Court of Justice of the European Communities (including Court of First Instance Decisions)

ORDER OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL COURT

21 December 2018(*)

(Proceedings for interim relief — Public procurement – No need to adjudicate)

In Case T‑715/18 R,

Phrenos Sprl, established in Brussels (Belgium),

Akkanto SA, established in Watermael-Boitsfort (Belgium),

Operational management solutions Sprl, established in Chaumont-Gistoux (Belgium),

represented by R. Jafferali and R. van Melsen, lawyers,

applicants,

against

European Commission, represented by A. Aresu, J. Estrada de Solà and A Katsimerou, acting as Agents,

defendant,

APPLICATION based on Articles 278 and 279 TFEU seeking suspension of the operation of the decision of the European Commission, notified to the applicants on 27 November 2018, to reject their bid and to award the contract for services relating to the planning, preparation, promotion and implementation of the ‘European Development Days’ event for its Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (ref.: EuropeAid/139729/DH/SER/BE) to a third party,

THE PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL COURT

makes the following

Order

1        By application lodged at the Court Registry on 6 December 2018, the applicants brought an action against the Commission for, in essence, annulment of the decision by the European Commission to reject their bid and to award the contract for services relating to the planning, preparation, promotion and implementation of the ‘European Development Days’ event for its Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (ref.: EuropeAid/139729/DH/SER/BE) to a third party (‘the contested decision’).

2        By a separate document lodged at the Court Registry the same day, the applicants brought the present application for interim measures, in which they request the President of the General Court to suspend the operation of the contested decision.

3        The same day, the President of the General Court adopted, without first hearing the European Commission, an order by which he ordered the Commission to suspend the operation of the contested decision.

4        On 11 December 2018, the Commission took the decision to cancel the procurement procedure in question and to relaunch the procedure with the tenderers which took part in that procurement procedure, including the applicants.

5        Accordingly, in its observations lodged at the Court Registry on 17 December 2018, the Commission applied for a declaration that the application has become devoid of purpose.

6        On 17 December 2018, Pomilo Blumm, the tenderer to which the contract in question was awarded pursuant to the contested decision, requested leave to intervene in the present proceedings in support of the Commission.

7        In answering the question by the President of the General Court, the applicants maintain that it is not yet certain that the application has become devoid of purpose. In that respect, they refer to the possibility that the successful tenderer could challenge the decision by the Commission to cancel the procurement procedure in question and that the Commission has not yet invited the applicants to take part in a new procurement procedure.

8        Since the Commission has revoked the contested decision, there is no longer any need to adjudicate in the present proceedings for interim relief. In particular, the alleged possibility for the successful tenderer to challenge the decision by which the Commission cancelled the procurement procedure in question does not alter the fact that the contested act has been revoked by the Commission and can thus no longer take effect. Furthermore, the fact that the Commission has not yet invited the applicants to take part in a new procurement procedure is irrelevant for the purposes of the present proceedings for interim relief by which the applicants seek the suspension of operation of the contested decision.

9        Since there is no longer any need to adjudicate in the present proceedings for interim relief, there is no longer any need to rule on the application to intervene by Pomilo Blumm.

10      As the present order terminates the proceedings for interim measures, it is necessary to cancel the order of 6 December 2018, Phrenos and others v Commission (T-715/18 R), adopted on the basis of Article 157(2) of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court, by which the Commission was ordered to suspend the operation of the contested decision.

11      Under Article 158(5) of the Rules of Procedure, the costs must be reserved.

On those grounds,

THE PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL COURT

hereby orders:

1.      There is no need to adjudicate.

2.      The order of 6 December 2018, Phrenos and others v Commission (T-715/18 R), is cancelled.

3.      The costs are reserved.

Luxembourg, 21 December 2018.

*      Language of the case: English.

© European Union
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