The Alcatel mandatory standstill period is a period of at least ten calendar days following the notification of an award decision in a contract tendered via the Official Journal of the European Union, before the contract is signed with the successful supplier(s).
Under EU law a statutory "standstill period" was introduced by the Remedies Directive as amended in 2007.
The timelines given below are the minimum (of at least 10 days) under the 'Alcatel' mandatory standstill period and show the days by which specific actions by the contracting authority (ie notify all tenderers of the award decision and the completion of any requested additional de-briefing) and by the tenderer (ie a request for additional de-briefing within the standstill period), and in order to comply with the minimum period before entering into a contract (assuming no legal challenges are formally notified).
[5] Notes: - Depending on the day of the initial notification of the intention of the contract award decision, given the very tight timescales for the additional debriefing, it may be more practical to extend the end-date of the standstill period beyond the minimum of 10 calendar days.
In any case, all tenderers can make formal complaints in Court within the standstill period regardless of having requested or received debriefing within the standstill period and Courts can agree to grant interim measures preventing contract award.