Abstract

In this article, the author adopts and defends the position whereby the case law of the CJEU (formerly the ECJ) concerning public procurement law is soft law and should be followed. Although this view is not officially taken by the Tribunal itself, numerous regulations resulting from the Tribunal’s previous decisions can now be found in EU legal acts regarding public procurement, confirming their law-making nature. Using the example of the current Directive 2014/24/EU, the article shows how many regulations contained therein refer directly to decisions issued by the Tribunal, what confirms that the given provisions “only” give normative value to the existing case law. Therefore, the author draws the conclusion that case law analysis is an important research method in the area of public procurement law.