The Västra Götaland Region should have published a contract notice on the purchase of digital education in labour law

It was on 1 July 2021 that the Västra Götaland Region (VGR) concluded a three-year framework agreement, with the option of a one-year extension, on education in collective agreements and labour law, without prior notification in accordance with the Swedish Public Procurement Act. The total value of the contract was SEK 3.4 million, which is above the threshold for direct award. The contract was concluded with a subsidiary of the employer organisation in which VGR is a member.

The justification presented by VGR for not publishing notification was that the exemption for technical reasons applied, as no other supplier could offer education on collective agreements and labour law with the same expert competence and the same digital solution. VGR also justifies the direct award by the fact that the education the supplier has created was encompassed by exclusive rights in the form of copyright.

It is the view of the Swedish Competition Authority that VGR has not been able to show that the education can only be offered by the selected supplier. Further, the Swedish Competition Authority does not believe that intellectual property rights give a supplier exclusive rights to provide education on collective agreements or labour law.

‘The exemptions in the procurement legislation are to be applied restrictively. The conditions for bypassing the procurement rules by applying the exemption for technical reasons are limited. As a general rule, notification must be published, so that more suppliers get the chance to present tenders,’ says Rikard Jermsten, Director General of the Swedish Competition Authority.

There was no exemption from the duty to publish notification, according to the Swedish Competition Authority, which is now petitioning the Administrative Court in Gothenburg that VGR be issued a procurement fine of SEK 250,000 for having performed an illegal direct award of contract.

For further information, please contact:

Marie Strömberg Lindvall, Press Officer, +46(0)76 542 15 92, marie.stromberglindvall@kkv.se
Natacha Otte Widgren, Legal Counsel, +46(0)8700 16 55, natacha.ottewidgren@kkv.se

Read the application, dnr 386/2022 (in Swedish)