The Concept of Economic Operator and the Setting of Limitations to Awarding by Lots in Public Procurement in the Light of the Portuguese Public Contracts Code

Abstract

According to the EU 2014 directives, the contracting authority should divide into lots – or to justify not doing so. Furthermore, it may decide (i) to limit the number of lots to which each economic operator may submit tenders; (ii) to limit the maximum number of lots to be awarded per economic operator, or (iii) to aggregate all or part of the lots. In view of the limitation on the number of lots for which tenders may be submitted or the maximum number of lots to be awarded per competitor – either limitation to be determined in advance at the contracting authority’s discretion – the article addresses the question of whether albeit legally distinct competitors that maintain an economic unit or interdependent links may submit bids for different lots or groups of lots in the same procedure.

Keywords

• lotting
• competition
• portuguese public contracts code
• concept of undertaking
• economic operator