Date:	28 April 2021
Time:	12.00h - 13.30h (CET)
Speaker:	Katharina Knapton-Vierlich, Head of Unit Public Procurement (C2) DG GROW European Commission Brussels
Location:	By Zoom webinar
CPD:	Accredited for 1.5 hours CPD (UK SRA)
Rates:	Normal rate + 'buy one, get one free' offer ends on 21 April

On 15 March, the European Commission adopted the much-anticipated 'Notice on tools to fight collusion in public procurement and guidance on how to apply the related exclusion ground' ('the Notice').

The Notice was published against a background of intensive enforcement against bid-rigging or collusive tendering in most Member States.

A June 2019 study estimated that since 2016, competition authorities have levied over €800M in bid-rigging fines in 24 of 30 EEA countries.

Recent developments that demonstrate the continuing focus on tackling collusion in public procurement markets include the Bundeskartellamt's Competition Register for Public Procurement that went live on 25 March, the Spanish CNMC's first settlement in a pharma case in February, the Danish Competition Authority's new Guidelines on Joint Bidding and the new Polish Act on Public Procurement, including new rules on exclusion from public tenders.

Applying the Directives and the ECJ's judgment in the German "rail case" (Vossloh Laeis GmbH), several EU countries automatically ban all companies that participate in a cartel from procurement awards (for ex., Spain).

On 14 January in the Norré-Behaegel case, the Court clarified how contracting authorities should apply the "self-cleaning" measures in the 2014 Directives.

The Notice responds to calls from EU business organisations for practical, EU-level guidance for contracting authorities on how to apply the collusion exclusion grounds in the Directives.  

Participants in this first Europe-wide 'Chatham House rule' webinar with Katharina Knapton-Vierlich will learn first-hand how the Notice should be applied in practice, increasing legal certainty for both contracting authorities and suppliers alike.

List of participants (updated 15 April)

• ‘Notice on tools to fight collusion in public procurement and on guidance on how to apply the related exclusion ground’  (15 March 2021)
• C-387/19 - RTS infra and Aannemingsbedrijf Norré-Behaegel (14 January 2021)
• Case C 124/17 Vossloh Laeis GmbH -v- Stadtwerke München GmbH (24 October 2018)
• OECD Guidelines for Fighting Bid Rigging in Public Procurement
• The Bundeskartellamt's Competition Register (25 March 2021)
• Danish Guidelines on Joint Bidding (11 December 2020)