“The string was a little too thick“: a call for tenders for the restocking of eels, using public funds that were too prominently targeted at one applicant, was declared illegal by the Brandenburg state administration.
The Facts
This call for tenders, drafted by the President of the Initiative for the Promotion of European Eel, a German association of eel traders and farmers, was for an order worth €1,350,000, 50% for glass eels and 50% for eels.
The call for tenders contained a condition: ‘the applicant must be able to produce its own eels’. This condition was deemed non-compliant because it automatically directed the order to a single candidate belonging to the NIJVIS group. All competition for this tender, part of which was paid for with public funds and in particular European funds, was therefore banned.
The call for tenders was cancelled by the Brandenburg state administration.
It is important to understand that applications requiring the SEG label or to fish traders who both trade in glass eels and produce young eels are unjustified and unrecognised by the European authorities. Applicants are therefore exposed to refusal for non-compliance with the regulations in force and to reimbursement of the sums received.
This type of practice is highly detrimental to the French fishing industry and contributes to selling off a resource that the French fishing industry strives to exploit carefully and with responsibility.