The idea of a nationwide “register of corruption” which, among other things, registers white-collar crimes and respective administrative offences has haunted the German procurement law world for years. A bill bringing this idea to fruition was recently passed. The register must be established by 31 December 2020 and will replace the existing registers of some of the German federal states. Before awarding a contract, contracting authorities must consult the register and may exclude companies with a high degree of legal certainty on the basis that the company is listed on the register. Besides administering registrations, the German Federal Cartel Office as the responsible registration authority will also evaluate whether a registered company has implemented sufficient self-cleaning measures. In this case, the company will be removed from the register and be able to participate in public procurement procedures again. The implementation of this bill will have far-reaching impacts on procurement law practice in Germany.

BLOMSTEIN achieved an important success before the Higher Regional Court (HRC) Düsseldorf for the Falck-Group. On 12 June 2017, the public procurement division submitted several questions to the ECJ about the interpretation of public procurement law in order to clarify controversial and fundamental legal questions concerning the award of rescue services (Az VII Verg 34/16). The ECJ’s decision on these legal questions will significantly influence the market for rescue services. The ultimate aim is to clarify whether private service providers will have a realistic chance of fair competition concerning public procurement in this market segment in Germany.

The idea of a nationwide “register of corruption” has haunted the German procurement law world for years. Now the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy has got serious: On 20 February 2017 the ministry presented a draft bill (WRegG-E) for a law to establish a so-called “register of competition” (Wettbewerbsregister). According to this draft bill, the register is to be established in 2019. Different economic crimes and administrative offences may be registered. Besides administering registrations, the responsible register authority is also tasked with evaluating whether a company has implemented sufficient self-cleaning measures and is therefore able to be delisted and to participate in public procurement procedures again. Contracting authorities must consult the register (even if the relevant EU threshold is not met) before awarding a contract and are allowed to exclude companies on the basis that the company is listed on the register with a higher legal certainty. The implementation of this draft bill would have far-reaching impacts on procurement law practice in Germany.

In a previous post, BLOMSTEIN has discussed the Brexit plan that UK Prime Minister Theresa May has recently presented to the public. In this note, we take a closer look at the Brexit implications for public procurement law.

Hans-Joachim Prieß discussed the implications of the public procurement law reform with respect to the award of rescue services.

From 8 to 10 November 2016, the 20th annual EUROFORUM Conference on Public Procurement Law “Brennpunkt Vergaberecht!” took place in Düsseldorf. The conference focused on the current reform of EU/German public procurement law and its effects on public procurement in practice. Renowned experts from industry, administration, judiciary and law firms gathered to share their views on the reform and discuss topics of high practical relevance.

Dr. Roland M. Stein and Dr. Anna Blume Huttenlauch spoke about public procurement and antitrust compliance at a conference organised by forum vergabe e.V. The conference took place on 12 October 2016 in Berlin.

Based on independent surveys Roland Stein, Pascal Friton, and Hans-Joachim Prieß were ranked among the best lawyers in “Government Contracts” in Germany by Who’s Who Legal 2016.

In spite of adverse publicity on Iranian nuclear procurement activities and the Iranian rocket program in the last couple of days, a snap back of the lifted sanctions against Iran is currently not pending.