Introductory text

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Directive 2014/25/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on procurement by entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors and repealing Directive 2004/17/EC^f1, and in particular Article 35(6) thereof,

After consulting the Advisory Committee for Public Contracts

Whereas:

In view of the time-limits laid down for the conduct of the procedure under Article 35 of Directive 2014/25/EU, it is necessary to provide that requests concerning the applicability of its Article 34 must include information which is useful and relevant to the evaluation of the request. To this end, a list should be drawn up of the information to be contained in such requests and of other practical procedures relating to them.

In order to ensure legal certainty and for purposes of transparency, notices of receipt or withdrawal of requests concerning the applicability of Article 34 of Directive 2014/25/EU, notices of extension or suspension of the period for the adoption by the Commission of implementing acts concerning those requests and notices of the applicability of Article 34 where no implementing act has been adopted within the deadline should be published in the Official Journal of the European Union. It is also necessary to stipulate the information to be contained in such notices.

With regard in particular to the information to be requested and the wording of notices, this Decision draws on the experience gained through the application of Commission Decision 2005/15/EC^f2 which established detailed rules for the application of the procedure provided for in Article 30 of Directive 2004/17/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council^f3, since the material conditions for exempting an activity from the provisions of Directive 2004/17/EC are substantially the same as under Article 34 of Directive 2014/25/EU.

It should be recalled that the assessment of direct exposure to competition that can be carried out in the context of Directive 2014/25/EU is without prejudice to the full-fledged application of competition law.

This Decision should replace Decision 2005/15/EC which was adopted on the basis of Directive 2004/17/EC. Decision 2005/15/EC should therefore be repealed.

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: