Procurement after the entry of the Lisbon Treaty : Will social economical market have an impact on procurment?

Abstract: As of 1 December 2009 the Treaty of Lisbon came into force. The Treaty brings along several changes for the physical structure of the EU. There are no changes aimed directly towards procurement, however the Treaty of Lisbon might prove to include changes of major impact. Article 3 (3) NEU includes a change to how the inner market shall be achieved. The Treaty text has gone from an inner market based on competition to include a “social economic market”, however there is no indication of what this means from a procurement perspective. The inner market and procurement had difficulties already before the entry of the Lisbon Treaty. There was arguments as regards to how fair a state could intervene trough public procurement to achieve positive social effects. The CJEU has persistently held that the inner market shall be built by the help of the inner market and competition. The Commission has during the last years started to express a different opinion than the CJEU with regards to low value procurements. The legislators has also shown a great interest for the SME’s and ensured more leeway for these companies to receive help form the member states. The ECJ has however made it difficult to support further than the actual startup phase of an SME. The European Parliament is critical to the Commissions work with regards to measures supporting the member states and ignoring the CJEU. The EU Parliament fears the consequences a more protectionist approach might have on the development of a free inner market and express concern for the legal uncertainty developed trough the lack of attention to the procurement market when introducing the “social market economy” with the Treaty of Lisbon. The EU Parliament and the CJEU might have to adjust their opinion on competition within the inner market towards the Commissions opinion. The thesis does however conclude that an inclusion of the de minis principle in the test for equality of suppliers might be all that will be done to clarify this legal uncertainty.