Section 1: Advisory committees for the amicable settlement of disputes

A national committee is attached to the Minister for the Economy. It hears disputes relating to contracts awarded by : 1° Central government departments; 2° Departments and bodies with national jurisdiction when the contracts in question cover requirements that exceed the area of jurisdiction of a single local committee mentioned in article R. 2197-3.

The local committees are set up at regional, inter-regional or inter-departmental level by an order of the Minister for the Economy appended to this code. This order sets their boundaries and designates the State representative in the region responsible for drawing up the lists of representatives and professional organisations mentioned in 2° and 3° of article R. 2197-7.

Local committees hear disputes relating to contracts awarded by : 1° Local authorities, their groupings or their public establishments; 2° Decentralised State departments; 3° Departments and bodies with national jurisdiction when the contracts in question cover needs limited to the local committee’s area of jurisdiction; 4° The other purchasers mentioned in articles L. 1211-1 and L. 1212-1, with the exception of those mentioned in article R. 2197-2.

When a local committee is seized of a dispute relating to a contract covering needs that exceed its area of competence, its chairman shall forward the referral without delay to the chairman of the national committee, who shall assign the examination of the case to a local committee, if such examination does not fall within the competence of the national committee.