Equal Treatment and Transparency

October 20th, 2022 by James Goudie KC

In Case T-717/20, LENOVO v EuroHPC, Judgment on 19 October 2022, the EU General Court says that:-

  1. The aim of the principle of equal treatment between tenderes is to promote the development of healthy and effective competition between undertakings taking part in a a public procurement procedure: para 29;
  2. All tenderers must be afforded equality of opportunity when formulating their tenders: ibid;
  3. The tenders of all competitors must be subject to the same conditions: ibid;
  4. The principle of equal treatment also implies an obligation of transparency: para 30;
  5. That is in order to permit verification that the principle has been complied with: ibid;
  6. The principle of transparency is essentially intended to preclude any risk of favouritism or arbitrariness on the part of the contracting authority: para 31;
  7. All the conditions and detailed rules of the award procedure must be drawn up in a clear, precise and unequivocal manner in the notice or contract documents: ibid;
  8. The principle of equal treatment and the obligation of transparency cannot, as a rule, preclude an economic operator from being excluded because it has failed to comply with an  obligation that is expressly imposed in the documents: para 32.

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