SWEDEN Law and Practice Contributed by: Annika Blomqvist, Sanna Frånlund, Henrik Lindstrand and Viktor Eriksson, Advokatfirman Cederquist
in situations of extreme urgency, or where there is urgency due to crisis situations. Note also that certain contracts can be exempted from the applicability of LUFS. For procurements below the EU threshold, Chapter 15a, LUFS regulates direct awards. Direct awards may be used where the estimated value of the procurement is below SEK1.2 million, in certain situations where the estimated value is below the EU threshold or if there are exceptional reasons. 2.7 Offsets, Industrial Participation and Sovereign Capability Requirements There are no specific requirements regulating offset obligations, industrial participation requirements or sovereign capability conditions in procurement leg - islation. However, the protective security regime may require protective security agreements, security vet - ting of personnel, controls on subcontractors, etc. Such requirements may in practice restrict where security and defence contracts are performed and by whom. In exceptional cases, procurements relating to pro - duction of or trade in arms, ammunitions and war materials subject to Article 346 (1)(b), TFEU may in a specific instance be exempted from the applicability of LUFS where this is necessary to protect Sweden’s essential security interests. There is an example in Swedish case law of procure - ments in the classic sector where a requirement that the supplier could not have certain ownership relating to countries that are identified as a threat to Sweden was upheld, even though it excluded a Swedish entity. The reason was that the requirement had strong pro - tective security justification. 2.8 Security of Supply and Resilience Requirements LUFS requires that contracting authorities and entities specify the requirements for security of supply in the procurement documents. Tenderers may be required to demonstrate in their tenders that they meet require - ments for security of supply – eg, by providing export licences, information on the organisation and location
of the supply chain, undertaking to maintain certain capacity as required to meet an increased demand during a crisis, etc. A tender that fails to satisfy the stated requirements may be rejected. A supplier who has failed to comply with information- security or security-of-supply requirements in previ - ous contracts may also be excluded from participation in a later procurement on these grounds. 2.9 Evaluation Criteria and Award of Defence Contracts The contracting authority or entity shall award the con - tract either to the tender that is the most economically advantageous to the contracting authority or entity, or to the tender containing the lowest price. In determining the most economically advantageous tender, the contracting authority or entity shall con - sider various criteria linked to the subject matter of the contract, such as price, delivery or performance time, quality, security of supply, interoperability and operational characteristics. A contracting authority or entity shall specify, in the contract notice or the procurement documents, the basis for contract award that will be applied. 2.10 Exclusion Grounds LUFS contains both mandatory and discretionary grounds for excluding suppliers based on Directive 2009/81/EC. A tenderer shall be excluded from participation in a procurement where the supplier, or its representa - tives, have been convicted by a final judgment of an offence involving participation in a criminal organisa - tion, corruption, fraud, money laundering and terrorist financing, or terrorist offences. A contracting author - ity or entity may however, in the case of exceptional reasons, decide not to exclude a tenderer subject to a mandatory exclusion ground. A tenderer may also be excluded from participation in a procurement for insolvency-related reasons, rea - sons related to professional misconduct, failure to pay
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