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Avvägningen mellan nationell säkerhet och upphandlingsprinciperna - En undersökning av möjligheten att utesluta leverantörer i upphandling inom försörjningssektorerna, med hänsyn till nationell säkerhet.

Lincoln, Sam LU (2022) LAGF03 20221
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract
Entities operation in sectors related to water, energy, transport and postal services and some forms of natural resource extraction need to go through a procurement-process when they need to procure services, wares, and construction contracts. In Swedish law this procurement-process is regulated by LUF. Private as well as government entities are both required to abide by LUF, even if the rules somewhat differ between them.

The purpose for this paper is to examine the possibilities for procuring entities to exclude certain actors from the procurement-process because of concerns for national security. Entities operation in above mentioned sectors can be classified as being of importance to Swedish security interests, because of the... (More)
Entities operation in sectors related to water, energy, transport and postal services and some forms of natural resource extraction need to go through a procurement-process when they need to procure services, wares, and construction contracts. In Swedish law this procurement-process is regulated by LUF. Private as well as government entities are both required to abide by LUF, even if the rules somewhat differ between them.

The purpose for this paper is to examine the possibilities for procuring entities to exclude certain actors from the procurement-process because of concerns for national security. Entities operation in above mentioned sectors can be classified as being of importance to Swedish security interests, because of the important infrastructure they provide. It is therefor of interest to examine how they are protected by the Swedish procurement-process.

In LUF: s 14th chapter its stated that procuring entities are allowed to base their grounds for exclusion as they see fit, as long as the grounds are objective and reasonable. The ground for exclusion is also not allowed to break any of the principles that procurement is built upon. The principles most relevant for this paper are the principle of equal treatment of actors, the principle of non-discrimination and the principle of proportionality.

There is not much room for exceptions from these principles even if member states to the European union have some room for discretion. If a ground for exclusion goes against any of the principles it can still be considered legal if any of the exceptions in article 36 or 52 FEUF are applicable. These exceptions are however only acceptable when necessary and must be used in a proportionate manor.

Due to a lack of case law on this subject case: 24231-20, 2378-21, PTS v. Huawei, will be brought up. This is because the court discussed the weight that national security holds when it comes to discriminating against foreign actors. In this case the court finds that it is ok to deny a Huawei a license for 5G-towers in Sweden, due to Huawei´s connections to the Chinese government. This is because China has national legislation that makes it possible for Huawei to become a threat in the future, not because Huawei´s products as of today were harmful to Swedish security interests.

The same logic can in my opinion not be applied in the context of procurement, the possible for procuring-entities to exclude all actors from certain countries is a very liberal interpretation of the principles on which procurement is built.

However LUF:s 13th chapter 4§ 3p opens up the possibility for procuring-entities to exclude certain actors, when it can be proved that their involvement would jeopardize Swedish security. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Försörjningssektorn innefattar verksamheter som är verksamma inom områden som el, energi, vatten, posttjänster, viss mineralutvinning etcetera.
När dessa verksamheter behöver införskaffa tjänster, varor och byggentreprenader, måste de göra det via ett upphandlingsförfarande, detta förfarande regleras i LUF. Detta gäller privata såväl som offentliga verksamhetsutövare.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur och om verksamhetsutövare i upphandlingsförfarandet får utesluta leverantörer med hänvisning till nationell säkerhet. Eftersom verksamheter inom försörjningssektorn kan klassas som av betydelse för Sveriges säkerhet, på grund av den viktiga infrastruktur den erbjuder, så är det viktigt att se hur denna kan skyddas ifrån... (More)
Försörjningssektorn innefattar verksamheter som är verksamma inom områden som el, energi, vatten, posttjänster, viss mineralutvinning etcetera.
När dessa verksamheter behöver införskaffa tjänster, varor och byggentreprenader, måste de göra det via ett upphandlingsförfarande, detta förfarande regleras i LUF. Detta gäller privata såväl som offentliga verksamhetsutövare.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur och om verksamhetsutövare i upphandlingsförfarandet får utesluta leverantörer med hänvisning till nationell säkerhet. Eftersom verksamheter inom försörjningssektorn kan klassas som av betydelse för Sveriges säkerhet, på grund av den viktiga infrastruktur den erbjuder, så är det viktigt att se hur denna kan skyddas ifrån otillbörlig påverkan från utlandet.

I LUF:s 14 kap så framgår det att upphandlande enheter får utesluta leverantörer på de grunder de finner lämpliga, så länge grunderna är sakliga och objektiva. För att uteslutningen ska vara ok så får heller inte grunden bakom uteslutningen bryta mot upphandlingsprinciperna. Upphandlingsprinciperna som är mest relevanta för denna uppsats är likabehandlingsprincipen, icke-diskrimineringsprincipen och proportionalitetsprincipen. Det finns inte så mycket undantag till principerna även om EU-medlemsstater har ett visst utrymme för diskretion. Även om en uteslutningsgrund skulle bryta mot en upphandlingsprincip så kan godkännas utifrån bland annat artiklarna 36 och 52 i FEUF. Undantagen ska dock vara proportionerliga och får endast användas väldigt restriktivt.

I brist på praxis på området så har mål: 24231-20, 2378-21, PTS v. Huawei, lyfts fram som en jämförelse då målet behandlar nationell säkerhet. I målet kommer förvaltningsrätten fram till att det är ok att neka Huawei ett tillstånd för 5G-master på grund av Huawei´s kopplingar till kinesiska staten. Detta för att Kina har nationell lagstiftning som kan vara skadlig för Sverige. Förvaltningsrättens bedömning grundas på att Huawei teoretiskt kan skada Sverige i framtiden, och inte på att Huawei´s produkter idag är ett säkerhetshot.

Ett liknande synsätt i en upphandlingskontext, där det blir möjligt att helgradera sig mot vissa länder på grund teoretiska tillämpningar av dennes nationella lagstiftning, är i min mening en för liberal tolkning av upphandlingsprinciperna. I LUF:s 13 kap 4§ 3p framgår det dock att enskilda leverantörer som gjort sig skyldiga till allvarliga fel i yrkesutövningen får uteslutas. Allt som påverkar förtroendet för en leverantör kan här räknas in, men det måste ske en helhetsbedömning. Om en upphandlande enhet kan bevisa att en leverantör gjort sig skyldig till aktivitet som hotar Sveriges säkerhet så bör denna kunna uteslutas. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Lincoln, Sam LU
supervisor
organization
course
LAGF03 20221
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
EU-rätt (en. EU law), utrikeshandelsrätt.
language
Swedish
id
9080859
date added to LUP
2022-06-28 09:56:39
date last changed
2022-06-28 09:56:39
@misc{9080859,
  abstract     = {{Entities operation in sectors related to water, energy, transport and postal services and some forms of natural resource extraction need to go through a procurement-process when they need to procure services, wares, and construction contracts. In Swedish law this procurement-process is regulated by LUF. Private as well as government entities are both required to abide by LUF, even if the rules somewhat differ between them.

The purpose for this paper is to examine the possibilities for procuring entities to exclude certain actors from the procurement-process because of concerns for national security. Entities operation in above mentioned sectors can be classified as being of importance to Swedish security interests, because of the important infrastructure they provide. It is therefor of interest to examine how they are protected by the Swedish procurement-process.

In LUF: s 14th chapter its stated that procuring entities are allowed to base their grounds for exclusion as they see fit, as long as the grounds are objective and reasonable. The ground for exclusion is also not allowed to break any of the principles that procurement is built upon. The principles most relevant for this paper are the principle of equal treatment of actors, the principle of non-discrimination and the principle of proportionality.

There is not much room for exceptions from these principles even if member states to the European union have some room for discretion. If a ground for exclusion goes against any of the principles it can still be considered legal if any of the exceptions in article 36 or 52 FEUF are applicable. These exceptions are however only acceptable when necessary and must be used in a proportionate manor.

Due to a lack of case law on this subject case: 24231-20, 2378-21, PTS v. Huawei, will be brought up. This is because the court discussed the weight that national security holds when it comes to discriminating against foreign actors. In this case the court finds that it is ok to deny a Huawei a license for 5G-towers in Sweden, due to Huawei´s connections to the Chinese government. This is because China has national legislation that makes it possible for Huawei to become a threat in the future, not because Huawei´s products as of today were harmful to Swedish security interests.

The same logic can in my opinion not be applied in the context of procurement, the possible for procuring-entities to exclude all actors from certain countries is a very liberal interpretation of the principles on which procurement is built.

However LUF:s 13th chapter 4§ 3p opens up the possibility for procuring-entities to exclude certain actors, when it can be proved that their involvement would jeopardize Swedish security.}},
  author       = {{Lincoln, Sam}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Avvägningen mellan nationell säkerhet och upphandlingsprinciperna - En undersökning av möjligheten att utesluta leverantörer i upphandling inom försörjningssektorerna, med hänsyn till nationell säkerhet.}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}