ELECTRONIC AUCTION: ANALYSIS OF ITS REGULATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND IN SPAIN (1)- (2)

Por

MARÍA DE-MIGUEL-MOLINA / FRANCISCA RAMÓN-FERNÁNDEZ

Assistant Professor (Profesora Contratada Doctora) / Assistant Professor (Profesora Contratada Doctora)

Management Ph. D. and Law Degree. Management Department. Faculty of Business Administration and Management / Law Ph. D. Law Degree. Urbanism Department. Civil Law Area

Universidad Politécnica de Valencia / Universidad Politécnica de Valencia

[email protected] / [email protected]

Revista General de Derecho Europeo 17 (2008)

SUMARIO: I. Introducción. II. Regulación de la subasta electrónica en la Unión Europea. III. B2B y subasta electrónica: su regulación en la Ley 56/2007 de 28 de Diciembre de Medidas de Impulso de la Sociedad de la Información. IV. G2B: la subasta electrónica como medio de contratación regulado en la Ley 30/2007 de 30 de Octubre de Contratos en el Sector Público. V. Consecuencias de la introducción de medios electrónicos en las subastas electrónicas en España. VI. Conclusiones. VII. Bibliografía.

I. INTRODUCTION

In accordance with Community regulations, an electronic auction is a repetitive process involving an electronic device for the submission of new prices, revised downwards, and/or new values concerning certain elements of tenders, which occurs after an initial full evaluation of the tenders, enabling them to be ranked using automatic evaluation methods.

Within the European Community framework eGovernment, and particularly e- procurement, has been the object of extensive regulation. In our analysis we shall refer to the principal fundamental rules which regulate eGovernment (3) within the European Community framework.

Furthermore, we have studied the specific case of Spain since in 2007 various rules have contributed to promoting the Information Society. On one hand for eGovernment, Law 11/2007 and Law 30/2007 have prepared the ground for eGovernment in Spain. As regards the Information Society and encouraging all citizens to become part of it, Law 56/2007 has introduced important reforms.

But in Spain, the regulation of electronic auctions between businesses differs greatly from that of public sector electronic auctions, since the former is minimally regulated and self-regulation among businesses is encouraged, whereas for the latter it is more complex and requires the particulars of this type of auction to be included in the specifications, for example the mathematical formula which will be used for automatic re-ranking of tenders depending on the new prices or new values that are submitted.

II. REGULATION OF ELECTRONIC AUCTIONS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

The first boost for e-procurement that gave rise to the proposal in COM (2000) 275 final, the origin of Directive 2004/18/EC , can be found in the Communication from the Commission “Green paper on public procurement in Europe” COM (96) 583 final.

Following this, the promotion of e-procurement and the need to replace the traditional procurement process – long, complex and costly – with an electronic one was determined by the Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, “The role of eGovernment for Europe’s future” COM (2003) 567. Among its main actions, this Communication considered the advance of public e-procurement.

However, the first text setting out the regulations for e-procurement in the European Union would be the aforementioned Directive 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 31 March 2004, on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts (4). This Directive makes specific reference to electronic auctions, stating that since use of the technique of electronic auctions is increasing, such auctions should be given a Community definition and governed by specific rules in order to ensure that they operate in full accordance with the principles of equal treatment, non-discrimination and transparency.

It thus defines electronic auctions as repetitive processes involving an electronic device for the submission of new prices, revised downwards, and/or new values concerning certain features of tenders, which occurs after an initial full evaluation of the tenders, enabling them to be ranked using automatic evaluation methods.

On the European level, the concept of ‘interoperability’ for electronic auctions is therefore particularly important. The Communication from the Commission to the Council and to the European Parliament on “Interoperability for Pan-European eGovernment services” COM (2006) 45 final, stated that Europe requires cross-border governments in order to increase its economic competitiveness and the mobility of its citizens and businesses. It stated that interoperability, i.e. the capacity to connect data treatment systems and work systems and to understand and reuse the information from other organisations, is a determining factor in improving conditions for a competitive and innovative Europe.

Furthermore, the Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions “i2010 eGovernment Action Plan: Accelerating eGovernment in Europe for the Benefit of All” COM (2006) 173 final, proposed for 2010:

– To accelerate the delivery of tangible benefits for citizens and businesses;

– To ensure that eGovernment at national level does not create any new barriers in the internal market due to fragmentation and lack of interoperability;

– To extend the benefits of eGovernment to European Union level by allowing economies of scale in Member States’ initiatives and cooperating on common European challenges;

– To ensure cooperation of all stakeholders in the EU in designing and delivering eGovernment.

Thus, the Action Plan for eGovernment focuses on the following five major objectives for 2010:

1. To promote inclusion through eGovernment so that all citizens may benefit from trusted innovative services with easy access. This involves bridging the digital divide so that all citizens, including socially disadvantaged groups, can benefit fully.

2. To make efficiency and effectiveness a reality, significantly contributing to high user satisfaction, transparency and accountability, a lighter administrative burden and efficiency gains.

3. To implement high-impact key services for citizens and businesses, 100% of public procurement to be available electronically, with 50% actual usage.

4. To put key tools in place, enabling citizens and businesses to benefit from convenient, secure and interoperable authenticated access across Europe to public services.

5. To demonstrate tools for effective public debate and participation in democratic decision-making.

The Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on “Bridging the Broadband Gap”, (2007/C/146/09), following the i2010 Communication, establishes that the use of eGovernment should serve to restructure and update the services that it offers, in addition to meeting the objectives of efficiency, effectiveness, economy, impartiality, transparency, simplification and participation. The initiatives proposed by the Committee of the Regions as regards eGovernment are, inter alia:

a) To analyse and revise government internal procedures to promote offering the online services considered strategic to citizens and businesses, in addition to examining some formal cooperation practices through advanced use of electronic documents and email.

b) To adopt regulatory measures to establish common strategies, rules, standards and formats in the ITC context, in order to encourage the interoperability and cooperation of applications.

c) To encourage the use of ‘open source’ platforms to promote the development of eGovernment and online services, above all in small governments.

d) To put in place common authentication systems to identify users wishing to access online services.

e) To set up territorial service centres able to implement and support eGovernment procedures (with particular attention to small and medium sized governments), offer and manage ITC services, continuously improve the services and their quality, and make available professional and technological resources.

As we can see from these documents, the European Union is encouraging an ITC development policy at all levels including government, in order to improve and facilitate the internal market and the relationship between Community government and the governments of the different Member States. The European Union focuses on 2010 for this objective, although we believe that in spite of the boost given to eGovernment in Member States (in Spain, for example, we have early studies by Camas, 2003; Mestre, 2003a and 2003b; and Valero, 2003 among others), there is still a great deal to be done in specific governments, such as the Spanish one, and between their different levels.

III. B2B ELECTRONIC AUCTIONS: THEIR REGULATION UNDER SPANISH LAW 56/2007 OF 28 DECEMBER ON MEASURES TO ADVANCE THE INFORMATION SOCIETY

E-commerce allows for business to transact with each other more efficiently (B2B) and for business to have a closer relationship with customers (B2C) (Iyer et al., 2006).

The impetus of the Information Society following the new regulations of Law 56/2009 seeks to prevent company misgivings about participating in the new purchasing methods referred to (particularly e-procurement), in order to eliminate unfair practices or unfair competition (taking into account the stipulations of Law 15/2007 of 3 July on Defence of Competition ). As the Statement of Purpose of Law 56/2007 indicates, the principles of equal treatment, non-discrimination and transparency between businesses are ensured through a specific law.

The purpose of article 3 of Law 56/2007 is to establish a minimum level of regulation of electronic auctions between businesses (B2B) in order to put in place a legal framework which furnishes this purchasing technique with the necessary transparency and legal certainty.

The aforementioned law makes reference to public e-procurement tenders between businesses. In this respect, it is considered an Information Society service insofar as it consists of an entirely open electronic process within a set timescale, by means of which a business offers to buy or sell a given type of product from/to other businesses in such a way that the final contract is awarded to the most advantageous tender.

The article considers observance of what is termed a “transparency protocol” to prevent lack of transparency and so that operations have the appropriate legal certainty to guarantee the impartiality of the parties involved.

Public e-procurement tenders between businesses that observe the aforementioned protocol will be able to be termed a “public e-procurement tender with guaranteed transparency”, a term conferring a certain guarantee of quality which means that Royal Decree 1163/2005 of 30 September will also be applicable. This decree regulates the public label of fidelity of information society services and e-commerce, since article 4 of the aforementioned Royal Decree specifies that among other requirements, the area of activities of the service provider adhering to the protocol must be included, which covers the areas of pre-procurement and procurement information.

A set of requirements is included in order for public e-procurement tenders between businesses to be classified as such, the minimum requirements for utilising this term being:

a) The contracting business which decides to hold public e-procurement shall state this fact in the notice of invitation to tender published on its corporate page in such a manner that is may be accessed and viewed by all the businesses or by the group of previously selected businesses.

b) The notice of invitation to tender shall specify a reasonable deadline for the presentation of tenders starting from the date of posting of notice.

c) The specifications of the contracting business shall include, inter alia, the features, the values for which will be the subject of the public e-procurement tender, provided that such features are quantifiable and can be expressed in figures or percentages; where appropriate, the limits on values that may be submitted, as they result from the specifications relating to the subject of the contract; the information that will be made available to the tenderers in the course of the public e-procurement tender and, where appropriate, when it will be made available to them; relevant information concerning the development of the public e-procurement tender; the conditions in which tenderers will be able to bid and, in particular, the minimum differences which will be required, where appropriate, when bidding; the relevant information concerning the electronic equipment used and the arrangements and technical specifications for connection.

d) Throughout each phase of a public e-procurement tender process, the contracting business shall communicate to all tenderers at least sufficient information to enable them to ascertain their relative rankings at any time. The contracting business may also communicate other information concerning other prices or values submitted. Participating businesses may only use the information contained in this paragraph in order to ascertain their ranking, and may not use it for any purpose other that that stated here.

e) The contracting business shall close the public e-procurement tender process on the date and time specified in the notice of public e-procurement invitation to tender.

f) Once the process has finished, the business shall inform the participants of the decision adopted.

The Spanish Chambers of Commerce (5) consider that the rationale of electronic auctions is to reduce costs for the customer and thus avoid intermediaries. They consider that this purchasing system may be useful for products with minimum differences in technological terms, although it may be very complicated for other types of product. A pioneer section in using electronic auctions has been the automobile sector where some companies, such as Volkswagen, are already using it.

IV. G2B ELECTRONIC AUCTION AS METHOD OF AWARDING CONTRACTS IN SPAIN REGULATED BY LAW 30/2007 OF 30 OCTOBER ON PUBLIC SECTOR CONTRACTS

The use of electronic means in the area of public sector contracts is considered in the new regulations established by Law 30/2007 of 30 October . This Law has provided much impetus for e-procurement in all its aspects (Blanquer, 2007; Domínguez, 2008; Escrituela, 2008; Moreno and Pleite, 2008), but in this paper we shall concentrate on regulated electronic auctions as a means of awarding contracts.

The goal of G2B is to reduce government burden on business by eliminating redundant collection of data and leveraging e-business technologies for communication (Iyer at al., 2006).

As we have seen, electronic auctions are already considered in Community Directive 2004/18/EC on government procurement. Furthermore, the European Union has established the objective for 2010 that 50% of government procurement is carried out using electronic procedures (100% of governments offering this method).

In the Statement of Purpose of Law 30/2007, to fulfil this Directive: “include substantial innovations concerning the preparation and awarding of business subject to the aforementioned. In summarised form, the principal new elements have a bearing on:

- the provision of mechanisms for introducing into public procurement considerations of a social and environmental nature, setting them out as special terms for the execution of the contract or as criteria for evaluating the tenders, prefiguring a structure of guidelines for adjusting contracts to take account of new ethical and social requirements, such as accommodating services to the requirements of “fair trade” with underdeveloped and developing countries as set out by the Resolution of the European Parliament on Fair Trade and Development [2005/2245 (INI)], and also enabling public demand for goods and services to be adjusted to the real availability of natural resources, the expression of a new procedure for awarding contracts, competitive dialogue, borne in mind for highly complex contracts in which the final definition of their subject-matter can only be achieved through the interaction of the contracting authority and the tenderers;

- the new regulation of diverse techniques to rationalise the acquisition of goods and services (framework agreements, dynamic purchasing systems and central purchasing entities);

- and, in summary, taking on board the trends towards the dematerialisation of procedures, opting for the full insertion of electronic, computer and telematic means in matters of public procurement, in order to make the relations between contracting authorities and economic operators more fluid and transparent.

- With the same purpose of including regulations arising from Community law, a new government resource is articulated specifically concerning procurement in order to transpose Council Directive 89/665/EC of 21 December 1989 #(§060049), regarding the coordination of the legal, regulatory and administrative provisions applicable to appeal procedures in matters of awarding public supply contacts and public works contracts, as interpreted by the European Union Court of Justice”.

Regarding contract management, the same Statement refers to the changes introduced by the Law: “This revision has had particular bearing on,

- the system of contractor ranking, the means of accreditation of suitability requisites required for public sector contracting, and contract award procedures, raising the upper limits of the amounts in simplified procedures - negotiated procedure and for smaller contracts – and specifying a new procedure negotiated with advertising for contracts not subject to harmonised regulation and not exceeding a specified amount.

- Moreover, and from a formal perspective, the opportunity has been taken to include Community terminology for procurement into our legislation, in order to facilitate interoperability with European procurement systems on the semantic level. This has meant that some of our traditional legal terms have been abandoned, although not the concepts themselves, which are now expressed in terms more adapted to the European context. In particular, the terms “competition” and “auction” – which under national legislation were used to refer in a somewhat affected manner to “the forms of awarding” the contract as the instrument that had to be used in conjunction with the “award procedures” – are subsumed in the expression “most economically advantageous tender” which refers definitively to the criteria which the contracting authority must take into account to evaluate the bids of tenderers in different open, restricted or negotiated procedures, where a single criterion is used (the price, as in the old fashioned “auction”, or a multiplicity of criteria is considered (as in the old fashioned “competition”). The legal concept of “the most economically advantageous tender” is, however, wider than that used in Directive 2004/18 , encompassing both the strict sense contained in the Community regulation – which presupposes using both multiple criteria for evaluation - and the criterion of the “the lowest price”, which the aforementioned provision formally distinguishes from the previous one;

- the Law has placed both Community concepts under a single rubric to avoid straining the usual linguistic meaning of the expressions used (it would not be understood that the cheapest tender, when the only criterion being evaluated is price, was not classified as “the most economically advantageous”), and to facilitate their use as a guideline which highlights the need to attend to criteria of efficiency in procurement processes.

- Moreover, in order to strengthen control of contract fulfilment and to speed up the resolution of any incidents which may arise during its execution, regulations have been created covering the figure liable for the contract, who may be a legal or a natural person belonging to the contracting authority, organisation or body, or independent of it and linked to it by means of the pertinent service contract, to whom the contracting body may, inter alia, entrust the complete management of the project, to exercise the faculties inherent to directing and supervising the form in which the services constituting its object are delivered”.

In Book III concerning the “Selection of the contractor and award of the contracts”, Heading I on “Award of contracts”, Chapter I “Award of Government contracts”, its article 132 regulates electronic auctions.

The electronic auction, summarised by the Basque Government (a pioneer in the use of electronic auctions, as in so many other areas of e-government), is a procedure for selection of tenders carried out using electronic means, which allows businesses to revise the price of their tender downwards and change the value of other quantifiable parameters (Basque Government, 2007).

As regards electronic auctions, the aforementioned article 132 of Law 30/2007 establishes:

“1. For the purpose of awarding the contract an electronic auction may be held, described as an iterative process which takes place after an initial full evaluation of the tenders, for the submission of improvements to prices or of new values relative to certain features of the tenders which improve them overall, using electronic equipment enabling them to be ranked using automatic evaluation methods.

2. Electronic auction may be used in open, restricted and negotiated procedures in the context foreseen in article 154 a) (6), provided that the specifications of the contract being awarded can be established in a precise manner and that the services that are its subject-matter are not of an intellectual nature. Contracting authorities may not have improper recourse to electronic auctions nor may they use them in such a way as to prevent, restrict or distort competition or to change the subject-matter of the contract.

3. Electronic auctions shall be based on variations of the price or the values of the features of the tender that are quantifiable and able to be expressed in figures or percentages.

4. Contracting authorities which decide to hold an electronic auction shall state that fact in the contract notice. The specifications shall include, inter alia, the following details:

a) the features whose values are referred to by the electronic auction;

b) where appropriate, any limits on the values which may be submitted, as they result from the specifications relating to the subject of the contract;

c) the information which will be made available to tenderers in the course of the electronic auction and, where appropriate, when it will be made available to them;

d) the relevant information concerning the electronic auction process;

e) the conditions under which the tenderers will be able to bid and, in particular, the minimum differences which will, where appropriate, be required when bidding;

f) the relevant information concerning the electronic equipment used and the arrangements and technical specifications for connection.

5. Before proceeding with an electronic auction, contracting authorities shall make a full initial evaluation of the tenders in accordance with the award criterion/criteria. Then all tenderers who have submitted admissible tenders shall be invited simultaneously by electronic, computer or telematic means to submit new prices revised downwards or new values that improve the tender.

6. The invitation shall contain all relevant information concerning individual connection to the electronic equipment being used and shall state the date and time of the start of the electronic auction.

The invitation shall also state the mathematical formula to be used in the electronic auction to determine automatic re-rankings of the tenders on the basis of the new prices and/or new values submitted. That formula shall incorporate the weighting of all the criteria fixed to determine the most economically advantageous tender, as indicated in the contract notice or in the specifications; for that purpose, any ranges shall, however, be reduced beforehand to a specified value. Where variants or improvements are authorised, a separate formula shall be provided for each one where necessary.

When multiple criteria must be taken into account in order to award a contract, the invitation shall be accompanied by the result of the evaluation of the tender submitted by the tenderer.

7. The electronic auction may not start sooner than two working days after the date on which invitations are sent out.

8. The electronic auction may take place in a number of successive phases.

9. Throughout each phase of an electronic auction the contracting authorities shall instantaneously communicate to all tenderers at least sufficient information to enable them to ascertain their relative rankings at any moment. They may also communicate other information concerning other prices or values submitted, provided that that is stated in the specifications. They may also at any time announce the number of participants in that phase of the auction. In no case, however, may they disclose the identities of the tenderers during any phase of an electronic auction.

10. The electronic auction shall be closed in one or more of the following manners:

a) in the invitation to take part in the auction they shall indicate the date and time fixed in advance;

b) when they receive no more new prices or new values which meet the requirements concerning minimum differences.

c) in that event, the contracting authorities shall state in the invitation to take part in the auction the time which they will allow to elapse after receiving the last submission before they close the electronic auction.

d) when the number of phases in the auction, fixed in the invitation to take part in the auction, has been completed. When the contracting authorities have decided to close an electronic auction in accordance with this criterion, the invitation to take part in the auction shall indicate the timetable for each phase of the auction.

11. After the close of an electronic auction, the contract shall be awarded in accordance with Article 135 on the basis of the results of the electronic auction”.

It is therefore no longer a question of an “auction” or “competition”, but rather of “award criteria”, which may be based solely on price or on various criteria. In cases where various criteria are considered, weighting is introduced in order to achieve the greatest possible objectivity and automation in the evaluation. Thus, in Law 30/2007 , the term “auction” refers only to the “electronic auction” explained above.

V. CONSEQUENCES OF THE INTRODUCTION OF ELECTRONIC MEANS INTO SPANISH GOVERNMENT AS A RESULT OF ELECTRONIC AUCTIONS

The incorporation of new technologies has favoured their being utilised for public sector procurement contract awards, today fully covered under Law 11/2007 with the necessary guarantees (Gamero and Valero coords., 2008; Barriuso, 2007; Cerrillo, 2007; Cerrillo, Valero and Villaverde, 2007; Fabra and Blasco, 2007; Palomar, 2007). Practice has made the advantages of awarding contracts using the electronic auction system abundantly clear, since it contributes to creating the single European market in matters of public procurement contracts in accordance with the guidelines set out under Community regulations (Mestre Delgado, 2003a and 2003b; Montejo, Mestre and Reyes, 2004).

The enabling legislation introduced by the recent Law foresees the implementation of the electronic system for awarding contracts in today’s society, save the problems that may be experienced by businesses which do not have access to the technology required for the system. The technological advances in today’s society mean that there are ever fewer obstacles to competing for Government contracts using these new technologies, just as has been the case with e-procurement between private businesses.

An example of this is the fact the electronic auctions are already being used in the energy sector, increasingly so in view of the provisions of Law 31/2007 of 30 October on procurement procedures in the water, energy, transport and postal service sectors . Its Chapter IV (articles 49 to 57 ) deals with electronic auctions and sets out regulations very similar to those of Law 30/2007, although made more extensive by article 61 which establishes the evaluation criteria that must be taken into account for tenders.

The legislation on the protection of personal data, enshrined in Organic Law 15/1999 of 13 December on protection of personal data and Royal Decree 1720/2007 of 21 December, which approves the implementing rules for the aforementioned Law , also enables guaranteeing secrecy of the information in the aforementioned procurement processes, providing sufficient guarantees of protection of the identity of candidates involved in procurement processes, as established by article 132.9 of Law 30/2007 (“they may also communicate other information concerning other prices or values submitted by other tenderers, provided that that is stated in the specifications. They may also at any time announce the number of participants in that phase of the auction. In no case, however, may they disclose the identities of the tenderers during any phase of an electronic auction”).

This protection is further reinforced by Additional Provision 18th.3 (the communication, exchange and storage of information shall be undertaken in such a way as to guarantee data integrity and the confidential nature of tenders and requests to participate, in addition to undertaking not to reveal the content of tenders and of requests to participate until after the submission deadline or the moment specified for their opening), Additional Provision 19th.1. d) (Communications systems and systems for the storage and exchange of information shall be able reasonably to guarantee, in accordance with the state of the technique, the integrity of the data transmitted and that only the competent bodies shall be able to access them on the date established in the specifications), and by Additional Provision 31th, which specifies that all contracts involving the treatment of personal data must comply with the aforementioned legislation on personal data protection.

VI. CONCLUSIONS

Fundamentally, the European Union is developing a policy of encouraging ITC at all levels, including public administration, to improve and facilitate the internal market and the relations between the Community government and the governments of all the Member States. This can be discerned in the Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions “i2010 eGovernment Action Plan: Accelerating eGovernment in Europe for the Benefit of All” COM (2006) 173 final.

The European Union focuses on 2010 for this objective, although we believe that there is still a great deal to be done in specific governments, among them the Spanish one, and between their different levels. A key factor will be interoperability both within each Member State and at the Community level.

In accordance with the Spanish legislation mentioned above, electronic auctions will be able to be part of procedures between private sector businesses and of public sector procedures between businesses and government. In the B2B area, regulation is more a matter of trust between businesses. But data protection will be fundamental in both scenarios in order to give security to participants in electronic auctions, principally concerning information on the prices or values submitted by tenderers and the guarantee that under no circumstances shall their identity be disclosed, as specified by Law 30/2007 .

In the G2B area, the Government must provide businesses choosing to take part in procurement tender procedures through electronic auction with the guarantees on security, objectivity and transparency necessary to make this using instrument advantageous to them in terms of reduced paperwork, time, travel, etc. For this to happen, the necessary technical means must be in place in all governments and businesses must be given access to these mechanisms. In our case, we doubt that this will have been 100% achieved in all governments by 2010, nor that 50% of businesses, the majority SMEs, will be able to choose these mechanisms.

VII. REFERENCES

AA.VV. Comentarios a la Ley de Administración Electrónica. Ley 11/2007, de 22 de junio, de acceso electrónico de los ciudadanos a los servicios públicos, Eduardo Gamero Casado y Julián Valero Torrijos (Coordinadores), Ed. Aranzadi, Cizur Menor, 2008.

BARRIUSO RUIZ, C. Administración electrónica, Ed. Dykinson, Madrid, 2007.

BLANQUER CRIADO, D. La nueva Ley de contratos del sector público: guía práctica, Ed. Tirant lo Blanch, Valencia, 2007.

CAMAS RODRÍGUEZ, P. Utilización de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación para la administración electrónica, Autoedición, Málaga, 2003.

CERRILLO I MARTÍNEZ, A. Administración electrónica, Ed. Aranzadi, Pamplona, 2007.

CERRILLO I MARTÍNEZ, A., VALERO TORRIJOS, J. y VILLAVERDE MENÉNDEZ, I. La Administración y la información, Ed. Marcial Pons, Madrid, 2007.

DOMÍNGUEZ OLIVERA, R. Contratos del sector público: legislación e informes, Centro de Publicaciones Ministerio de Economía y Hacienda, Madrid, 2008.

ESCRITUELA MORALES, F. J. La contratación del sector público: en especial los contratos de suministro y de servicios, Ed. La Ley, Madrid, 2008.

FABRA VALLS, M. y BLASCO DÍAZ, J. L. La Administración Electrónica en España: Experiencias y perspectivas de futuro, Ed. Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, 2007.

GOBIERNO VASCO, DEPARTAMENTO DE HACIENDA Y ADMINISTRACIÓN PÚBLICA. Contratación pública electrónica, nº 12, disponible en: www.contratacion.info y www.euskadi.net/contratacion, 2007 (Accessed September 2008).

IYER, L.S. ET AL. << Knowledge Management for Government-to-Government (G2G) process coordination”, Electronic Government, Vol. 3, nº 1, 2006, págs. 18-35.

MESTRE DELGADO, J. F. “Nuevas tecnologías y Administración Pública”, Documentación Administrativa, núms. 265-266, enero-agosto 2003a, págs. 117 y ss.

MESTRE DELGADO, J. F. “La subasta electrónica: consideraciones sobre el empleo de medios telemáticos en la contratación pública”, Revista General de Derecho Administrativo, núm. 2, febrero 2003b, págs. 1 y ss. .

MONTEJO, J., MESTRE DELGADO, J. F. y REYES MORO, A. Los sistemas de subasta electrónica como un ejemplo de compra pública de tecnología, Madrid, 2004.

MORENO MOLINA, J. A. y PLEITE GUADAMILLAS, F. La nueva Ley de contratos del sector público: estudio sistemático, Ed. La Ley, Madrid, 2008.

PALOMAR OLMEDA, A. La actividad administrativa efectuada por medios electrónicos: a propósito de la Ley de acceso electrónico a las Administraciones Públicas, Ed. Aranzadi, Pamplona, 2007.

VALERO TORRIJOS, J. El régimen jurídico de la e-Administración: el uso de medios informáticos y telemáticos en el procedimiento administrativo, Ed. Comares, Granada, 2003.

Agradecimientos

Agradecemos al Área de Apoyo Lingüístico a la I+D+i de la Universidad Politécnica de Valencia la traducción de este artículo.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the R&D&I Linguistic Assistance Office, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (Spain), for translating this paper.

NOTAS:

(1). This study was carried out within the framework of research project “From e-administration to eGovernment: system and legal and constitutional implications” (SEJ2005-09191/JURI), financed with ERDF funds.

(2). Este estudio ha sido desarrollado dentro del marco del Proyecto de Investigación “De la administración al gobierno electrónicos: régimen e implicaciones jurídicas y constitucionales” (SEJ2005-09191/JURI), financiado con fondos FEDER.

(3). eGovernment focuses on making the interaction between government and citizens, business or other agencies more friendly, convenient, transparent and inexpensive. Fang, Z. (2002). E-government in digital era: concept, practice and development. International Journal of the Computer, the Internet and Management. Vol. 1, nº 2, pp. 1-22.

(4). Corrected by Directive 2005/75/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 November 2005.

(5). www.plancameral.org (Accessed September 2008).

(6). When the economic proposals or tenders in open or restricted procedures or in competition dialogue followed beforehand are irregular or unacceptable due to submission by inappropriate businesses, or because the tenders do not comply with legal obligations in fiscal matters, or environmental protection and working conditions referred to by article 103, or because they infringe conditions for submitting variants or improvements, or because they include abnormal or disproportionate values, provided that they do not significantly alter the original contract terms.