Collaboration Between Economic Operators in the Competition for Public Contracts: A Legal and Economic Analysis of Grey Zones between EU Public Procurement Law and EU Competition Law

This PhD thesis investigates the interaction between the public procurement rules and the competition rules with a focus on the legal framework of collaboration between economic operators tendering in public procurement procedures. The purpose of the thesis is to clarify, analyze and discuss the current state of law on collaborations between economic operators competing for public contracts. Throughout the thesis, the focus will be on three different types of collaborations. First type being when an economic operator relies on the capacity of other economic operators in order to document whether they are capable of fulfilling the tendered contract. Secondly, the focus will be when economic operators form a bidding consortium for the purpose of tendering for and eventually fulfilling a public contract. Third and last focus will be on economic operators who use subcontractors to fulfil a public contract.
This PhD thesis seeks to answer the following questions (1) what effects can collaborations between economic operators in the competition for public contracts have on competition in the internal market; (2) when are collaborations between economic operator in the competition for public contracts considered legal under public procurement law but not under competition law; (3) how is it possible to reconcile a potential conflict between public procurement law and competition law.