A new element in the case of the call for tenders of the CICA: the request of the Prefect, examined by justice on June 1st, could lead to the immediate cancellation of the market.
Will the CICA start summer without a managing team ? A new element in the case of the International Center of Advanced Communication can make us fear it: the request of the Prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes which asks for the immediate cancellation of the market, a request which should be examined by the Administrative Court on Friday June 1st in the morning.
Of course the Administrative Court of Nice knows the case of the CICA. This jurisdiction had also examined the process of the call for tenders to the CICA through the request of the C.I.Com Organisation, the previous manager of the center which thoughts it has been injured in the way the process has been conducted. The Administrative Court of Nice had picked three litigious points and, last April 27th, had decided to cancel the market (see "CICA in Sophia : le market is cancelled !").
The request of the Prefect, done in April 2001 in the framework of the legality control (the CICA belongs to the Council of the department), risks to accelerate the process. According to the first judgement, the cancellation should have happened within two months and, after this two month period, and an agreement had not been found between the holder of the market (the Carillion Services company) and the Council of the department, it was possible to ask the judge of the contract to set modalities. This situation opened the possibilities of an easy passage and gave time before they called for new tenders.
But the Prefect, who, in January, has stated this three litigious points selected by the Court, asks for the immediate cancellation of the market. The Court could agree with this demand. In this case, the contract which links Carillion Services to the Council of the department for the managing of the CICA could be broken. It means that the current manager and subcontractors (security, gardeners, maintenance, etc.). Of course this situation could be a source of trouble for some fifty start-ups hosted by the center at the moment.
What happens now ? The Council of the department has two solutions to ensure the durability: if it is legally possible, to give a contract to the current manager to ensure the passage, or to administrate the CICA under state control. It can also decide to give the management to an outside company and to call for new European tenders. They will have to choose very quickly…