Source: European Parliament
Under Article 72 of Directive 2014/24/EU[1], as consistently interpreted by the Court of Justice of the European Union, contracts and framework agreements may be modified during their term without a new procurement procedure provided that the conditions laid down in that provision are met.
The Commission services are currently assessing the compatibility with that provision of the planned modifications to the project, including those laid down under Law No 120 of 8 August 2024 referred to in the written question by the Honourable Members.
As a preliminary remark, however, it should be noted that, with respect to the modifications allowed under Articles 72(1)(b),(c) and the quantitative limitation referred to therein, where several successive modifications are made, that limitation applies to the value of each modification and that, according to Article 72(3), the updated price should be the reference value when the contract includes an indexation clause.
As for the alleged breach of Article 46 of Directive 2014/24/EU, the provision of Article 2(1)1.2 of the law referred to by the Honourable Members does not appear to refer to the award of the contract by separate lots but rather to its approval in different stages.
It is the responsibility of the authorities and expert bodies in Italy to judge the technical feasibility of the project taking into account the regional environmental conditions.
From the road safety perspective, Directive 2008/96/EC[2] indicates that the impact of the seismic activity should be assessed when roads falling in its scope are designed.