Article 25Mandatory exclusions
1.Public buyers shall at any time during the procedure exclude an economic operator, including individual members of a group of economic operators, from participation in a procurement procedure where that economic operator, or a key person in the functioning of a legal person as defined in the second subparagraph, has been the subject, in any Member State, of a conviction by final judgment for any of the offences listed in this subparagraph, or, regarding Member States not bound by the relevant Union legal act, offences as laid down in equivalent national legislation:
(a)participation in a criminal organisation, as defined in Article 1, point 1, of Council Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA;
(b)corruption offences, within the meaning of Directive (EU) 2026/1021;
(c)fraud affecting the Union’s financial interests within the meaning of Article 1 of the Convention on the protection of the European Communities’ financial interests and criminal offences referred to in Articles 3, 4 and 5 of Directive (EU) 2017/1371;
(d)terrorist offences and offences related to a terrorist group, as well as offences related to terrorist activities, as referred to in Articles 3 to 12 of Directive (EU) 2017/541;
(e)money laundering withing the meaning of Article 3 of Directive (EU) 2018/1673;
(f)trafficking in human beings within the meaning of Article 2 of Directive (EU) 2011/36;
(g)criminal offences concerning the employment of illegally staying third-country nationals, as referred to in Articles 2, 3 and 9 of Directive 2009/52/EC;
(h)environmental criminal offences as referred to in Articles 3 and 4 of Directive (EU) 2024/1203;
(i)criminal offences concerning the violation of Union restrictive measures as referred to in Articles 3 and 4 of Directive (EU) 2024/1226;
(j)fraudulent use of non-cash payment instruments as referred to in Articles 3 to 8 of Directive 2019/713/EU;
(k)offences in the area of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children as referred to in Articles 3 to 9 of Directive (EU) 2011/93.
A key person in the functioning of a legal person means a person having a leading position within the legal person, based on any of the following:
(a)a power of representation of the legal person;
(b)an authority to take decisions on behalf of the legal person;
(c)an authority to exercise control within the legal person.
2.The exclusion grounds set out in this Article shall apply for five years from the date of the delivery of the final judgment, except where the period of exclusion has been set by the final judgment, meaning that no exclusion decision shall be taken after the expiry of the periods referred to in this sentence.
3.Public buyers shall at any time during the procedure exclude an economic operator from participation in a procurement procedure when it becomes aware that the economic operator or contractor is in breach of its obligations relating to the payment of taxes or social security contributions and this has been established by final judicial or administrative decision, except if by that moment in time, the economic operator has concluded a binding arrangement on paying the taxes or social security contributions due, including, where applicable, any interest accrued or fines. Public buyers may derogate from the mandatory exclusion provided for in subparagraph 1 where an exclusion would be clearly disproportionate, in particular where only minor amounts are unpaid.
4.Public buyers may decide to derogate from the mandatory exclusion provided for in this Article on an exceptional basis, for overriding reasons relating to the public interest such as public health or protection of the environment Any decision to derogate and the justification therefore shall be documented in the individual documentation pursuant to Article 109.