Preliminary assessment of the second payment request of Romania

procedures concerning the award of public procurement contracts. In particular, it requires the contracting authority to conclude the contract with the successful tenderer once the National Council for the Resolution of Complaints has decided to maintain the outcome of the award procedure, even if the complainant has challenged in court the decision and the case has not been definitively settled, while respecting the statutory standstill period laid down in Article 59(1) (the minimum period between award of contract and signature of contract to allow for an appeal). This new provision amends the provision in Law No. 101/2016 (Article 9(4)), which envisaged only such option without establishing an obligation for the contract to be signed.

Article 4(3) of the Governance Ordinance further complements Article 4(1), by providing that the contracting authority is bound to sign the contract with the successful tender after a decision of the court of first instance, even if an appeal was formulated following the first instance decision. Moreover, this article provides that the judgment of the first instance court is enforceable, and it is not possible to order the suspension of its enforcement.

Commission Preliminary Assessment: Satisfactorily fulfilled

                  Related Measure: Construction, equipping and operationalisation of 110
Number: 456
                  crèches
Name of the Milestone: Signature of contracts with public operators (municipalities) for the
construction, equipment and operationalisation of 110 crèches
Qualitative Indicator: Signature of contracts                                  Time: Q2 2022
Context:
The objective of this investment is to increase access and participation in standard early-childhood
education and care services through the additional capacity of 110 new crèches.
Milestone 456 requires the signature of contracts, with territorial distribution, for the
construction, equipment and operationalisation of 110 energy-efficient crèches at national level.
Milestone 456 is the first step of the implementation of the investment and will be followed by

target 457, related to finalisation and operationalisation of 110 crèches. The investment has a final expected date for implementation in Q4 2025. Evidence Provided: In line with the verification mechanism set out in the Operational Arrangements, the following evidence was provided:

  i)    Summary document duly justifying how the milestone (including all the constitutive
        elements) was satisfactorily fulfilled;
  ii)   Copy of the publication of the call, showing that the competition is open to applications
        and the eligibility criteria based on the specifications in the milestone description are
        fulfilled. Published on the website of the Ministry and through Ministerial Order of the
        Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration No. 1254/2022 of 24 June
        2022 and its corresponding Annex, published respectively in the Official Journal, Part I, No
        623 on 24 June 2022, and in the Official Journal, Part I, No 623Bis on 24 June 2022, and
        entered into force on the same day, in accordance with Article 12(3) of Law 24/2000 on
        the rules of legislative technique for the drafting of legislative acts;
 iii)   Copy of the list of selected crèches (Operations 1 and 2).

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