May the Content of Work Experience Certificates, Laid Down by Statute, Be Altered by Secondary Legislation?

18 March 2026

The provisions concerning the use in public tenders of work experience certificates obtained from works carried out under public-private partnership projects have been the subject of judicial review. By the Communiqué of 30 September 2020, the rates at which work supervision and work management certificates are assessed were amended and restrictions were introduced on the issue of certificates for certain positions. The 13th Chamber of the Council of State held that those provisions altered the system laid down by statute and were unlawful. The decision also emphasised that such certificates must be assessed in terms of the right to property, legal certainty and competition.