Austria’s parliament had empowered the interim government before the national election on September 29 to sign new PSO contracts due to the perceived urgency of the case - ÖBB’s existing public service obligation contracts were due to expire in December.
However, the court says it shares the opinion of open-access operator Westbahn, which argued that direct award contracts from the Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT) should be restricted to 10 years because 15-year direct award public service obligation contracts awarded after December 3 2018, a year before they were due to commence on December 3 2019, were no longer permitted.
“I am pleased that the public transport service in Salzburg and the eastern region for travellers, commuters and the Austrian economy is now ensured from December 2019,” says transport minister, Mr Andreas Reichhardt.
Nevertheless, Westbahn argues that BMVIT’s decision to allocate 10-year PSO contracts is not legally possible since various parameters have changed as a result of reducing the length of the contract.
Instead the open-access operator suggests that BMVIT award a three-year contract after an emergency award of one year ahead of an open tender to operate services in the eastern region in “sensibly prepared lots.” The operator says this will ensure the economical use of taxpayers’ money through competitively-awarded contracts. Westbahn previously claimed that it could offer these services at a much lower cost, saving the Austrian taxpayer up to €3bn.
“The repeal of the law by the National Council is the necessary consequence of the illegality of the extended award period for the eastern region as established by the BvWG,” Westbahn says.
“Westbahn will examine the considerable inconsistencies and dubious coincidences that have occurred since the publication of the preliminary information and the report to the Budget committee and will likely take further legal steps against actions that fall outside of the legal framework.”
