European Union – Public procurement. The Court of Justice of the European Union gave a preliminary ruling concerning arts 1(8) and 52 of Directive (EC) 2004/18, deciding, among other things, that art 1(8) of that directive should be interpreted as meaning that the term 'economic operator' in the second subparagraph of that provision encompassed public authorities, which could therefore participate in public tendering procedures if and to the extent that they were authorised to offer certain services in return for remuneration on a market.