Negotiated procedure
The negotiated procedure (with or without prior publication) offers more flexibility than the open or restricted procedure. However, strict rules on equal treatment, transparency and reasoning also apply here.
Suspension granted: Hamois CPAS may not exclude mandatory options for energy renovation from tender evaluation without prior warning – equality and transparency principles violated as tenderers were not informed in time that options would be disregarded
The Council of State suspended under extreme urgency the award by the Hamois CPAS of a works contract for energy renovation of six adapted dwellings to SRL Denis, because after the negotiations and submission of BAFOs the CPAS decided to disregard the three mandatory options (triple glazing, bio-sourced insulation, and single-flow ventilation) required by the specifications without prior notice to the tenderers — thereby violating the equality and transparency principles, as this choice altered the ranking and RENO.ENERGY would have ranked first if the options had been taken into account.
Rejection of extreme urgency suspension against non-award of innovation partnership for PFAS purification Port of Antwerp-Bruges — deviation from indicative flow rates and pilot duration may be assessed as negative point — contracting entity's assessment margin for qualitative criteria respected
The Council of State rejected the extreme urgency suspension claim by BV M. against the Port of Antwerp-Bruges' decision not to award it the innovation partnership for PFAS purification of contaminated dewatering water, as the contracting entity did not exceed its assessment margin by treating a pilot setup with a flow rate 13 times below the lower end of the indicative range and a duration of only one month (instead of three) as a negative point, and the indicative technical specifications did not constitute an unjustified restriction of competition.
Price justification for NMBS tilting poles passes scrutiny: legal presumption of abnormal prices does not apply in simplified negotiated procedure
The Council of State rejects the suspension request because the legal presumption of abnormal prices under Article 44 §4 of the Royal Decree of 18 June 2017 does not apply to the simplified negotiated procedure, and the NMBS carefully examined and accepted the price justification of the awarded joint venture for multifunctional tilting poles on sound grounds.
Second challenge against NMBS tilting poles rejected: distinction between negotiation and price justification, selective special price investigation permitted
The Council of State also rejects the application of another tenderer against the same NMBS award for tilting poles, clarifying that a price justification is not a negotiation, that the special price investigation may be applied selectively to the first-ranked tenderer, and that repeated inquiry is permitted.
City of Kortrijk may award water treatment DBM contract based on total score
Claim rejected: City of Kortrijk correctly awarded a DBM contract for decentralised water treatment to BelleAqua based on the best total score, where sub-aspects of award criteria do not constitute separately weighted sub-criteria.
Framework agreement for cable and catenary works on Antwerp tram network: annulment for conflict of interest – designer Tractebel as sister company of tenderer Fabricom (both Engie subsidiaries) with three of six evaluation committee members
The Council of State annuls VVM De Lijn's award decision for a framework agreement for cable and catenary works on the Antwerp tram network, because De Lijn failed in its active duty to investigate conflicts of interest: the designer Tractebel, which had drafted the specifications and was represented by three of six evaluation committee members, is a sister company of Fabricom — a partner in the winning tenderer tm Antwerpen Boven — as both are (quasi 100%) subsidiaries of Engie with shared directors, which constitutes at minimum an appearance of partiality.
This page shows all rulings of the Council of State (Belgium's supreme administrative court) on negotiated procedure in public procurement. Each ruling is summarized by TenderWolf in plain language, with a legal lesson and a practical question to ask yourself. View all rulings →