Infringement proceedings against Germany in public procurement law

The European Commission has decided to take Germany to the Court of Justice of the European Union because the Federal Republic of Germany has not properly transposed EU directives on public procurement into national law. The proceedings relate to Directives 2014/24/EU and 2014/23/EU and represent a significant step in the infringement proceedings.

Key points of the complaints

The Commission criticises three main shortcomings in the German implementation:

1. Inadequate information obligations after conclusion of the contract: Under German law, contracting authorities are not obliged to provide bidders with detailed information after conclusion of the contract. This makes it considerably more difficult for bidders to decide whether and by when they should initiate a review of the award procedure, as the shortened period for access to the review does not start properly.

2. Unclear definition of the term "contracting authority": The insufficient definition of the term "contracting authority" in German law leads to legal uncertainty in the selection of suitable award procedures and impairs the uniform application of the EU procurement directives.

3. Lack of application in the postal sector: German law does not oblige contracting authorities in the postal sector to apply the rules on public procurement, which represents a gap in the full implementation of the EU directives.