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The social security contributions payment certificate (DURC) proves that an economic operator has fulfilled its obligations towards INPS, INAIL and Cassa Edile.

Article 80 of Decreto Legislativo no. 50/2016 provides that, in order to take part in a public procurement procedure, an enterprise needs a positive and valid DURC.

If such a certification were negative on the deadline date for submitting tenders, the operator has to be excluded from the procedure, no matter how small is the infringement.

In case C-199/15, on 10th November 2016, the European Court of Justice delivered a judgment which considered the provisions of the old Italian Public Procurement Code (Decreto Legislativo no. 163/2006), but is valid also with regard to the new Code (Decreto Legislativo n. 50/2016), since article 80 of Decreto Legislativo no. 50/2016 has not amended the previous legislation. The Court has stated that the Italian legislation does not contrast with the Directive 2004/18/CE, relating to the coordination of procedures for the award of public works, public supply and public service contracts.

Indeed, the Court has confirmed that the national legislation may provide that, on the date of submission of an application, the existence of a violation of obligations regarding social security contributions is a valid ground for the exclusion of the operator at issue. Therefore, it is not sufficient that the regularity exists on the date of the award, it has to exist also on the date of submission of the tender.