Introductory text

THE EXECUTIVE BOARD OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK,

Having regard to the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank, and in particular Article 11.6 thereof,

Having regard to Decision ECB/2004/2 of 19 February 2004 adopting the Rules of Procedure of the European Central Bank^f1, and in particular Article 19 thereof,

Whereas:

In the light of developments in European Union case law and legislation as well as for the sake of clarity, certain rules laid down in Decision (EU) 2016/245 of the European Central Bank (ECB/2016/2)^f2 need to be refined further or revised.

The European Central Bank (ECB) ensures that appropriate measures are taken to effectively prevent, identify and remedy conflicts of interest of staff members arising in the conduct of procurement procedures in accordance with the Ethics Framework of the ECB^f3, so as to avoid any distortion of competition and to ensure equal treatment of all tenderers.

The thresholds for public tender procedures laid down in Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council^f4 have been changed by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/2365^f5 and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/1828^f6. Although Directive 2014/24/EU does not apply to it, the ECB intends to apply the same thresholds for its public tender procedures.

In addition, the ECB intends to apply the same threshold for concessions as that set out in Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council^f7.

Therefore, Decision (EU) 2016/245 (ECB/2016/2) should be amended accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: