European Union – Public procurement. Article 1(2)(a) of Directive (EC) 2004/18 should be interpreted as meaning that a farm advisory scheme, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, through which a public entity admitted all the economic operators who met the suitability requirements set out in the invitation to tender and who passed the examination referred to in that invitation to tender, even if no new operator could be admitted during the limited validity period of that scheme, did not constitute a public contract within the meaning of that directive. The Court of Justice of the European Union so held in a preliminary ruling in proceedings concerning the rejection of the tender presented by the applicant in order to be selected as an advisor in the context of a farm advisory scheme.