Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012 (repealed)Show full title

Article 121 Definitions and scope(Article 101 of the Financial Regulation)

1. Building contracts cover the purchase, long lease, usufruct, leasing, rental or hire purchase, with or without option to buy, of land, existing buildings or other real estate.

2. Supply contracts cover the purchase, leasing, rental or hire purchase, with or without option to buy, of products. A contract for the supply of products and, incidentally, for siting and installation shall be considered a supply contract.

3. Works contracts cover either the execution, or both the execution and design, of works or a work related to one of the activities referred to in Annex I to Directive 2004/18/EC or the realisation, by whatever means, of a work corresponding to the requirements specified by the contracting authority. A ‘work’ shall mean the outcome of building or civil engineering works taken as a whole that is sufficient of itself to fulfil an economic or technical function.

4. Service contracts cover all intellectual and non-intellectual services other than those covered by supply contracts, works contracts and building contracts.

A contract covering two or more types of procurement (works, services or supplies) shall be awarded in accordance with the provisions applicable to the type of procurement that characterises the main subject of the contract in question.

In the case of mixed contracts consisting of services and supplies, the main object shall be determined by a comparison of the values of the respective services or supplies.

Any references to nomenclatures in the context of public procurement shall be made using the ‘Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)’ as set out in Regulation (EC) No 2195/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council(1).

5. The terms ‘work contractor’, ‘supplier’ and ‘service provider’ covers any natural or legal person or public entity or consortium of such persons and/or bodies which offers to execute works, supply products and provide services. The term ‘economic operator’ shall mean ‘work contractors’, ‘suppliers’ and ‘service providers’. ‘Tenderers’ shall mean economic operators who have submitted a tender. ‘Candidates’ shall mean those who have asked to be allowed to take part in a restricted procedure, a competitive dialogue, or a negotiated procedure. ‘Vendors’ shall mean economic operators registered in a list of vendors according to Article 136(1)(b).

Consortia of economic operators shall be authorised to submit tenders or to be candidates. Contracting authorities may not demand that consortia must have a given legal form in order to be allowed to submit a tender or request to take part, but the consortium selected may be required to adopt a given legal form after it has been awarded the contract if this change is necessary for proper performance of the contract.

6. Departments of the Union institutions shall be considered to be contracting authorities, save where they conclude between themselves administrative arrangements for the provision of services, the supply of products, for the execution of works or for the implementation of building contracts.

7. Technical assistance shall mean support and capacity-building activities necessary for the implementation of a programme or an action, in particular preparatory, management, monitoring, evaluation, audit and control activities.

8. All exchanges with contractors, including the conclusion of contracts and any amendments thereto, may be done through electronic exchange systems set up by the contracting authority.

9. These systems shall meet the following requirements:

(a) only authorised persons may have access to the system and to documents transmitted through it;

(b) only authorised persons may electronically sign or transmit a document through the system;

(c) authorised persons must be identified through the system by established means;

(d) the time and date of the electronic transaction must be determined precisely;

(e) the integrity of documents must be preserved;

(f) the availability of documents must be preserved;

(g) where appropriate, the confidentiality of documents must be preserved;

(h) the protection of personal data in accordance with the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 must be ensured.

10. Data sent or received through such a system shall enjoy legal presumption of the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the date and time of sending or receiving the data indicated by the system.

A document sent or notified through such a system shall be considered as equivalent to a paper document, shall be admissible as evidence in legal proceedings, shall be deemed original and shall enjoy legal presumption of its authenticity and integrity, provided it does not contain any dynamic features capable of automatically changing it.

The electronic signatures referred to in point (b) of paragraph 9 shall have the equivalent legal effect of handwritten signatures.

(1)

OJ L 340, 16.12.2002, p. 1.