(Case T-554/08)

3. EU public contracts — Conclusion of a contract following a call for tenders — Discretion of the institutions — Criteria for selecting candidates — Duty to comply with the principles of equal treatment of tenderers and transparency — No obligation to leave a margin between the minimum and maximum threshold of factors to be submitted to prove the capacity of tenderers (Council Regulation No 1605/2002, Arts 89 and 97(1); Commission Regulation No 2342/2002, Art. 135(1),(2) and (5)) (see paras 38, 41-45)

6. Procedure — Introduction of new pleas during the proceedings — Conditions — New plea — Meaning (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 48(2), first para.) (see para. 119)

7. EU public contracts — Tender procedure — Duty of the awarding authority to exclude a tenderer having committed a serious professional fault — Tenderer alleging a serious professional fault by the company to which the contract awarded — Examination of the claims by the awarding authority — Prima facie assessment — Duty where fraud not proven to reject the claims and inform the author of the accusations (Council Regulation No 1605/2002, Arts 93(1)(c) and 94; Commission Regulation No 2342/2002, Art. 133) (see paras 124, 126-127, 132)

9. Procedure — Application initiating proceedings — Formal requirements — Identification of the subject-matter of the dispute — Brief summary of the pleas in law on which the application is based — Action for compensation for damage caused by an EU institution (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 44(1)(c)) (see paras 162-163)

10. Non-contractual liability — Conditions — Unlawfulness — Damage — Causal link — One of the conditions not satisfied — Claim for compensation dismissed in its entirety (Art. 288, second para., EC) (see paras 167-168)

Re:

ACTION for annulment of the Commission’s decision of 26 September 2008 rejecting the tender submitted by the consortium formed by the applicant and other companies in response to call for tenders ‘TAXUD/2007/AO-005’ relating to the provision of business, technical and project consultancy services for Community computer applications in the customs, excise and taxation areas (‘TIMEA’), and all consequential decisions, including the decision to award the contract to the successful tenderer, brought pursuant to Articles 225 EC and 230 EC, and a claim in damages brought pursuant to Articles 225 EC, 235 EC and 288 EC.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Dismisses the action;

2. Orders Evropaïki Dynamiki – Proigmena Systimata Tilepikoinonion Pliroforikis kai Tilematikis AE to pay its own costs and those incurred by the European Commission.