In 2021, the federal government granted Tank & Rast permission to operate charging points for electric cars. There is no tender. Tesla and Fastned see themselves disadvantaged. Rightly so?
A legal dispute over charging stations between the petrol station operator Tank & Rast and the electric car manufacturer Tesla ends up before the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court announced on Friday that it had suspended public procurement law proceedings in order to have a central question clarified by the ECJ. In addition to Tesla, the charging station operator Fastned is another applicant in the review procedure.
The legal dispute is about the fact that the federal government has extended a license for Tank & Rast to include the electric charging stations without a tender. The management of gas stations and service areas on motorways used to be a state matter, but it was privatized in the 1990s. With Tank & Rast, a private company has long been in charge.
In 2021, the federal government and Tank & Rast concluded an agreement on the construction and operation of charging points. There was no tender – from the point of view of the federal government, it was not necessary, after all, only the old contract had been supplemented. Tesla and Fastned, on the other hand, took a different view, they felt disadvantaged and considered the procedure to be in violation of public procurement law. In the first instance they failed, in the second instance the legal dispute came before the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court. This court now wants to have the facts examined in Luxembourg in accordance with European law.
The ECJ is to answer the question of whether the extension of concession contracts, which were originally awarded internally between different state sectors and later taken over by a private company, must be put out to tender. After this question has been clarified, the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court will make its decision. If the extension is declared ineffective, Tesla and Fastned could still come into play at the affected charging points.
Source: Stern
