The ability of economic operators to participate in public procurement procedures is a common term for the substantively different types of circumstances, that an economic operator has to fulfil in order to persuade a contracting authority that he is able to perform a public contract. The applicable legislation distinguishes between the grounds for exclusion from the public procurement procedure, which are related to the personal status of the economic operator and the selection criteria that relate to the professional, financial and technical capability of the tenderers. The contracting authority must always verify mandatory grounds for exclusion and exclude the economic operator, with which such grounds are given. Facultative exclusion grounds on the other hand allow contracting authorities a discretion, whether they will include such in the procedure. This mainly depends on their significance for the concrete public contract. In accordance with the principle of transparency, the content of non-compulsory grounds for exclusion should be clearly and precisely defined. Contracting authorities have even more autonomy when choosing the selection criteria. The contracting authority is the one who should, in each individual public procurement procedure and in the light of the specific nature of the subject of the contract and any special circumstances related to its implementation, determine the substantive, value and time criteria of the individual conditions and the manner of their disclosure. In addition to the principle of equal treatment of tenderers, the principle of proportionality must also be respected, which means that the content of the selection criteria must be adapted to the characteristics and nature of the public contract. In other words, the contracting authority may only determine selection criteria that are related to the public contract and which ensure that the chosen tenderer will fulfil their obligation in a quality manner.
|
