European Union – Public procurement. The Court of Justice of the European Union gave a preliminary ruling in which it decided that arts 1(1) and 2(1)(b) of Council Directive (EEC) 89/665 were unconditional and sufficiently clear to create rights for individuals on which they could rely, where necessary, against contracting authorities. Such an assessment applied equally to art 2(1)(a) of the Directive in the light of both its clear and precise wording and the proximity of its subject matter to that of art 2(1)(b) of that directive.