15.—(1) Subject to regulation 19 and paragraph (2) below, in assessing whether a supplier meets any minimum standards of economic and financial standing required of suppliers by the contracting authority for the purposes of regulations 11(7), 12(4) and 13(7), and in selecting the suppliers to be invited to tender for or to negotiate the contract in accordance with regulations 12(5) and 13(8), a contracting authority may take into account any of the following information—
(a)appropriate statements from the supplier’s bankers;
(b)statements of accounts or extracts therefrom relating to the business of the supplier where publication of the statement is required under the law of the relevant State in which the supplier is established;
(c)a statement of the overall turnover of the business of the supplier and the turnover in respect of goods of a similar type to the goods to be purchased or hired under the public supply contract in the 3 previous financial years of the supplier.
(2) Where the information specified in paragraph (1) above is not appropriate in a particular case, a contracting authority may require a supplier to provide other information to demonstrate the supplier’s economic and financial standing.
(3) A contracting authority which requires information to be provided in accordance with paragraphs (1) and (2) above shall specify in the contract notice or in the invitation to tender the information which the supplier must provide and it may require a supplier to provide only such of that information as it considers it needs to make the assessment or selection.
(4) Where a supplier is unable for a valid reason to provide the information which the contracting authority has required, the contracting authority shall accept such other information provided by the supplier as the contracting authority considers appropriate.