**Author details**

**5. Conclusions**

110 Public Management and Administration

European level.

contracting party.

tial legal features of public contracts.

The law on public contracts has undergone a significant metamorphosis with the introduction of the principle and rules of free competition, sanctioned by the EC Treaty and by community

The "public evidence" procedures for the awarding of work, service and supply contracts no longer protect only the public, financial and administrative interests of the awarding bodies and do not only exclusively answer the principle of legality, but are aimed at guaranteeing the free circulation of goods and services on the domestic market and free competition at the

The guarantee of a free market ensures the satisfaction of the public interest on both the financial and the administrative fronts, because effective competition limits prices and favours quality, since it can reward not only the less demanding contracting party but also the "fair"

At the same time, the guarantee of a free market better satisfies the expectations and rights of the companies which, in the absence of effective competition, would risk suffering discrimination. The logic of free competition at the European level requires the countries to have, as far as possible, the same laws to this regard. The said discipline in the Italian legal system is entrusted to the state in its capacity as legislator, to which the "protection of competition" is exclusively entrusted. This means that national law plays a very important role with regard to the essen-

Furthermore, the logic of competition brings with it an increase in the tools for guarantee available to the companies interested in the free market. This is the context of the Code, and

In administrative law cases, public evidence procedures reinforce the remedies against discrimination, to the prejudice of the companies that are "new entries", exercised by the contract-awarding bodies. The Public Contract Code places additional obligations on the contract-awarding bodies in order to ensure authentic equality of treatment also in new negotiating procedures, such as competitive dialogue. The authority's role is consolidated in sector supervision, which monitors, among other things, the correctness of the competitive procedures by means of a wide

At the same time, the antitrust remedies in favour of companies excluded or prejudice by the illegal behaviour of competitors are reinforced: there are an increasing number of cases in which the antitrust authority punishes restrictive agreements entered into by competitors in

In short, the logic of competition and the European free market has a duel value in the case of tender contracts: it more effectively contrasts the excesses of the powers of both national and local public bodies which operate as contract-awarding bodies and of the powers of the

in the light of this context, it must be interpreted and implemented.

range of powers. Therefore, free competition reinforces the principle of legality.

the execution of public tender procedures for the awarding of contracts.

entrepreneurs that continue to stand in opposition.

law introduced into Italian law, most recently, with the Public Contract Code.

Ida D'Ambrosio

Address all correspondence to: i.dambrosio@unifortunato.eu

Economic Law, Benevento, Italy
