The European Commission acted on 28 October to ensure fair access to public contracts by referring the Czech Republic to the Court of Justice for not complying with its obligation to award public supply contracts on the basis of public tenders. Commission's decision affects the contract for the purchase of four military tactical transport aircraft CASA-295M by Czech authorities.

According to the European public procurement Directive 2004/18/EC, public contracts above EU thresholds must be awarded on the basis of an EU-wide tender procedure. However, the Directive provides for an exemption from this obligation in cases where the contracting authority buys specific military material, and specific rules on public procurement coordination in the field of security and defence are provided.

In April 2008, the Czech Ministry of Defence directly awarded a public supply contract worth 132 million Euro for four military tactical transport aircraft of the type CASA-295M without organising a tendering procedure. The Czech authorities considered that no public tendering procedure would be necessary as the aircraft would be used mainly for Czech Republic military missions, i.e. for the protection of essential security interests of the State.

However, a Member State cannot automatically deviate from standard public procurement rules when procuring military equipment. It has to demonstrate that the tendering procedure as such would present a risk for its essential security interests.

In the Commission's view, the Czech Republic has so far failed to demonstrate why a public tender for unarmed transport aircraft would pose a risk for its essential security interests. By awarding the contract without a proper tender procedure, the Commission considers the Czech Republic to have prevented competition on the European market and may have wasted taxpayer's money. Therefore the Commission has referred the case to the Court of Justice.