In this blog post, the authors analyse Case C-598/19 Conacee, which concerns Article 20(1) Directive 2014/24/EU on reserved contracts and the regulation foreseen in the Fourth Additional Provision and the Fourteenth Final Provision of Spanish Law on Public Sector Contracts, setting additional requirements at the national level for the economic operator to compete for reserved contracts. [1] The Court of Justice of the European Union (further: CJEU) ruled in this case that Member States are able to set additional requirements under national legislation beyond those laid down in Article 20(1) Directive 2014/24/EU with respect to economic operators that may compete for reserved contracts. It also clarified the conditions under which Member States may exclude economic operators from the reserved contracts.

The blog post first examines relevant EU law provisions, facts of the case and the question submitted to the CJEU. Next, analyses of reserved contracts under Article 20(1) of Directive 2014/24/EU and the judgement in Conacee are carried out. The latter is investigated with particular attention to methods of interpreting the legal text and distinguishing between non-profit and profit special employment centres. The last section concludes the blog post.