Art. 159. Defense and security

1. The provisions of this Code do not apply to public tenders and to design competitions not otherwise excluded from its scope of application in accordance with Article 1, paragraph 6, to the extent in which the protection of the State’s essential security interests cannot be guaranteed by less invasive measures, also aimed at protecting the confidentiality of the information that the contracting administrations make available in a procedure for the award of a public contract.

2. The award of concessions in the fields of defense and security set forth in Legislative Decree No. 208 of 15 November 2011 is subject to part III of this Code, except for concessions related to the cases to which Legislative Decree No. 208 of 15 November 2011 does not apply pursuant to Article 6 of the cited Legislative Decree.

3. By way of derogation from Article 31, the defense administration, in consideration of the hierarchical structure of its technical bodies, in lieu of a single person in charge of the procedure, can appoint a person in charge of the procedure for each individual phase of the implementation process: planning, design, award and execution. The sole person in charge of the procedure, or the persons in charge of each individual phase, shall be specialists chosen within the Ministry of the Defense. The person in charge of the procedure for the award phase can be an employee specialized in legal and administrative matters.

4. By Decree of the Minister of the Defense, together with the Minister of Infrastructures and Transportation, having heard ANAC, to be adopted within ninety days from the date of the entry into force of this Code, the general guidelines shall be defined for the regulation of the activities of the Ministry of the Defense in relation to public contracts and concessions other than those falling within the scope of Legislative Decree No. 208 of 15 November 2011. The general directives shall also regulate interventions to be carried out in Italy or abroad as a result of international, multilateral or bilateral agreements, as well as low-cost work performed by the troops and divisions of the Directorate of Military Engineering for which the amount thresholds set forth in Article 36 do not apply. Article 216, paragraph 20 shall apply until the date of entry into force of the decree set forth in this paragraph.

5. For purchases made abroad by the defense administration related to machinery, instruments and precision objects, which can only be provided with the technical requirements and necessary degree of perfection from foreign economic operators, advance payments of an amount not to exceed one third of the total amount of the contractual price can be granted, upon the establishment of a suitable guarantee.