Several awarding authorities, including the airport of Frankfurt am Main, have published contract notices in the Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Communities stating that they reserved the right to reject a tender submitted by a contractor who did not provide a guarantee or deposit through a credit institution licensed in the Federal Republic of Germany. On 10 September 1992 the Commission sent the German authorities a letter of formal notice indicating that the clause in question hampered the business activity of contractors who were nationals of other Member States and was contrary to Article 59 of the EEC Treaty. In 1988 the Commission had already initiated infringement proceedings against Germany concerning a similar matter. Those proceedings had been terminated following assurances from the German authorities that the clause would no longer be used. Despite these assurances, the Commission has observed that awarding authorities in Germany have in many cases continued to use the offending clause. In their answer to the letter of formal notice the German authorities accepted the Commission's point of view; they have sent amended contract notices to the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities and explanatory instructions to all the awarding authorities in Germany. The Commission has therefore decided to terminate infringement proceedings against Germany for breach of Community rules concerning the award of public works contracts. * * *
