Economic operators
4.—(1) In these Regulations, an “economic operator” means a contractor, a supplier or a services provider.
(2) When these Regulations apply, a contracting authority must not treat a person who is not a national of a relevant State or is not established in a relevant State more favourably than one who is.
(3) A contracting authority must—
(a)treat economic operators equally and without discrimination; and
(b)act in a transparent and proportionate manner.
(4) In these Regulations a relevant State is a Member State or a State listed in column 1 of Schedule 4; the agreements with the European Union by which the provisions in relation to public procurement are extended to those States are specified in column 2 of that Schedule and the statutory provision designating them as EU Treaties under section 1(3) of the European Communities Act 1972(1) are specified in column 3 to that Schedule.