The EU-Commission has decided to bring Germany before the Court
of Justice in a case concerning the transport of works of art
for temporary exhibitions.
Several German museums regularly award such service contracts
to a limited number of specialized transport companies without
conducting transparent award procedures. Germany maintains that
since the contracts in question are below the threshold for the
application of the EC procurement Directive they can be awarded
without public advertising.
This view is in contradiction with fundamental principles of the
Internal Market. “Small” public contracts can be quite
important for many enterprises in the Internal Market, in particular
for SMEs.
The ECJ has established that public authorities awarding such
contracts have to ensure a sufficient degree of advertising, offering
a fair chance to all potential bidders. Since the practice followed
by the German museums does not provide for such advertising, the
Commission has decided to refer the case to the Court.
Press release from EU-Commission,
Brussels, 15 July 2005
