XX WINTER OLYMPICS - TURIN 2006:

ITALIAN GOVERNMENT ADMITS, EUROPEAN LAWS FOR PUBLIC PROCUREMENT VIOLATED TWICE.  

The news reported during an infringement procedure ruled by the European Commission and started by a complaint of the Antiolympics Committee in Turin .

  Turin ( Italy ) February 11 2004: Italy has admitted a double breach of the EU Directive on the public procurement of services (92/50/EEC) during preparation for the next Olympic Winter Games to be held in Turin in February, 2006.

 “Agenzia per lo svolgimento dei XX Giochi Olimpici Invernali – Torino 2006”, a 100% state-run body which realizes the venues and the infrastructures for the 2006 Winter Olympics, is subject to EU procurement rules, but nonetheless it awarded in 2001 two contracts for projecting the bob and ski jump venues without a Europe-wide tender procedure.

 In 2002 “Nolimpiadi!”, the local Antiolympics! Committee filed a complaint against the Italian State with the European Commission under article 226 of the EC Treaty, holding that Italy had breached the law and asking the Commission to evaluate the case. In April 2003 The Commission – whose purpose is to safeguard competition at European level in accordance with the EU public procurement laws that all Member States have undertaken to apply  - decided to pursue the Antiolympics’ Committee complaint by opening infringement procedures through a letter of formal notice to the Italian Government.

 In November 2003 – but it has been only revealed this week by an EC Internal Market Direction letter to the Antiolympics Committee - the Italian Authorities have admitted that “compliance with Directive 92/50/EEC has not been respected in the award of the two contracts”, and have taken the “task that similar facts will not happen again in the future”.  

Antiolympics’ Committee speakers – who now have a 1-month deadline to ask the Commission to bring the case in front of the European Court of Justice, report that “it is an historical moment: while everybody is talking about freedom of goods and freedom of services, Commission confirms that Agenzia Torino 2006 has repeatedly and unlawfully awarded contracts for projecting the biggest venues – more than 93 million € will be spent to build them – violating a law that requires public bodies to use Europe-wide tender procedures”

“What we ask now - continued speakers at “Nolimpiadi!” - is that EU and Italian prosecutors open their eyes and look into all the contracts awarded by Agenzia Torino 2006 since 2001 to date”.

 

 

Now the ironic thing is when you realize that corporate greed, environmental crime, social injustice and violation of human rights are accepted by the states and the governments. If a man of Morocco tries to enter Italy without a green card he becomes "clandestino" and is immediately detained and expulsed. Fascist laws and police powers are at service to protect our rich economy. In those cases law and order. But then a State itself, tainted by conflicts of interests and corruption, is free to violate its own laws and the European Community regulations. What a funny idea of free market.