Gleichbehandlung und Transparenz als gemeinschaftsrechtliche Prinzipien der staatlichen Auftragsvergabe

Public procurement law is increasingly turning into a »matter of principle« rather than a »matter of policy.« It is the principle of equal treatment in Community law which is responsible for this, a principle in which the European Court of Justice sees the obligation to make the awarding of a contract transparent. Increasing the scope of the principle of equal treatment - not only its content, which would make it the standard criterion for government procurement, demanding more than merely applying the same conditions to all applicants when calling for tenders, but also its range, could cause theoretical and practical problems. Florian Huerkamp outlines a theory of basic principles of Community law for awarding contracts in which the obligations for the national contracting authority resulting from the principle of equal treatment are structured in such a way that they allow for a legally compliant application by the procurement agencies.