The International Comparative Legal Guide to Public Procurement 2019 (ICLG 2019) has been published. Pascal Friton and Rita Zuppke contributed the chapter on public procurement law in Germany.

The German business journal WirtschaftsWoche (WiWo) has ranked BLOMSTEIN among the leading law firms for public procurement law in Germany.

A consortium consisting of Kapsch TrafficCom AG and CTS EVENTIM AG & Co. KGaA is to be commissioned to collect the German car toll. A team of BLOMSTEIN lawyers has advised the consortium on all aspects of public procurement law.

Roland Stein, Pascal Friton and Hans-Joachim Priess have been recognised as leading experts in international trade law and public procurement law in Germany and in the world in the Who’s Who Legal: Trade & Customs 2018, Government Contracts 2018 and Germany 2019 editions.

Roland Stein, Pascal Friton and Hans-Joachim Prieß are once again ranked by Who’s Who Legal amongst the world’s leading government contracts lawyers.

Once again, Roland Stein, Pascal Friton, and Hans-Joachim Prieß are ranked among the best lawyers in “Government Contracts” in Germany by Who’s Who Legal 2018 (WWL).

The 14th edition of German legal publishing house C.H. Beck’s “Prozessformularbuch” (book of litigation forms) has been published and is available for purchase now. Three BLOMSTEIN lawyers have contributed to the publication, which has become a standard reference, as authors.

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.