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Services - 325770-2019

12/07/2019    S133

Belgium-Brussels: Multiple Framework Service Contract for the Provision of External Expertise in the Fields of the EU Budget

2019/S 133-325770

Contract notice

Services

Legal Basis:
Directive 2014/24/EU

Section I: Contracting authority

I.1)Name and addresses
Official name: European Parliament, Directorate General for Internal Policies, Directorate D
Postal address: Building SQM, room 06Y072, rue Wiertz, 60
Town: Brussels
NUTS code: BE100 Arr. de Bruxelles-Capitale / Arr. van Brussel-Hoofdstad
Postal code: 1047
Country: Belgium
Contact person: Mrs Monika Strasser
E-mail: poldepd_tenders@ep.europa.eu
Telephone: +32 22846096
Internet address(es):
Main address: http://www.europarl.europa.eu
I.3)Communication
The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/tenders/invitations.htm
Additional information can be obtained from the abovementioned address
Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted to the abovementioned address
I.4)Type of the contracting authority
European institution/agency or international organisation
I.5)Main activity
General public services

Section II: Object

II.1)Scope of the procurement
II.1.1)Title:

Multiple Framework Service Contract for the Provision of External Expertise in the Fields of the EU Budget

II.1.2)Main CPV code
73000000 Research and development services and related consultancy services
II.1.3)Type of contract
Services
II.1.4)Short description:

The planned multiple framework service contract is intended to support the work of the 2 Committees on Budgets (BUDG) and on Budgetary Control (CONT) in the European Parliament by enabling it to order studies and briefings.

II.1.5)Estimated total value
Value excluding VAT: 3 000 000.00 EUR
II.1.6)Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: no
II.2)Description
II.2.3)Place of performance
NUTS code: BE100 Arr. de Bruxelles-Capitale / Arr. van Brussel-Hoofdstad
Main site or place of performance:

The study reports, briefing notes and other research papers shall be delivered to the same address as under I.1. For studies, the contractor may be required to present the offer in Brussels.

II.2.4)Description of the procurement:

The expertise sought shall support the Committees in their main activities:

The BUDG and CONT committees prepare and exercise the European Parliament’s decision-makings in their roles as Budgetary and discharge authorities of the European Union. As such, their main responsibilities could be summarised as follows:

— Committee on Budgets (BUDG).

1) Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) of the EU;

2) EU revenue;

3) Annual adoption of the EU budget (annual budgetary procedure);

4) Follow up of the implementation of the EU budget.

— Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT)

5) Discharge of the EU budget and ex-post control of implementation of the budget;

6) Fight against fraud and the protection of EU financial interests.

This includes amongst others the following activities and aspects:

— the Union’s system of own resources,

— the budgets of the decentralised bodies (agencies),

— budgetisation of the European Development Fund and the control of its implementation,

— financial activities of the European Investment Bank and its control,

— relations with the European Anti-Fraud Office, consideration of fraud and irregularities and undertaking measures at preventing such cases,

— relations with the European Court of Auditors, the appointment of its Members and consideration of its reports,

— EU funds, programmes and financial instruments,

— added value of the spending of the EU budget,

— control of the financial management of the EU budget and the effectiveness of its programmes,

— the Financial Regulation,

— cross cutting aspects of EU legislation, budgetary funds and programmes.

II.2.5)Award criteria
Price is not the only award criterion and all criteria are stated only in the procurement documents
II.2.6)Estimated value
Value excluding VAT: 3 000 000.00 EUR
II.2.7)Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
Duration in months: 12
This contract is subject to renewal: yes
Description of renewals:

This contract shall be renewed tacitly on an annual basis, unless one of the parties objects thereto by registered letter sent at least two months before the expiry of the initial duration or before each annual renewal date. In no circumstances may the duration of this contract exceed four (4) years from the date of its entry into force.

II.2.10)Information about variants
Variants will be accepted: no
II.2.11)Information about options
Options: no
II.2.13)Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: no
II.2.14)Additional information

Section III: Legal, economic, financial and technical information

III.1)Conditions for participation
III.1.1)Suitability to pursue the professional activity, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers
List and brief description of conditions:

In relation to this procedure, the European Parliament does not request a proof of status and legal capacity at this stage of the procedure but reserves the right to do so at a later stage, if it deems it necessary.

III.1.2)Economic and financial standing
List and brief description of selection criteria:

Tenderers shall have sufficient economic and financial capacity to enable them to perform the contract in compliance with the contractual provisions. If, in the light of the information supplied, the European Parliament has doubts about a tenderer's financial resources, or about whether these financial resources are insufficient for the performance of the contract, the tender may be rejected without the tenderer being able to claim any financial compensation.

With regards to the contract which is the subject of this invitation to tender, the European Parliament furthermore requires tenderers depending on their country of residence (according to section 6 above) to have a minimum financial and economic capacity of:

— minimum turnover over the last 2 financial years of country twice annual minimum wages (in 2019 figures) Twice 60 % of annual median income (in 2017 figures)

Austria 30 211 EUR

Belgium 38 256 EUR

Bulgaria 6 864 EUR

Croatia 12 144 EUR

Cyprus 17 396 EUR

Czechia 12 456 EUR

Denmark 35 260 EUR

Estonia 12 960 EUR

Finland 28 764 EUR

France 36 504 EUR

Germany 37 368 EUR

Greece 16 416 EUR

Hungary 11 136 EUR

Ireland 39 744 EUR

Italy 19 850 EUR

Latvia 10 320 EUR

Lithuania 13 320 EUR

Luxemburg 49 704 EUR

Malta 15 240 EUR

Netherlands 38 784 EUR

Poland 12 552 EUR

Portugal 16 800 EUR

Romania 10 704 EUR

Slovakia 12 480 EUR

Slovenia 21 288 EUR

Spain 25 200 EUR

Sweden 30 474 EUR

United Kingdom 34 872 EUR

For tenderers from non-EU countries the financial and economic capacity will be determined in analogy: twice annual minimum wages (in 2019 figures) or twice 60 % of the annual median income (in 2017 figures).

Financial and economic capacity shall be assessed on the basis of the information included in the following documents, to be supplied by tenderers:

— Income declaration for at least the two most recent financial years. For legal persons, this can be done through a tax declaration, statement of overall turnover or audited accounts. For tenderers who are natural persons, gross income shall be deemed to represent turnover.

If the tenderer is unable to provide the documents requested, he may prove his economic and financial capacity by any other document which the European Parliament considers appropriate.

The tenderer may also rely on the capacity of other entities, irrespective of the legal nature of the links between himself/herself and those entities (see Sections 7 and 8 above on groups of economic operators and sub-contracting). In that case, he/she shall prove to the European Parliament that he/she shall have the resources necessary for the performance of the contract, for example by producing a commitment on the part of those entities to make them available to him. In that case, the European Parliament is entitled to refuse the application or the tender submitted if it has doubts about the commitment by the third party or about that party’s financial capacity. Parliament may, where applicable, require the tenderer and those other entities to be jointly and severally liable for the performance of the contract.

III.1.3)Technical and professional ability
List and brief description of selection criteria:

Tenderers shall have sufficient technical and professional capacity to enable them to perform the contract in compliance with the contractual provisions. If, in the light of the information supplied, the European Parliament has doubts about a tenderer's technical and professional capacity, or if this is clearly insufficient for the performance of the contract, the tender may be rejected without the tenderer being able to claim any financial compensation.

Minimum Requirements

With regards to the contract which is the subject of this invitation to tender, the European Parliament requires tenderers, including the persons responsible for carrying out the services, to have the following technical and professional capacity:

— At least one (1) person of the core team need to have a professional and/or academic experience of a minimum of three (3) years, of which at least two (2) years in one of the six (6) areas described under “Objectives” of the Global Terms of Reference of this Framework service contract (Annex I) the tenderer is applying for, obtained after their university degree Moreover,

—— to qualify as a researcher, a professional and/or academic experience of a minimum of three (3) years is required,

—— to qualify as a senior researcher, a professional and/or academic experience of a minimum of five (5) years is required,

—— at least one person to qualify as project leader, a professional and/or academic experience of a minimum of five (5) years is required,

— A publishing record in the field of the EU budget.

These minimal requirements of technical and professional capacity shall be assessed on the basis of the information included in the following documents, to be supplied by tenderers:

— The educational and professional qualifications (CVs) of the staff planned for the performance of the contract, including the ones of any sub-service providers or sub contractors, if relevant. For each CV (maximum three (3) pages), the tenderer shall indicate if it corresponds to a researcher, senior researcher or project leader profile (please refer to the corresponding definitions used here above for additional information),

— A compilation of publications of the staff planned for the execution of the services on relevant issues carried out in the past five (5) years.

The tenderer or candidate may also rely on the capacity of other entities, irrespective of the legal nature of the links between himself and those entities (see Sections 7 and 8 above on groups of economic operators and sub-contracting). In that case, he/she shall prove to the European Parliament that he/she shall have the resources needed to perform the contract, for instance by providing a commitment by those entities to that effect. The European Parliament is entitled to refuse the application or the tender submitted if it has doubts about the commitment of the third party.

For a group of economic operators and in case of sub-contracting, it is the global technical and professional capacity of all the members that is taken into account in the evaluation.

III.2)Conditions related to the contract
III.2.2)Contract performance conditions:

For the duration of this multiple Framework service contract, the contractor shall guarantee the same level of quality as defined in the selection criteria included in the Rules for tendering. This guarantee of continuity shall also apply in drop-outs of experts, for example:

— on account of sickness or accident, a member of staff is unable to continue providing services,

— a person specified in the contract does not perform his duties under this contract,

— for any other reason beyond the control of the contractor, it becomes necessary to replace any of his staff.

In such cases, the contractor shall provide a replacement with at least equivalent qualifications and experience and acceptable to the EP in order not to jeopardise the implementation of the multiple Framework service contract. The EP therefore reserves the right to accept or reject any replacement expert proposed during the performance of the contract. The EP authorisation shall always be requested and granted in writing.

III.2.3)Information about staff responsible for the performance of the contract
Obligation to indicate the names and professional qualifications of the staff assigned to performing the contract

Section IV: Procedure

IV.1)Description
IV.1.1)Type of procedure
Open procedure
IV.1.3)Information about a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system
The procurement involves the establishment of a framework agreement
Framework agreement with several operators
IV.1.8)Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: no
IV.2)Administrative information
IV.2.2)Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
Date: 18/11/2019
IV.2.3)Estimated date of dispatch of invitations to tender or to participate to selected candidates
IV.2.4)Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted:
English, Bulgarian, Danish, German, Greek, Estonian, Finnish, French, Irish, Croatian, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Czech
IV.2.6)Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender
Duration in months: 12 (from the date stated for receipt of tender)
IV.2.7)Conditions for opening of tenders
Date: 02/12/2019
Local time: 14:30
Place:

European Parliament's premises (Brussels).

Information about authorised persons and opening procedure:

Tenderers who wish to attend the opening of the tenders are asked to notify the European Parliament by email to the following address: poldepd_tenders@ep.europa.eu no later than 4.11.2019.

Section VI: Complementary information

VI.1)Information about recurrence
This is a recurrent procurement: no
VI.3)Additional information:
VI.4)Procedures for review
VI.4.1)Review body
Official name: Court of Justice
Postal address: Boulevard Konrad Adenauer
Town: Luxembourg
Postal code: 2925
Country: Luxembourg
Telephone: +352 4303-1
Internet address: http://curia.europa.eu
VI.4.4)Service from which information about the review procedure may be obtained
Official name: Court of Justice
Postal address: Boulevard Konrad Adenauer
Town: Luxembourg
Postal code: 2925
Country: Luxembourg
Telephone: +352 4303-1
Internet address: http://curia.europa.eu
VI.5)Date of dispatch of this notice:
01/07/2019