1.Where use of electronic means of communication is required, contracting entities may require tenders to be presented in the format of an electronic catalogue or to include an electronic catalogue.
Member States may render the use of electronic catalogues mandatory in connection with certain types of procurement.
Tenders presented in the form of an electronic catalogue may be accompanied by other documents, completing the tender.
2.Electronic catalogues shall be established by the candidates or tenderers with a view to participating in a given procurement procedure in accordance with the technical specifications and format established by the contracting entity.
Furthermore, electronic catalogues shall comply with the requirements for electronic communication tools as well as with any additional requirements set by the contracting entity in accordance with Article 40.
3.Where the presentation of tenders in the form of electronic catalogues is accepted or required, contracting entities shall:
(a)state so in the contract notice, in the invitation to confirm interest, or, where the means of calling for competition is a notice on the existence of a qualification system, in the invitation to tender or to negotiate;
(b)indicate in the procurement documents all the necessary information pursuant to Article 40(6) concerning the format, the electronic equipment used and the technical connection arrangements and specifications for the catalogue.
4.Where a framework agreement has been concluded with more than one economic operator following the submission of tenders in the form of electronic catalogues, contracting entities may provide that the reopening of competition for specific contracts takes place on the basis of updated catalogues. In such a case, contracting entities shall use one of the following methods:
(a)invite tenderers to resubmit their electronic catalogues, adapted to the requirements of the contract in question; or
(b)notify tenderers that they intend to collect from the electronic catalogues which have already been submitted the information needed to constitute tenders adapted to the requirements of the contract in question, provided that the use of that method has been announced in the procurement documents for the framework agreement.
5.Where contracting entities reopen competition for specific contracts in accordance with point (b) of paragraph 4, they shall notify the tenderers of the date and time at which they intend to collect the information needed to constitute tenders adapted to the requirements of the specific contract in question and shall give tenderers the possibility to refuse such collection of information.
Contracting entities shall allow for an adequate period between the notification and the actual collection of information.
Before awarding the contract, contracting entities shall present the collected information to the tenderer concerned so as to give it the opportunity to contest or confirm that the tender thus constituted does not contain any material errors.
6.Contracting entities may award contracts based on a dynamic purchasing system by requiring that offers for specific contract are to be presented in the format of an electronic catalogue.
Contracting entities may also award contracts based on a dynamic purchasing system in accordance with point (b) of paragraph 4 and paragraph 5 provided that the request for participation in the dynamic purchasing system is accompanied by an electronic catalogue in accordance with the technical specifications and format established by the contracting entity. That catalogue shall be completed subsequently by the candidates, when they are informed of the contracting entity’s intention to constitute tenders by means of the procedure set out in point (b) of paragraph 4.