TITLE II

RULES ON THE AWARD OF CONCESSIONS:

GENERAL PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURAL GUARANTEES
CHAPTER II

Procedural guarantees

Selection and qualitative assessment of candidates
Article 38
1
Contracting authorities and contracting entities shall verify the conditions for participation relating to the professional and technical ability and the financial and economic standing of the candidates or tenderers, on the basis of self-declarations, reference or references to be submitted as proof in accordance with the requirements specified in the concession notice that shall be non-discriminatory and proportionate to the subject-matter of the concession. The conditions for participation shall be related and proportionate to the need to ensure the ability of the concessionaire to perform the concession, taking into account the subject-matter of the concession and the purpose of ensuring genuine competition.
2
With a view to meeting the conditions for participation laid down in paragraph 1, an economic operator may, where appropriate and for a particular concession, rely on the capacities of other entities, regardless of the legal nature of its links with them. Where an economic operator wants to rely on the capacities of other entities, it shall prove to the contracting authority or the contracting entity that it will have at its disposal, throughout the period of the concession, the necessary resources, for example, by producing a commitment by those entities to that effect. With regard to financial standing, the contracting authority or the contracting entity may require that the economic operator and those entities are jointly liable for the execution of the contract.
3
Under the same conditions, a group of economic operators as referred to in Article 26 may rely on the capacities of participants in the group or of other entities.
4
Contracting authorities and contracting entities as referred to in point (a) of Article 7(1) shall exclude an economic operator from participation in a concession award procedure where they have established that that economic operator has been the subject of a conviction by final judgment for one of the following reasons:
a
participation in a criminal organisation, as defined in Article 2 of Council Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA ;
b
corruption, as defined in Article 3 of the Convention on the fight against corruption involving officials of the European Communities or officials of Member States of the European Union and Article 2(1) of Council Framework Decision 2003/568/JHA , as well as corruption as defined in the national law of the contracting authority or entity or the economic operator;
c
fraud within the meaning of Article 1 of the Convention on the protection of the European Communities’ financial interests’ ;
d
terrorist offences or offences linked to terrorist activities, as defined in Articles 1 and 3 of Council Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA respectively, or inciting, aiding or abetting or attempting to commit an offence, as referred to in Article 4 of that Framework Decision;
e
money laundering or terrorist financing, as defined in Article 1 of Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ;
f
child labour and other forms of trafficking in human beings as defined in Article 2 of Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council .
The obligation to exclude an economic operator shall also apply where the person convicted by final judgment is a member of the administrative, management or supervisory body of that economic operator or has powers of representation, decision or control therein.
Contracting entities other than those referred to in point (a) of Article 7(1) may exclude an economic operator from participation in a concession award procedure where they are aware that that economic operator has been the subject of a conviction by a final judgment for any of the reasons listed in the first subparagraph of this paragraph.
5
Contracting authorities and contracting entities as referred to in point (a) of Article 7(1) shall exclude the economic operator from participation in a concession award procedure where it is aware that the economic operator is in breach of its obligations relating to the payment of taxes or social security contributions and where this has been established by a judicial or administrative decision having final and binding effect in accordance with the legal provisions of the country in which it is established or with those of the Member State of the contracting authority or contracting entity.
Furthermore, contracting authorities and contacting entities as referred to in point (a) of Article 7(1) may exclude or may be required by Member States to exclude from participation in a concession award procedure an economic operator where the contracting authority or entity can demonstrate by any appropriate means that the economic operator is in breach of its obligations relating to the payment of taxes or social security contributions.
This paragraph shall no longer apply when the economic operator has fulfilled its obligations by paying or entering into a binding arrangement with a view to paying the taxes or social security contributions due, including, where applicable, any interest accrued or fines.
6
Member States may provide for a derogation from the mandatory exclusion provided for in paragraphs 4 and 5, on an exceptional basis, for overriding reasons relating to the public interest such as public health or protection of the environment.
Member States may also provide for a derogation from the mandatory exclusion provided for in paragraph 5, where an exclusion would be clearly disproportionate, in particular where only minor amounts of taxes or social security contributions are unpaid or where the economic operator was informed of the exact amount due following its breach of its obligations relating to the payment of taxes or social security contributions at such time that it did not have the possibility to take measures as provided for in the third subparagraph of paragraph 5 before expiration of the deadline for submitting its application.
7
Contracting authorities or contracting entities may exclude or may be required by Member State to exclude from participation in a concession award any economic operator if one of the following conditions is fulfilled:
a
where it can demonstrate by any appropriate means any violation of applicable obligations referred to in Article 30(3);
b
where the economic operator is bankrupt or is the subject of insolvency or winding-up proceedings, where its assets are being administered by a liquidator or by the court, where it is in an arrangement with creditors, where its business activities are suspended or it is in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure under national laws and regulations; the contracting authority or the contracting entity may, however, decide not to exclude or be required by the Member State not to so exclude an economic operator which is in one of the above situations where it has established that the economic operator in question will be able to perform the concession, taking into account the applicable national rules and measures on the continuation of business in the case of those situations;
c
where the contracting authority can demonstrate by any appropriate means that the economic operator is guilty of a grave professional misconduct, which renders its integrity questionable;
d
where a conflict of interest within the meaning of the second paragraph of Article 35, cannot be effectively remedied by any other less intrusive measure;
e
where the contracting authority has sufficiently plausible indications to conclude that the economic operator has entered into agreements with other economic operators aimed at distorting competition;
f
where the economic operator has shown significant or persistent deficiencies in the performance of a substantive requirement under a prior concession or a prior contract with a contracting authority or with a contracting entity as defined in this Directive or in Directive 2014/25/EU which led to early termination of that prior contract, damages or other comparable sanctions;
g
where the economic operator has been guilty of serious misrepresentation in supplying the information required for the verification of the absence of grounds for exclusion or the fulfilment of the selection criteria, has withheld such information or is unable to submit the required documents supporting such information;
h
where the economic operator has undertaken to unduly influence the decision-making process of the contracting authority or contracting entity, to obtain confidential information that may confer upon it undue advantages in the concession award procedure or to negligently provide misleading information that may have a material influence on decisions concerning exclusion, selection or award;
i
in the case of concessions in the fields of defence and security as referred to in Directive 2009/81/EC, where the economic operator has been found, on the basis of any means of evidence, including protected data sources, not to possess the reliability necessary to exclude risks to the security of the Member State.
8
Contracting authorities and contacting entities as referred to in point (a) of Article 7(1) shall at any time during the procedure exclude an economic operator where it turns out that the economic operator in question is, in view of acts committed or omitted either before or during the procedure, in one of the situations referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article and the first subparagraph of paragraph 5 of this Article.
At any time during the procedure, contracting authorities and contacting entities may exclude or may be required by Member States to exclude an economic operator where it turns out that the economic operator in question is, in view of acts committed or omitted either before or during procedure, in one of the situations referred to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 5 and in paragraph 7.
9
Any economic operator that is in one of the situations referred to in paragraphs 4 and 7 may provide evidence to the effect that measures taken by the economic operator are sufficient to demonstrate its reliability despite the existence of the relevant ground for exclusion. If such evidence is considered to be sufficient, the economic operator concerned shall not be excluded from the procedure.
For this purpose, the economic operator shall prove that it has paid or undertaken to pay compensation in respect of any damage caused by the criminal offence or misconduct, clarified the facts and circumstances in a comprehensive manner by actively collaborating with the investigating authorities and taken concrete technical, organisational and personnel measures that are appropriate to prevent further criminal offences or misconduct. The measures taken by the economic operators shall be evaluated taking into account the gravity and particular circumstances of the criminal offence or misconduct. Where the measures are considered to be insufficient, the economic operator concerned shall receive a statement of the reasons for that decision.
An economic operator which has been excluded by a final judgment from participating in procurement or concession award procedures shall not be entitled to make use of the possibility provided under this paragraph during the period of exclusion resulting from that judgment in the Member States where the judgment is effective.
10
By law, regulation or administrative provision and having regard for Union law, Member States shall specify, the implementing conditions for this Article. They shall in particular, determine the maximum period of exclusion if no measures as specified in paragraph 9 are taken by the economic operator to demonstrate its reliability. Where the period of exclusion has not been set by final judgment, that period shall not exceed five years from the date of the conviction by final judgment in the cases referred to in paragraph 4 and three years from the date of the relevant event in the cases referred to in paragraph 7.
Council Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA of 24 October 2008 on the fight against organised crime (OJ L 300, 11.11.2008, p. 42).
OJ C 195, 25.6.1997, p. 1.
Council Framework Decision 2003/568/JHA of 22 July 2003 on combating corruption in the private sector (OJ L 192, 31.7.2003, p. 54).
OJ C 316, 27.11.1995, p. 48.
Council Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA of 13 June 2002 on combating terrorism (OJ L 164, 22.6.2002, p. 3).
Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2005 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering and terrorist financing (OJ L 309, 25.11.2005, p. 15).
Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011 on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA (OJ L 101, 15.4.2011, p. 1).