The daily Rzeczpospolita has published an article entitled “A PLN 15,000 fine should not determine the outcome of a multi-billion tender”, authored by Prof. Paweł Nowicki (Nicolaus Copernicus University) and member of the Public Procurement Law Association.

In the article, the author analyses a high-profile ruling of the National Appeals Chamber (KIO) concerning the procurement procedure for sections of the Rail Baltica project, in which the exclusion of a consortium was triggered by the omission of information about an environmental fine of PLN 15,000. In the author’s view, the decision raises serious concerns from the perspective of the principle of proportionality, one of the fundamental principles of public procurement law and of the EU legal order.

The publication addresses the limits of applying discretionary exclusion grounds and considers whether a formal omission of marginal financial significance may legitimately result in the award of a contract to a bidder whose offer is hundreds of millions of złoty more expensive.

The full text of the article is available in the electronic edition of the daily.