Overview

There is often pressure to rush to issue OJEU notices quickly, whether to meet political or timetable pressures. But a decision on 22 April 2010 from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) is a timely reminder of how important it is that a notice is carefully drafted and well considered so that it covers the full scope of the purchases to ensure the required transparency and equality of treatment of bidders.

In European Commission v Kingdom of Spain, the ECJ held that Spain had breached the applicable Directive in its award of a concession contract for the construction of various motorway works because the award included additional works which were not envisaged in the OJEU notice or tender documents. The case related to the old Public Works Directive but the findings are equally applicable to the 2006 consolidated procurement directive.

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