The ''Alcatel'' mandatory standstill period is a period of at least ten calendar days following the notification of an award decision in a contract
tendered via the ''
Official Journal of the European Union'', before the contract is signed with the successful supplier(s). Its purpose is to allow unsuccessful bidders to challenge the decision before the contract is signed. It is named after a pair of linked
European Court of Justice
The European Court of Justice (ECJ), officially the Court of Justice (), is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Union, it is tasked with interpreting ...
cases which are jointly known as the ''
Alcatel'' case (Case C-81/98). Under EU law a statutory "standstill period" was introduced by the Remedies Directive as amended in 2007. Within the UK, it was introduced by the
Office of Government Commerce
The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) was a Government of the United Kingdom, UK Government Office established as part of HM Treasury in 2000. It was moved into the Efficiency and Reform Group of the Cabinet Office in 2010, before being closed ...
in 2005 and remained within
UK contract award legislation under regulation 87 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and regulation 86 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015, even after the UK
withdrew from the European Union.
The timelines given below are the minimum (of at least 10 days) under the 'Alcatel' mandatory standstill period and show the days by which specific actions by the contracting authority (ie notify all tenderers of the award decision and the completion of any requested additional de-briefing) and by the tenderer (ie a request for additional de-briefing within the standstill period), and in order to comply with the minimum period before entering into a contract (assuming no legal challenges are formally notified).
Where a legal challenge has been filed in the High Court (
Court of Session
The Court of Session is the highest national court of Scotland in relation to Civil law (common law), civil cases. The court was established in 1532 to take on the judicial functions of the royal council. Its jurisdiction overlapped with othe ...
or
Sheriff Court
A sheriff court () is the principal local civil and criminal court in Scotland, with exclusive jurisdiction over all civil cases with a monetary value up to , and with the jurisdiction to hear any criminal case except treason, murder, and ra ...
in Scotland), the starting of those proceedings "automatically" requires the contracting authority to refrain from entering into a contract until the
proceedings
In academia and librarianship, conference proceedings are a collection of academic papers published in the context of an academic conference or workshop. Conference proceedings typically contain the contributions made by researchers at the confer ...
are resolved or the court lifts the suspension. Regulation 96(5) in the UK regulations also stipulates that the court cannot issue an order lifting or modifying the suspension until the standstill period has ended.
[UK Legislation]
Public Contracts Regulations 2015: Regulation 96
accessed 14 August 2023
Legislative provision for both mandatory and (in certain circumstances) voluntary standstill periods in UK public procurement is now set out in Section 51 of the
Procurement Act 2023
The Procurement Act 2023 (c. 54) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The act seeks to overhaul public procurement law in the United Kingdom by simplifying processes and giving a greater share of public sector supply opportunitie ...
, which came into effect on 24 February 2025.
[UK Legislation]
Procurement Act 2023, Section 51
accessed on 10 March 2025
Timeline
Action
* Day 0 Notify tenderers of decision and intention to award contract on or after 'date'
* Day 1
* Day 2 Tenderers must request additional debriefing (by phone, email, fax) before end of day (midnight)
* Day 3
* Day 4
* Day 5
* Day 6
* Day 7 Additional de-briefings must be completed before end of day (midnight) *
* Day 8
* Day 9
* Day 10 End of minimum standstill period **
The contract may be concluded if no legal challenge has been notified.
* If there is a delay in completing the requested additional de-briefings, the end-date of the standstill period must be extended to ensure 3 full working days between the last de-brief and the end of the standstill period remembering that the last day must be a working day.
** The end of a standstill period must not fall on a
public holiday
A public holiday, national holiday, federal holiday, statutory holiday, bank holiday or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year.
Types
Civic holiday
A ''civic holiday'', also k ...
or at the weekend. Day 10 ends at midnight on that day.
A voluntary standstill period in the UK may not run for less than eight working days.
Notes
#Depending on the day of the initial notification of the intention of the contract award decision, given the very tight timescales for the additional debriefing, it may be more practical to extend the end-date of the standstill period beyond the minimum of 10 calendar days.
#The 'traditional' de-briefing requirement (within 15 days of receiving a written request) remains where a tenderer does not seek an additional de-briefing within the first 2 working days of the standstill period. In any case, all tenderers can make formal complaints in Court within the standstill period regardless of having requested or received debriefing within the standstill period and Courts can agree to grant interim measures preventing contract award.
References
External links
Case C-81/98 ''Alcatel Austria AG and Others, Siemens AG Österreich and Sag-Schrack Anlagentechnik AG v Bundesministerium für Wissenschaft und Verkehr''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
*Office of Government Commerce
10-day Mandatory Standstill Period
updated January 2008
{{EU-law-stub
European Union law
Government procurement