If the founding of an IPPP involves the award of a public contract fully covered by Directive 2004/18/EC to a public-private entity, the open and restricted procedures defined in that Directive may, due to the particular financial or legal complexity of such contracts, not offer sufficient flexibility. For cases like this, Directive 2004/18/EC introduced a new innovative procedure - the competitive dialogue21 - the aim of which is not only to preserve competition between economic operators but also to take into account the contracting authorities' need to discuss all aspects of the contract with each candidate.22
For the award of public contracts fully covered by Directive 2004/18/EC the negotiated procedure with publication of a contract notice can only be used in exceptional cases.23 Conversely, contracting entities could always resort to the negotiated procedure with publication of a contract notice when awarding concessions or public contracts other than those fully covered by Directive 2004/18/EC.
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21 See Article 29 of Directive 2004/18/EC.
22 See recital 31 of Directive 2004/18/EC.
23 See Articles 30 and 31 of Directive 2004/18/EC.