EU and EEA Public Procurement Law - Master

The content of the course is to provide the student with an overview of the EU-EEA public procurement law and its application by covering theoretical and practical aspects of the procurement activity.

The discipline of public procurement enjoys of great practical importance as it is the set of rules that applies to the acquisition of goods, services and/or works by contracting entities in the EU. Public procurement activity accounts for up to 19% of the GDP of the Union.

This course is designed to provide with a thorough analysis of the most relevant aspects of public procurement law, including but not limited to the following aspects:

• Definition and objectives of public procurement
• Public procurement directives in the EU and its interplay with the TFEU
• Core concepts such as
  • contracting authority
  • public contract
  • economic operator
• EU-EEA Tender procedures (selection, exclusion, assessment and award of a contract)
• Enforcement of procurement rules in the EU

Knowledge

For exam purpose the requirement is thorough knowledge of material EU/EEA public procurement rules, in depth knowledge of some parts of it, and case law as well as understanding of the relation between national and supranational legislation in this field of law.

The course will allow the student to:

• thoroughly understand the goals of public procurement;
• thoroughly understand the core concepts of public procurement law;

Skills

The course will further allow the student to:

• describe in detail the main different public procurement rules and their scope of application;
• describe the public procurement procedures towards the purchasing of goods, services and/or works;

General competence

Finally, the course will allow the student to:

• identify relevant legal problems of public procurement, particularly within unclear tenders and enforcement, and offer legally acceptable solutions to them; and familiarize with some of the most relevant EU case law on public procurement.