Extended comments on non-profit organisations, procurement and State aid implications of Spezzino (C-113/13)

I have just uploaded on SSRN a short paper that extends my previous comments on the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) Judgment in Azienda sanitaria locale n. 5 «Spezzino» and Others, C-113/13, EU:C:2014:2440. It will be included in a special issue of the European Procurement & Public Private Partnership Law Review, with Prof Roberto Caranta as guest editor.

The paper assesses the competition law and State aid implications of the CJEU Judgment in Spezzino. It pays particular attention at the departure from the Altmark test for the assessment of public support granted to providers of public services; as well as on the change of mind by the CJEU regarding the special position of non-profit entities in the direct award of public service contracts.

The full citation for the paper is A Sanchez-Graells, "Competition and State Aid Implications of the Spezzino Judgment (C-113/13): The Scope for Inconsistency in Assessing Support for Public Services Voluntary Organisations" (June 30, 2015). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2625166. Comments welcome!

Rules on organisation of design contests and the selection of participants under Reg. 80 Public Contracts Regulations 2015

Reg.80 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR2015) transposes Art 80 of Directive 2014/24 regarding rules on the organisation of design contests and the selection of participants. However, as Pedro has already pointed out, reg.80 PCR2015 does not contain rules, but rather some relatively broad principles to be followed in the adaptation of the general rules to the running of design contests. As he rightly stresses, reg.80 PCR2015 does not add much to the need to comply with the general principles of non-discrimination, transparency and competition when running design contests. Not much more to comment.