Article 189. Modification of contracts during the period of effectiveness.

1. Concessions may be modified without a new concession award procedure in the following cases: a) if the modifications, regardless of their monetary value, have been foreseen in the initial tender documents in clear, precise and unambiguous clauses, which they may include price revision clauses as long as they refer to the synthetic indices referred to in article 60, paragraph 3; these clauses establish the scope and nature of any modifications, as well as the conditions under which they can be used; they do not make changes that would alter the general nature of the concession; b) for additional works or services by the original concessionaire which have become necessary and were not included in the initial concession, when a change of concessionaire: 1) is impracticable for economic or technical reasons, such as compliance with the requirements of interchangeability or interoperability between existing equipment, services or systems provided under the initial concession; 2) entails significant inconveniences for the granting body or a substantial duplication of costs; c) in further cases in which all the following conditions are satisfied: 1) the need for modification is determined by circumstances that a diligent granting body could not foresee; 2) the modification does not alter the general nature of the concession; 3) in case of concessions awarded by the granting body for the purpose of carrying out an activity other than those referred to in Annex II to Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014, any increase in value shall not must exceed 50 percent of the value of the initial concession. In the event of multiple subsequent modifications, this limitation applies to the value of each modification. Such subsequent amendments are not intended to circumvent the provisions of this Part; d) if a new concessionaire replaces the one to which the granting body had initially awarded the concession due to one of the following circumstances: 1) the presence of a clause of unequivocal review in accordance with letter a); 2) the initial concessionaire is succeeded, universally or partially, following corporate restructuring, including takeovers, mergers, acquisition or insolvency, by another economic operator who satisfies the qualitative selection criteria initially established, provided that this does not imply other substantial changes to the contract and is not aimed at circumventing the application of Directive 2014/23/EU; 3) in the event that the granting body assumes the obligations of the main concessionaire towards the its subcontractors, where this possibility is provided for by national legislation; e) if the modifications, regardless of their value, are not substantial. 2. Concessions may also be modified without the need for a new award procedure if the value of the modification is lower than both of the following values: a) the threshold referred to in Article 8 of Directive 2014/23/EU; b) 10 percent of the value of the initial concession. 3. The modifications referred to in the paragraph 2 cannot alter the general nature of the concession. In the case of multiple subsequent modifications, the value is ascertained on the basis of the total net value of the subsequent modifications. 4. The modification of a concession during the period of its validity is considered substantial if the nature of the concession changes in its essence compared to that initially concluded. In any case, a modification is considered substantial if one or more of the following conditions are satisfied: a) the modification introduces conditions which, if they had been contained in the initial concession award procedure, would have allowed the admission of candidates other than those initially selected or the acceptance of an offer different from the one initially accepted, or would have attracted additional participants in the concession award procedure; b) the modification changes the economic balance of the concession in favor of the concessionaire in a way not foreseen by the concession initial; c) the modification significantly extends the scope of application of the concession; d) if a new concessionaire replaces the one to which the granting body had initially awarded the concession in cases other than those provided for in paragraph 1, letter d). 5. In the situations referred to in paragraph 1, letters b) and c), the granting body publishes a notice in this regard in the Official Journal of the European Union. This notice contains the information referred to in Annex awarded by the granting body for the purpose of carrying out an activity other than those referred to in Annex II to Directive 2014/23/EU, any increase in value must not exceed 50 percent of the value of the initial concession. In the event of multiple subsequent modifications, this limitation applies to the value of each modification. Such subsequent amendments are not intended to circumvent the provisions of this Part. EFFECTIVE: July 1, 2023