JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

of 21 March 2018

in Case E-4/17

EFTA Surveillance Authority v The Kingdom of Norway

(Failure by an EFTA State to fulfil its obligations — Directive 2004/18/EC — Public procurement — Public contract — Public works concession)

(2018/C 264/10)

In Case E-4/17, EFTA Surveillance Authority v The Kingdom of Norway — APPLICATION for a declaration that by incorrectly classifying a public contract, having as its subject matter the construction and operation of an underground car park under Torvet in Kristiansand, as a ‘service concession’ rather than as a ‘works concession’, and by carrying out a tender procedure which is not in line with the requirements under the EEA rules on public procurement, the Kingdom of Norway has breached provisions of the Act referred to at point 2 of Annex XVI to the Agreement on the European Economic Area (Directive 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts) in conjunction with the Act referred to at point 6a of Annex XVI to the Agreement (Regulation (EC) No 2195/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 November 2002 on the Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)), the Court, composed of Páll Hreinsson, President and Judge-Rapporteur, Per Christiansen and Nicole Kaiser (ad hoc), Judges, gave judgment on 21 March 2018, the operative part of which is as follows:

The Court hereby:

1.

Declares that the Kingdom of Norway has, in relation to a tender procedure carried out by the Municipality of Kristiansand in 2015 for the construction and operation of an underground car park under Torvet in Kristiansand, failed to fulfil its obligations under Directive 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts, referred to at point 2 of Annex XVI to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, by failing to: (i) publish a contract notice throughout the EEA in accordance with the legal requirements laid down in Article 58(3) of the Directive; (ii) use a complete and sufficiently precise set of CPV codes, in breach of Article 58(2) of the Directive, in conjunction with Article 1(14) of the Directive and Regulation (EC) No 2195/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 November 2002 on the Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV), referred to at point 6a of Annex XVI to the EEA Agreement; and (iii) respect the minimum time limit for the submission of applications in an award procedure, as prescribed by Article 59 of the Directive.

2.	Orders the Kingdom of Norway to bear the costs of the proceedings.