I. Introduction Two concepts are fundamental to the traction of public procurement law: the concept of contracting authorities (contracting entities in Utilities procurement) and the concept of public contracts. For the purposes of both the Public Sector and the Utilities procurement Directives, contracting authorities (entities) means the State, regional or local authorities, bodies governed by public law, associations formed by one or several of such authorities or one or several of such bodie...

I. Introduction Government procurement1 is defined by OECD as the purchasing of goods and services by the government for consumption and investment, but not for resale.2 Effective procurement practices are transparent reflecting on the quality of public finances, and are essential for efficiency in public spending. The result of acquiring optimum quality goods and services for public consumption at competitive prices is improved value for taxpayers’ money and allocation of resources.3 An open ...

I. Introduction into the paradigm of the competitive dialogue procedure For the utility/infrastructure sectors of the economy, the relevant directives and related policy documents have come to highlight the importance of public procurement as one of the key market domains of the Single Market which remains to be completed1. The creation of a high-performance single European market is so great and the potential benefits from effective liberalization so enormous that the Community cannot afford to...

During the last four decades, when one spoke of Ports, particularly deep sea Ports, certain major players always stood out, though one may argue, regarding the stand-out Ports of the world, that they still are competing only among themselves. The larger Ports are Yokahama (Japan), New York (USA), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Antwerp (Belgium), Singapore, Hong Kong, Pusan and Shanghai (China). Today, no Ports around the globe can enjoy a monopoly power over their hinterlands, as cargoes/goods origina...