Malta has been warned by the EU to change its public procurement rules if it wants to avoid legal action.

Issuing a reasoned opinion against Malta this morning – the second stage of a three pronged EU legal action process – Brussels insisted that Malta should make its public procurement legislation more transparent in conformity with EU rules.

But in a statement issued in the afternoon, the government said it disagreed with the Commission and its position was being formally transmitted.

The Commission said that it was particularly concerned that Malta's legislation does not conform to the EU's Remedies Directive (2007/66/EC), which sets out EU-wide standards to ensure rapid and effective means of redress in cases where bidders consider that contracts have been awarded unfairly.

"If this Directive is not properly and promptly implemented, there is a risk that bidders cannot efficiently challenge illegal contract awards," the Commission said.

The island has been given two months to notify the Commission with measures to ensure compliance with EU public procurement rules.

If this is not done, "the Commission may refer this matter to the EU's Court of Justice", the Commission said.

The Maltese government said that the EU directive aimed to provide a tenderer who disagreed with a decision taken in connection with any public contract for the purchase of supplies, services or works with access to fair and effective remedies.

The majority of the directive provisions had already been transposed into national legislation and entered into force last year.

The government, however, disagreed with the Commission on the need to amend certain parts of Maltese law and its position was being formally transmitted to the Commission.

See EU statement at

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/11/1441&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en