Standstill period


The Alcatel mandatory standstill period is a period of at least ten calendar days following the notification of an award decision in a contract tendered via the Official Journal of the European Union, before the contract is signed with the successful supplier. Its purpose is to allow unsuccessful bidders to challenge the decision before the contract is signed. It is named after a pair of linked European Court of Justice cases which are jointly known as the Alcatel case. Within the UK, it was introduced by the Office of Government Commerce in 2005.
The timelines given below are the minimum under the 'Alcatel' mandatory standstill period and show the days by which specific actions by
- the tenderer, and
- the contracting authority in order to comply with the minimum period before entering into a contract.
Notes:
- Depending on the day of the initial notification of the intention of the contract award decision, given the very tight timescales for the additional debriefing, it may be more practical to extend the end-date of the standstill period beyond the minimum of 10 calendar days.
- The 'traditional' de-briefing requirement remains where a tenderer does not seek an additional de-briefing within the first 2 working days of the standstill period. In any case, all tenderers can make formal complaints in Court within the standstill period regardless of having requested or received debriefing within the standstill period and Courts can agree to grant interim measures preventing contract award.
;Time line
Action
The contract may be concluded if no legal challenge has been notified