Are you an ambitious procurement expert with recent publications? Check out the TED Ambassador award, our competition that aims to identify and reward research in the field of public procurement. Apply here by 28 April 2023.

Services - 188196-2015

Display compact view

02/06/2015    S104

Belgium-Brussels: An evaluation study of national procedural laws and practices in terms of their impact on the free circulation of judgments and on the equivalence and effectiveness of the procedural protection of consumers under EU consumer law

2015/S 104-188196

Contract notice

Services

Directive 2004/18/EC

Section I: Contracting authority

I.1)Name, addresses and contact point(s)

Official name: European Commission, Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers, Unit JUST/A4 Programme Management
Postal address: Office MO59 04/21
Town: Brussels
Postal code: 1049
Country: Belgium
For the attention of: Mr Renatas Mazeika
E-mail: just-a4-cft@ec.europa.eu
Telephone: +32 22962152
Fax: +32 22988812

Internet address(es):

General address of the contracting authority: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/newsroom/contracts/index_en.htm

Electronic access to information: https://etendering.ted.europa.eu/cft/cft-display.html?cftId=868

Further information can be obtained from:
The above mentioned contact point(s)

Specifications and additional documents (including documents for competitive dialogue and a dynamic purchasing system) can be obtained from:
The above mentioned contact point(s)

Tenders or requests to participate must be sent to:
The above mentioned contact point(s)

I.2)Type of the contracting authority
European institution/agency or international organisation
I.3)Main activity
General public services
I.4)Contract award on behalf of other contracting authorities
The contracting authority is purchasing on behalf of other contracting authorities: no

Section II: Object of the contract

II.1)Description
II.1.1)Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority:
An evaluation study of national procedural laws and practices in terms of their impact on the free circulation of judgments and on the equivalence and effectiveness of the procedural protection of consumers under EU consumer law.
II.1.2)Type of contract and location of works, place of delivery or of performance
Services
Service category No 21: Legal services
Main site or location of works, place of delivery or of performance: Contractor's premises.
NUTS code
II.1.3)Information about a public contract, a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system (DPS)
The notice involves a public contract
II.1.4)Information on framework agreement
II.1.5)Short description of the contract or purchase(s)
The study has 2 separate objectives:
 (1) to examine the impact of national procedural law on the free circulation of judgments by establishing whether and to what extent the existing divergences in national procedural rules hinder the realisation of the objective of a free circulation of judgments, in particular by undermining mutual trust between the justice systems of the Member States. The study should analyse this in the framework of the European instruments of civil justice, in the context of the further facilitation of recognition and enforcement and bearing in mind the fundamental right of access to justice and the right to fair trial.
 To this end, the study should analyse options for reinforcing mutual trust based on the above assessment, supported by legal and economic arguments, in the light of the policy objective of ensuring the smooth operation of existing instruments of judicial cooperation in civil and commercial matters and any further reinforcement or intensification of this cooperation in view of creating a genuine European area of justice. The analysis and conclusions shall carefully weigh the pros and cons for each proposed solution;
 (2) to evaluate if and to what extent national procedural laws and practices ensure the procedural protection of EU consumer rights and whether these rules and practices satisfy requirements stemming from the rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union ('CJEU') concerning the principles of effectiveness and equivalence and the obligation for an 'ex officio' assessment of compliance with EU consumer law.
 To this end, taking into account the principle of the procedural autonomy of the Member States the study should investigate national laws and practices, and gather all the necessary evidence concerning the procedural protection of EU consumer rights governing contracts. The study should pay particular attention to the relationship between different aspects of national procedures and evaluate them at different stages during the proceedings. In this context, the study should analyse whether national procedural systems satisfy the requirements of the CJEU's case law. Finally, the study should present conclusions from the assessment of national laws and practices, and develop options for reinforcing protection of EU consumer rights governing contracts. The analysis and conclusions should carefully weigh the pros and cons for each proposed solution.
II.1.6)Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)

79100000 Legal services, 72316000 Data analysis services, 72314000 Data collection and collation services, 79140000 Legal advisory and information services, 79419000 Evaluation consultancy services, 79330000 Statistical services, 79311000 Survey services

II.1.7)Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The contract is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA): yes
II.1.8)Lots
This contract is divided into lots: no
II.1.9)Information about variants
Variants will be accepted: no
II.2)Quantity or scope of the contract
II.2.1)Total quantity or scope:
Estimated value excluding VAT: 400 000 EUR
II.2.2)Information about options
Options: no
II.2.3)Information about renewals
This contract is subject to renewal: no
II.3)Duration of the contract or time limit for completion
Duration in months: 12 (from the award of the contract)

Section III: Legal, economic, financial and technical information

III.1)Conditions relating to the contract
III.1.1)Deposits and guarantees required:
See tender specifications.
III.1.2)Main financing conditions and payment arrangements and/or reference to the relevant provisions governing them:
See tender specifications.
III.1.3)Legal form to be taken by the group of economic operators to whom the contract is to be awarded:
See tender specifications.
III.1.4)Other particular conditions
The performance of the contract is subject to particular conditions: no
III.2)Conditions for participation
III.2.1)Personal situation of economic operators, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers
Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if the requirements are met: See tender specifications.
III.2.2)Economic and financial ability
Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if the requirements are met: In order to prove their economic and financial capacity, the tenderers (i.e. in case of joint tender, the combined capacity of all members of the consortium and identified subcontractors) must show that their annual consolidated turnover exceeds 300 000 EUR (average for the past 3 years).
The following evidence should be provided:
— the completed 'Simplified balance sheet' and 'Simplified profit & loss account' completed for the last 3 years (Annex 2 must be completed),
— a copy of the profit & loss account and balance sheet for the last 3 years for which accounts have been closed,
— failing that, appropriate statements from banks,
— if applicable, evidence of professional risk indemnity insurance.
If, for some exceptional reason which the contracting authority considers justified, a tenderer is unable to provide one or other of the above documents, he or she may prove his or her economic and financial capacity by any other document which the contracting authority considers appropriate. In any case, the contracting authority must at least be notified of the exceptional reason and its justification in the tender. The Commission reserves the right to request any other document enabling it to verify the tenderer's economic and financial capacity.
Minimum level(s) of standards possibly required: See above.
III.2.3)Technical capacity
Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if the requirements are met:
 a. Criteria relating to tenderers:
 Tenderers (in case of a joint tender the combined capacity of all tenderers and identified subcontractors) must comply with the following criteria:
 — the tenderer must prove experience in the field of consumer law and civil procedural law, as well as in European private international and procedural law,
 — the tenderer must prove experience of working in official languages of all 28 Member States,
 — the tenderer must prove capacity to draft reports in English and French,
 — the tenderer must prove experience in survey techniques, data collection, statistical analyses and drafting reports and recommendations.
 b. Criteria relating to the team delivering the service:
 The team delivering the service should include, as a minimum, the following profiles:
 Project manager: at least 5 years of experience in project management, including overseeing project delivery, quality control of delivered service, client orientation and conflict resolution experience in projects of a similar scope, with experience in the management of a team of at least 10 people.
 Language quality check: at least 1 member of the team should have native-level language skills in English.
 Experts in consumer law, civil procedural law and private international law: in the offer, the contractor should propose a team of experts capable of undertaking this complex legal analysis. Proposed experts should have university degrees and at least 5 years of legal experience. The team should include experts with relevant experience in consumer law, civil procedure (including European procedures) and in private international law, as well as an extensive knowledge of the national legal systems of the Member States they will analyse.
 Team for data collection and analysis: the team should consist of researchers with a university degree and at least 2 years' experience in collecting and analysing legal data.
 A proven collective knowledge of all EU official languages.
 If several service providers/subcontractors are involved in the bid, they must jointly have the professional and technical capacity to perform the tasks assigned to them.
 c. Evidence:
 The following evidence should be provided to fulfil the above criteria:
 1. tenderers should provide with their offer detailed curriculum vitae of each staff member responsible for carrying out the work, including his or her educational background, degrees and diplomas, professional experience, research work, publications and linguistic skills. The CVs shall be presented, preferably, in accordance with the Commission Recommendation of 11.3.2002 on a common European format for curricula vitae (CVs), published in OJ L 79 of 22.3.2002, p. 66;
 2. a list of the principal services of the same type provided in the past 5 years, with the sums, dates and recipients, whether public or private, of the services provided, together with certificates issued or countersigned by public authorities or by private clients or, failing this, simply declared by the service provider to have been effected;
 3. part of the contract which the service provider intends to subcontract.
 Minimum level(s) of standards possibly required:
 See above.
III.2.4)Information about reserved contracts
III.3)Conditions specific to services contracts
III.3.1)Information about a particular profession
Execution of the service is reserved to a particular profession: no
III.3.2)Staff responsible for the execution of the service
Legal persons should indicate the names and professional qualifications of the staff responsible for the execution of the service: yes

Section IV: Procedure

IV.1)Type of procedure
IV.1.1)Type of procedure
Open
IV.1.2)Limitations on the number of operators who will be invited to tender or to participate
IV.1.3)Reduction of the number of operators during the negotiation or dialogue
IV.2)Award criteria
IV.2.1)Award criteria
The most economically advantageous tender in terms of the criteria stated in the specifications, in the invitation to tender or to negotiate or in the descriptive document
IV.2.2)Information about electronic auction
An electronic auction will be used: no
IV.3)Administrative information
IV.3.1)File reference number attributed by the contracting authority:
JUST/2014/RCON/PR/CIVI/0082.
IV.3.2)Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract
no
IV.3.3)Conditions for obtaining specifications and additional documents or descriptive document
Time limit for receipt of requests for documents or for accessing documents: 25.8.2015
Payable documents: no
IV.3.4)Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
1.9.2015 - 12:00
IV.3.5)Date of dispatch of invitations to tender or to participate to selected candidates
IV.3.6)Language(s) in which tenders or requests to participate may be drawn up
Any EU official language
IV.3.7)Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender
Duration in months: 6 (from the date stated for receipt of tender)
IV.3.8)Conditions for opening of tenders
Date: 8.9.2015 - 10:30

Place:

rue Montoyer 59, 1040 Brussels, BELGIUM.

Persons authorised to be present at the opening of tenders: yes
Additional information about authorised persons and opening procedure: 1 representative of each tenderer may attend the opening of the bids.

Section VI: Complementary information

VI.1)Information about recurrence
This is a recurrent procurement: no
VI.2)Information about European Union funds
The contract is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: no
VI.3)Additional information
VI.4)Procedures for appeal
VI.4.1)Body responsible for appeal procedures

Official name: General Court
Postal address: rue du Fort Niedergrünewald
Town: Luxembourg
Postal code: 2925
Country: Luxembourg
E-mail: generalcourt.registry@curia.europa.eu
Telephone: +352 4303-1
Fax: +352 4303-2100
Internet address: http://curia.europa.eu/

Body responsible for mediation procedures

Official name: Same as above.

VI.4.2)Lodging of appeals
Precise information on deadline(s) for lodging appeals: Within 2 months of the notification to the plaintiff, or, in absence thereof, of the day on which it came to the knowledge. A complaint to the European Ombudsman does not have as an effect either to suspend this period or to open a new period for lodging appeals.
VI.4.3)Service from which information about the lodging of appeals may be obtained
VI.5)Date of dispatch of this notice:
21.5.2015