Centralised Purchasing Bodies / Do Austrian Courts Have Jurisdiction Over German Procurement Procedures?

Cross border procurement via centralised purchasing bodies

In light of a general shortage of budget funds in the public sector, contracting authorities intend to bundle and pool their purchasing quantities to gain positive efficiency and pricing effects. According to Austrian procurement law (not having implemented procurement Directives 2014) contracting authorities have different tools allowing them to bundle their purchasing volume by cooperating with other purchasing bodies, such as the establishment of centralised purchasing bodies ("CPB") which acquire supplies or services for (other) contracting authorities, or award public contracts intended for contracting authorities. CPBs can either act as wholesaler/reseller by conducting a procurement procedure in order to buy supplies or services and subsequently resell the services / products to other contracting authorities or acting as intermediaries. The legal consequences are significantly different when acting as