ Tool for the Public Sector 54
C. Public Procurement as a Tool of ‘Sectoral’ Regulation 56
IV. The Role of Public Authorities as Purchasing and Contracting Authorities 56
A. Public Buyers as Agents 56
B. Public Buyers as Gatekeepers 58
C. Public Buyers as Market-Makers 58
V. Public Procurement as a Market Failure:
Difficulties in Recreating a Competitive Scenario and Competition-
Restricting Effects 60
A. Public Procurement as a Market-Like Regulatory Instrument 62
B. A Model for the Analysis of Public Buyer Behaviour and the Effects
of Public Procurement Regulation 65
C. Direct Competition-Distorting Effects: Waterbed Effects 69
D. Indirect Competition-Distorting Effects: Increased Bidder Collusion
and Other Effects of Price Signalling 73
E. Other Competition-Distorting Effects 75
VI. Conclusions to this Chapter 77
3 Basics of Competition and Public Procurement Regulation 79
I. Introduction 79
II. Principles Common to Competition and Public Procurement Law as
Two Sets of Economic Regulation 80
III. The Goal(s) of Competition Law 87
A. Brief Overview of the Discussion Regarding this Topic 87
B. Economic Goals 93
C. Social and Political Goals 96
Contents xxi
Part Three
General Part: The Building Blocks of a Framework
for the Competition Analysis of Public Procurement 119
4 EU Competition Law and Public Procurement: The Inability of EU
Competition Rules to Rein in Anti-Competitive Public Procurement 121
I. Introduction 121
II. The Inability of Rules on the Grant of State Aid and Special or Exclusive
Rights to Tackle Anti-Competitive Public Procurement 123
A. The Proper Award of a Public Contract Establishes a Presumption
against the Existence of State Aid 124
B. The Award of Most Public Contracts Does Not Constitute a Grant
of a Special or Exclusive Right to the Government Contractor,
except for Concessions 128
i. In General: Article 106(1) TFEU 128
ii. Different Treatment under Directive 2014/25? 130
iii. The Coverage of All Concessions Contracts in
Directive 2014/23 131
iv. Services of General Economic Interest: Article 106(2) TFEU 132
v. Overall, Article 106 TFEU is Largely Irrelevant for
the Purposes of Reigning in Anti-Competitive Public
Procurement Activities 134
III. The Inapplicability of ‘Core’ EU Antitrust Rules to Public Procurement:
A Jurisprudentially Created Gap in EU Competition Law 135
A. In General, the Concept of ‘Undertaking’ as the Key Element of
Analysis 135
B. The Carrying Out of an Economic Activity as the Distinctive
Criterion: The General Functional Approach to the Concept of
‘Economic Activity’ 137
C. The Approach to Purchasing Activities As Such: A Departure from
the General Functional Approach to the Concept of
‘Economic Activity’ 140
xxii Contents
Part Four
Analysis of Competition Distortions Caused by Public Procurement 241
6 A Critical Assessment of the 2014 EU Public Procurement Directives and the
Existing Case Law from a Competition Perspective: Preventing Competitive
Distortions by the Public Buyer 243
I. Introduction 243
II. A Competition Appraisal of Potential Distortions Derived from Public
Procurement Processes 245
A. Assessment of Unnecessary Restrictions of Access to the
Procurement Process 247
i. Make-or-Buy Decisions and Public–Public Cooperation
Mechanisms (or Cooperate-or-Buy Decisions) 248
ii. Unnecessary Use of Closed or Non-Competitive Procedures,
Particularly In-House Schemes, and the Associated
Restrictions on the Publicity of the Procurement Processes 258
iii. Sale of Bid Documents as a Barrier to Entry 280
iv. Delays and Other Restrictions in the Disclosure of
Information Required to Prepare and Submit a Bid 282
v. Grounds for Exclusion of Potential Bidders: In General,
Establishment of Additional and Excessively Restrictive
Disqualification Grounds 284
vi. Grounds for Exclusion of Potential Bidders: In Particular,
Consideration of Previous Breaches of Competition Law as
Offences against Professional Conduct 296
vii. Excessive Qualitative Selection Criteria: Early Restriction of
Competition 301
Contents xxv
Part V
General Conclusions 481
8 Conclusions: Towards a More Competition-Oriented Procurement System 483
References 489
Books 489
Periodical Materials and Contributions to Collective Works 498
Working Papers and Other Academic Works 548
Official Documents and Sectoral Reports 552
European Commission 552
United States 554
OECD 554
Other 554
Index 557
Table of Cases and Opinions
Table of Cases and Opinions
xxvii
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