The Belgian soap opera continues for Alstom. The French group has decided to take the State Council of the country once again. He disputes the confirmation of the CNCB decision (the local SNCF) to choose CAF for a colossal contract related to the supply of more than 600 conventional trains. The maximum amount is estimated at 3.4 billion euros.
Remember that initially, the SNCB had chosen to negotiate exclusively with Spanish CAF for this order. A choice disputed by the French. Alstom was in fact convinced of being the favorite, particularly thanks to the map of local production and a better offer of mares of more than 100 million euros. The head of Alstom Belgium, Bernard Belvaux, then denounced “the shocking decision” of the public railway company.
A first appeal before the State Council, won by the French, had made it possible to suspend the election of CNCB and, therefore, force the Board of Directors of the Railway Company to meet again to assign the call to tenders again.
“Autonomous Decision,” said the Mobility Minister
The country’s greatest administrative authority considered that the transparency criterion was mandatory by public procurement legislation had not been respected and that the method used by the evaluation of offers was not understandable.
But at the end of July, the decision fell: the SNCB once again designates CAF as a “preferential offer” for this project.
“The very essence of a European market is to select on the basis of the general performance, without national preference,” said Jean -Luc Crucke, the Belgian Mobility Minister who says “take note of this autonomous decision, forming the European rules.”
In front of the deputies, he had not hidden that the CAF’s proposal was slightly better than that of Alstom in terms of energy consumption, one of the important parameters of the command.
Alstom’s new appeal before the State Council will be examined on August 29.
Source: BFM TV
