Article 47 - Right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial
55. By its second question, the referring court essentially asks — in the event that the answer to Question 1 is in the affirmative — whether Article 2d(4) of Directive 89/665 is valid in the light of the principle of non-discrimination and the right to an effective remedy under Article 47 of the Charter.
56. In that regard, Fastweb contends that the publication in the Official Journal of a notice for voluntary ex ante transparency and observance of the 10-day minimum standstill period between that publication and conclusion of the contract does not ensure consistency with the principle of effective judicial protection. Such publication does not guarantee that potential competitors are informed of the award of a contract to a particular economic operator, especially if publication takes place during a period when activities are reduced or suspended.
57. As regards the fundamental right to effective judicial protection, the first paragraph of Article 47 of the Charter states that ‘everyone whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by EU law are violated has the right to an effective remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the conditions laid down in [that] article’.
58. It is settled law that the setting of reasonable time-limits for bringing proceedings, in the interests of legal certainty and for the protection of both the individual and the administrative authority concerned, is compatible with the fundamental right to effective judicial protection. Such time-limits must not make it impossible in practice or excessively difficult to exercise the rights conferred by the EU legal order (see, to that effect, the judgment in Pelati, C‑603/10, EU:C:2012:639, paragraph 30 and the case-law cited).
59. Furthermore, the provisions of Directive 89/665, which is intended to protect tenderers against arbitrary behaviour on the part of the contracting authority, are designed to reinforce existing arrangements for ensuring the effective application of the EU rules on the award of public contracts, in particular where infringements can still be rectified. Such protection cannot be effective if the interested party is unable to rely on those rules vis-à-vis the contracting authority (see, to that effect, the judgment in Commission v Austria, EU:C:2004:386, paragraph 20).
60. Accordingly, effective legal protection requires that the interested parties be informed of an award decision a reasonable period before the contract is concluded so that they have a real possibility of bringing proceedings and, in particular, of applying for interim measures pending conclusion of the contract (see, to that effect, judgments in Commission v Spain, C‑444/06, EU:C:2008:190, paragraphs 38 and 39, and Commission v Ireland, C‑456/08, EU:C:2010:46, paragraph 33).
61. In providing for the publication in the Official Journal of a notice, in accordance with Article 3a of Directive 89/665, announcing the intention of concluding a contract, the second indent of Article 2d(4) of Directive 89/665 guarantees the transparency of the award of a contract. Accordingly, that provision is designed to ensure that all the candidates potentially concerned are in a position to take cognisance of the contracting authority’s decision to award the contract without prior publication of a contract notice. Moreover, in accordance with the third indent of that provision, the contracting authority must observe a 10-day standstill period. The interested parties are thus given an opportunity to challenge the award of a contract before the courts before the contract is concluded.
62. In addition, it should also be noted that, even when the standstill period of at least 10 calendar days, provided for in Article 2d(4) of Directive 89/665, has elapsed, operators adversely affected may bring an action for damages under Article 2(1)(c) of Directive 89/665.
63. In that regard, as was noted in paragraph 44 above, account must be taken of the fact that, by the exception laid down in Article 2d(4) of Directive 89/665, the EU legislature is seeking to accommodate divergent interests, namely, the interests of the undertaking adversely affected, by conferring upon it the right to bring pre-contractual proceedings for interim relief and the right to obtain annulment of a contract that has been concluded unlawfully, and the interests of the contracting authority and of the undertaking selected, limiting the legal uncertainty that may be engendered by the ineffectiveness of the contract.
64. In the light of the foregoing, it must be held that, in providing for the effects of a contract to be maintained, Article 2d(4) of Directive 89/665 is not contrary to the requirements flowing from Article 47 of the Charter.
