TITLE II

RULES ON PUBLIC CONTRACTS
CHAPTER III

Conduct of the procedure
Section 3

Choice of participants and award of contracts
Subsection 1

Criteria for qualitative selection

European Single Procurement Document
Article 59
1
At the time of submission of requests to participate or of tenders, contracting authorities shall accept the European Single Procurement Document (ESPD), consisting of an updated self-declaration as preliminary evidence in replacement of certificates issued by public authorities or third parties confirming that the relevant economic operator fulfils the following conditions:
a
it is not in one of the situations referred to in Article 57 in which economic operators shall or may be excluded;
b
it meets the relevant selection criteria that have been set out pursuant to Article 58;
c
where applicable, it fulfils the objective rules and criteria that have been set out pursuant to Article 65.
Where the economic operator relies on the capacities of other entities pursuant to Article 63, the ESPD shall also contain the information referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph in respect of such entities.
The ESPD shall consist of a formal statement by the economic operator that the relevant ground for exclusion does not apply and/or that the relevant selection criterion is fulfilled and shall provide the relevant information as required by the contracting authority. The ESPD shall further identify the public authority or third party responsible for establishing the supporting documents and contain a formal statement to the effect that the economic operator will be able, upon request and without delay, to provide those supporting documents.
Where the contracting authority can obtain the supporting documents directly by accessing a database pursuant to paragraph 5, the EPSD shall also contain the information required for this purpose, such as the internet address of the database, any identification data and, where applicable, the necessary declaration of consent.
Economic operators may reuse an ESPD which has already been used in a previous procurement procedure, provided that they confirm that the information contained therein continues to be correct.
2
The ESPD shall be drawn up on the basis of a standard form. The Commission shall establish that standard form, by means of implementing acts. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 89(3).
The ESPD shall be provided exclusively in electronic form.
3
Notwithstanding Article 92, the Commission shall review the practical application of the ESPD taking into account the technical development of databases in the Member States and report thereon to the European Parliament and the Council by 18 April 2017.
Where appropriate, the Commission shall make proposals for solutions optimising the cross-border access to such databases and the use of certificates and attestations in the internal market.
4
A contracting authority may ask tenderers and candidates at any moment during the procedure to submit all or part of the supporting documents where this is necessary to ensure the proper conduct of the procedure.
Before awarding the contract, the contracting authority shall, except in respect of contracts based on framework agreements where such contracts are concluded in accordance with Article 33(3) or point (a) of Article 33(4), require the tenderer to which it has decided to award the contract to submit up-to-date supporting documents in accordance with Article 60 and, where appropriate, Article 62. The contracting authority may invite economic operators to supplement or clarify the certificates received pursuant to Articles 60 and 62.
5
Notwithstanding paragraph 4, economic operators shall not be required to submit supporting documents or other documentary evidence where and in so far as the contracting authority has the possibility of obtaining the certificates or the relevant information directly by accessing a national database in any Member State that is available free of charge, such as a national procurement register, a virtual company dossier, an electronic document storage system or a prequalification system.
Notwithstanding paragraph 4, economic operators shall not be required to submit supporting documents where the contracting authority having awarded the contract or concluded the framework agreement already possesses these documents.
For the purpose of the first subparagraph, Member States shall ensure that databases which contain relevant information on economic operators and which may be consulted by their contracting authorities may also be consulted, under the same conditions, by contracting authorities of other Member States.
6
Member States shall make available and up-to-date in e-Certis a complete list of databases containing relevant information on economic operators which can be consulted by contracting authorities from other Member States. Upon request, Member States shall communicate to other Member States any information related to the databases referred to in this Article.