Fuente: © European Union
http://europa.eu.int

EU: Public procurement: infringement proceedings against Italy concerning public contracts awarded by City of Rocca Priora

/noticias.info/ The European Commission has decided to send a formal request to Italy regarding the procurement of waste management and pharmacies management services by the City of Rocca Priora. This formal request takes the form of a "reasoned opinion", the second stage of the infringement procedure laid down in Article 226 of the EC Treaty. If there is no satisfactory reply within two months, the Commission may refer the matter to the European Court of Justice.

The case concerns the direct award of waste management and pharmacies management services by the Municipality of Rocca Priora in Lazio, to a public-owned company limited by shares, namely Azienda Servizi Pubblici S.p.A., of which the town of Rocca Priora owns 0.038% of the capital.

Italy maintains that the award of these contracts of services to Azienda Servizi Pubblici S.p.A., by the Municipality of Rocca Piora, is excluded from the application of EU public procurement rules since Azienda Servizi Pubblici S.p.A., is an "in-house" structure of the awarding entity as set out in the case-law of the European Court of Justice.

The Commission considers that the first condition required by the ECJ case-law for the application of the "in-house" exception is not met in this case. First of all, the 0.038% holding in the share capital of Azienda Servizi Pubblici S.p.A. is so small as not to enable the Municipality of Rocca Priora to exercise a control which is similar to the one exercised over its own departments. Secondly, Azienda Servizi Pubblici S.p.A. is a company which is open, at least in part, to private capital, which precludes it from being regarded as a structure for the "in-house" management of public services on behalf of the municipalities which form part of it.

The latest information on infringement proceedings concerning all Member States can be found at:

http://ec.europa.eu/community_law/index_en.htm
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