Surge in procurement claims being heard by European Court of Justice

The number of public procurement disputes reaching the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has grown substantially since the credit crunch, according to research from Thomson Reuters.

In 2015, 26 procurement cases made it through to the ECJ in 2015 compared to zero in 2010.

Thomson Reuters said that private companies are becoming more aggressive over litigating over public sector contracts. Strengthening economic recovery has enabled many businesses to pursue claims all the way to the ECJ, despite the expense and time involved.

Although austerity measures have begun to ease, resulting in more public procurement projects coming on stream, competition for project tenders remains tough, increasing the potential for more disputes over the way contracts are awarded and handled.

Overall, the number of commercial and business-related disputes being heard by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) rose 20% in 2015 to 423,

Areas which have seen significant increases in the number of cases heard by the ECJ include:

• Competition - up 74% to 40 cases in 2015 from 23 in 2014
• Intellectual and industrial property - up 87% to 88 cases in 2015 from 47 in 2014

“The European Commission has been going through a more active period in terms of competition investigations, creating more cases for the ECJ.” says Professor Laurence Gormley, Professor of European Law at the University of Groningen and a member of the editorial board for the European Law Review, published by Thomson Reuters.

“One area of particular attention is the internet sector where there is a strong tendency for markets to develop into monopolies. Google and Amazon are just two players on which the EC has set its sights.”