 It is named after a pair of linked European Court of Justice cases which are jointly known as the "Alcatel" case (Case C-81/98).Within the UK, it was introduced by the Office of Government Commerce in 2005.The timelines given below are the minimum (of at least 10 days) under the 'Alcatel' mandatory standstill period and show the days by which specific actions by 
- the tenderer (ie a request for additional de-briefing within the standstill period), and 
- the contracting authority (ie notify all tenderers of the award decision and the completion of any requested additional de-briefing) in order to comply with the minimum period before entering into a contract (assuming no legal challenges are formally notified).