Competition Law Implications for Joint Bidding During Public Procurement

Andrius Puksas, Raimundas Moisejevas, Rūta Petkuvienė

Abstract


In 2023, the European Commission adopted revised Guidelines on the applicability of Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to horizontal co-operation agreement, following a thorough evaluation and review of the Guidelines on the applicability of Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to horizontal co-operation agreements. The chapter of the Guidelines on commercialization agreements was expanded to include a new section on bidding consortia and guidance on the distinction with bid rigging. The Commission proposed to use the term “bidding consortium” for simplicity instead of “joint bidding”. Public procurement and competition law aim to achieve similar goals. Coordinated actions of competitors may jeopardize the outcome of public procurement. This is particularly the case when several potential suppliers attempt to join forces in a public procurement. In the article, the authors analyze the legal framework of the EU Member States for assessing proposals resulting from joint activities and bidding. Particular attention is paid to the regulatory and practical constraints faced by suppliers and contracting authorities.


Keywords


joint bidding; bidding consortia; public procurement; competition law; constraints

Full Text:

PDF

References


LITERATURE

Albano G.L., Spagnolo G., Zanza M., Regulating Joint Bidding in Public Procurement, “Journal of Competition Law & Economics” 2009, vol. 5(2), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/joclec/nhn022.

Bouckaert J., Van Moer G., Joint Bidding and Horizontal Subcontracting, “International Journal of Industrial Organization” 2021, vol. 76, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijindorg.2021.102727.

Carbone C., Calderoni F., Jofre M., Bid-rigging in Public Procurement: Cartel Strategies and Bidding Patters, “Crime, Law and Social Change” 2024, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-024-10142-0.

Fountoukidis I.G., Antoniou I.E., Varsakelis N.C., Competitive Conditions in the Public Procurement Markets: An Investigation with Network Analysis, “Journal of Industrial and Business Economics” 2023, vol. 50, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40812-022-00251-z.

Morais P., Matos J.M.A., Bessa Vilela N., Oplotnik Ž.J., Transparency and Risk Allocation in PPP: Addressing Complex Contracts’ Mathematical Formulas in the Portuguese Case, “Journal of Local Self-Government” 2022, vol. 20(2), DOI: https://doi.org/10.4335/10.4335/20.2.435-453(2022).

OECD, Annual Report on Competition Policy Developments in Croatia, DAF/COMP/AR(2023)43.

Petr M., Joint Tendering in the European Economic Area, “International and Comparative Law Review” 2020, vol. 20(1), DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/iclr-2020-0009.

Puksas A., The EU Practice of Horizontal Agreements Assessment in Accordance with the Rule of Providing De Minimis Exemption, “Baltic Journal of Law & Politics” 2012, vol. 5(2), DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/v10076-012-0011-1.

Reijonen H., Saastamoinen J., Tammi T., The Importance of SMEs’ Network Partners in Consortium Bidding for Public Sector Tenders, “International Journal of Public Sector Management” 2022, vol. 35(1), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPSM-04-2021-0082.

Van Cleynenbreugel P., Private Damages Actions in EU Competition Law and Restorative Justice: Towards a New Streamlined Institutional Framework?, “Market and Competition Law Review” 2019, vol. 3(2), DOI: https://doi.org/10.7559/mclawreview.2019.1826.

ONLINE SOURCES

Croatian Competition Agency, Summary Annual Report of the Croatian Competition Agency for 2022, 19.6.2023, https://www.aztn.hr/ea/wp-content/uploads//2023/10/Summary-GI-AZTN-2022.pdf (access: 17.5.2024).

Danish Competition and Customer Authority, Road Marking Consortium Found Guilty of Infringing the Competition Act, 5.2.2024, https://www.en.kfst.dk/nyheder/kfst/english/news/2024/20240205-road-marking-consortium-found-guilty-of-infringing-the-competition-act (access: 17.5.2024).

OECD, Competition and Procurement: Key Findings, 2011, https://www.oecd.org/regreform/sectors/48315205.pdf (access: 17.5.2024).

Ritter C., Joint Tendering Under EU Competition Law, 2017, https://ssrn.com/abstract=2909572 (access: 17.5.2024).

LEGAL ACTS

Communication from the Commission – Guidelines on the applicability of Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to horizontal co-operation agreements (OJ C 259/1, 21.7.2023).

Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC (OJ L 94/65, 28.3.2014).

European Commission, 15.3.2021 C(2021) 1631 final Notice on tools to fight collusion in public procurement and on guidance on how to apply the related exclusion ground 2021/C 91/01 (OJ C, C/91/1, 18.03.2021).

Law on Competition of the Republic of Lithuania of 23 March 1999 (version of 1 February 2017, amended on 12 January 2024).

Law on Public Procurement of the Republic of Lithuania of 13 August 1996 No I-1491 (last amended on 21 December 2023).

Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (consolidated version, OJ C 326/1, 26.10.2012).

CASE LAW

Judgment of the Court of 22 December 2016 in case E-3/16, Ski Taxi SA, Follo Taxi SA and Ski Follo Taxidrift AS v The Norwegian Government, represented by the Competition Authority, OJ C 133/5, 27.4.2017.

Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) of 26 January 2023 in case C‑682/21, UAB ‘HSC Baltic’ and Others v Vilniaus miesto savivaldybės administracija and Others, ECLI:EU:C:2023:48.

Judgment of the Supreme Court of Lithuania of 6 April 2023, civil case no. e3K-3-180-469/2023.

Judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania of 3 June 2020, administrative case no. eA-161-552/2020.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/sil.2024.33.2.313-326
Date of publication: 2024-06-27 10:20:54
Date of submission: 2024-04-25 21:30:29


Statistics


Total abstract view - 457
Downloads (from 2020-06-17) - PDF - 0

Indicators



Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2024 Andrius Puksas, Raimundas Moisejevas, Rūta Petkuvienė

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.