Location — Europe (non-EU) — Tirana, Albania
1.Publication reference:
EuropeAid/138272/IH/SER/AL.
3.Programme title:
IPA 2014 action programme for Albania.
4.Financing:
Financing agreement 2014/032-813, budget line 22.02.01.01.
5.Contracting authority:
The General Directorate for Financing and Contracting of EU, World Bank and other donor funds/Central Finance and Contracting Unit (CFCU), within the Ministry of Finance of Albania, Tirana, ALBANIA.
Contract specification
6.Nature of contract:
Fee-based.
7.Contract description:
This contract will provide technical assistance to the Minister of State for Innovation and Public Administration (MIPA) and to the Agency for the Delivery of Integrated Services in Albania (ADISA) in order to support citizen-centric public service delivery in Albania, including legal and institutional reform by taking advantages of ICT solutions and based overall on EU and international best practices.
In detail, the project will be focused on:
• preparation of a comprehensive gap analysis on the EU approximation of the existing legislative framework; conduct the analysis of existing legislation and regulations and prepare the recommended legal framework relative to improved service delivery thanks to the separation of front office from back office and the simplification and standardisation of such delivery,
• review and consolidation of the public services inventory in Albania,
• improvement of operational and administrative procedures for the Citizen Service Centre functioning under the one-stop-shop-and-in-one-place service delivery model, as well as separated front offices, including identification of supporting management tools, as well as implementation advice and support including training for ADISA staff,
• identification of structural reform needed to improve service delivery, and the set-up of an implementation action plan of the new and amended institutional framework for the improved public service delivery system and simplification, including the provision of training for the staff involved in the process,
• design of new effective and efficient public service delivery channels, improve existing designs and conduct an information campaign with greatest reach among the public,
• support on financing modalities for the reform, with special emphasis on self-sustainability outsourcing, and the design of a viable business model for the public service delivery reform, while assuring the access of vulnerable groups.
8.Number and titles of lots:
1 lot only.
9.Maximum budget:
1 100 000 EUR.
10.Scope for additional services:
The contracting authority may, at its own discretion, extend the project in duration and/or scope subject to the availability of funding up to the estimated amount of approximately 550 000 EUR. Any extension of the contract would be subject to satisfactory performance by the contractor.
Conditions of participation
11.Eligibility:
Participation is open to all natural persons who are nationals of, and legal persons (participating either individually or in a grouping — consortium — of tenderers) which are effectively established in, a Member State of the European Union or in an eligible country or territory as defined under the Regulation (EU) No 236/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11.3.2014 laying down common rules and procedures for the implementation of the Union's instruments for financing external action (CIR) for the applicable instrument under which the contract is financed (see also heading 29 below). Participation is also open to international organisations.
12.Candidature:
All eligible natural and legal persons (as per item 11 above) or groupings of such persons (consortia) may apply.
A consortium may be a permanent, legally-established grouping or a grouping which has been constituted informally for a specific tender procedure. All members of a consortium (i.e., the leader and all other members) are jointly and severally liable to the contracting authority.
The participation of an ineligible natural or legal person (as per item 11) will result in the automatic exclusion of that person. In particular, if that ineligible person belongs to a consortium, the whole consortium will be excluded.
13.Number of applications:
No more than 1 application can be submitted by a natural or legal person whatever the form of participation (as an individual legal entity or as a leader or member of a consortium submitting an application). In the event that a natural or legal person submits more than 1 application, all applications in which that person has participated will be excluded.
14.Shortlist alliances prohibited:
Any tenders received from tenderers comprising firms other than those mentioned in the shortlisted application forms will be excluded from this restricted tender procedure unless prior approval from the contracting authority has been obtained (see ‘Practical Guide’ — PRAG 2.4.3). Shortlisted candidates may not form alliances or subcontract to each other for the contract in question.
15.Grounds for exclusion:
As part of the application form, candidates must submit a signed declaration, included in the standard application form, to the effect that they are not in any of the exclusion situations listed in Section 2.3.3 of the PRAG.
16.Subcontracting:
Subcontracting is not allowed.
17.Number of candidates to be shortlisted:
On the basis of the applications received, between 4 and 8 candidates will be invited to submit detailed tenders for this contract. If the number of eligible candidates meeting the selection criteria is less than the minimum of 4, the contracting authority may invite the candidates who satisfy the criteria to submit a tender.
Provisional timetable
18.Provisional date of invitation to tender:
December 2016.
19.Provisional commencement date of the contract:
April 2017.
20.Initial period of implementation of tasks:
18 months.
Selection and award criteria
21.Selection criteria:
The following selection criteria will be applied to candidates. In the case of applications submitted by a consortium, these selection criteria will be applied to the consortium as a whole unless specified otherwise. The selection criteria will not be applied to natural persons and single-member companies when they are subcontractors:
1) Economic and financial capacity of candidate (based on item 3 of the application form). In the case of the candidate being a public body, equivalent information should be provided. The reference period which will be taken into account will be the last 3 years for which accounts have been closed:
a) the average annual turnover of the candidate over the past 3 years for which the candidate's account is closed must exceed 1 100 000 EUR.
2) Professional capacity of candidate (based on items 4 and 5 of the application form). The reference period which will be taken into account will be the last 5 years from the submission deadline:
a) the candidate has at least 10 staff currently working in the fields related to this contract;
b) at least 5 staff working for the candidate in the fields related to this contract are permanent.
3) Technical capacity of candidate (based on items 5 and 6 of the application form). The reference period which will be taken into account will be the last 5 years from the submission deadline:
during the last 5 years up to the submission deadline, the candidate has provided technical assistance services under at least 2 contracts/projects, each with a budget of at least 800 000 EUR (only the proportion carried out by the candidate will be taken into account), in the area of citizen-centric public service delivery.
Candidates are allowed to refer either to projects/contracts completed within the reference period (although started earlier) or to projects/contracts not yet completed. In the first case, the project/contract will be considered in its whole if proper evidence of performance is provided (statement or certificate from the entity which awarded the contract, proof of final payment). In the case of a project/contract still ongoing, only the portion satisfactorily completed during the reference period (although started earlier) will be taken into consideration. This portion will have to be supported by documentary evidence (similarly to projects/contracts completed) also detailing its value.
Previous experience which caused breach of contract and termination by a contracting authority shall not be used as reference. An economic operator may, where appropriate and for a particular contract, rely on the capacities of other entities, regardless of the legal nature of the links which it has with them.
It must in that case prove to the contracting authority that it will have at its disposal the resources necessary for performance of the contract, for example by producing a commitment on the part of those entities to place those resources at its disposal. Such entities, for instance the parent company of the economic operator, must respect the same rules of eligibility — notably that of nationality — and must fulfil the same relevant selection criteria as the economic operator.
With regard to technical and professional criteria, an economic operator may only rely on the capacities of other entities where the latter will perform the works or services for which these capacities are required. With regard to economic and financial criteria, the entities upon whose capacity the tenderer relies, become jointly and severally liable for the performance of the contract.
If more than 8 eligible candidates meet the above selection criteria, the relative strengths and weaknesses of the applications of these candidates must be re-examined to identify the 8 best candidates. The only factors which will be taken into consideration during this re-examination are:
1) the highest number of projects/contracts compliant with selection criterion 21.3);
2) if the number of candidates re-examined is still higher than 8, finally the highest value of the cumulative amount of the projects/contracts compliant with selection criterion 21.3) will be applied to those candidates remaining at the end of the list with the same number of projects after application of the 1st re-examination criterion (only the proportion carried out by the candidate will be taken into account).
22.Award criteria:
Best price-quality ratio.
Application
23.Deadline for receipt of applications:
4.11.2016 (16:00), CET.
Any application received by the contracting authority after this deadline will not be considered.
24.Application format and details to be provided: 25.How applications may be submitted:
Applications must be submitted in English exclusively to the contracting authority in a sealed envelope:
• either by recorded delivery (official postal service) to:
Mr Manol Simo, General Director. E-mail: Manol.Simo@financa.gov.al
General Directorate for Financing and Contracting of EU, World Bank and other donor funds/Central Finance and Contracting Unit, Ministry of Finance, Blv. ‘Dëshmorët e Kombit’, No 3, Tirana, ALBANIA.
In this case, the delivery record is proof of compliance with the time limit for receipt,
• or hand delivered (including courier services) directly to the contracting authority in return for a signed and dated receipt to:
the abovementioned address.
In this case, the acknowledgment of receipt is proof of compliance with the time limit for receipt.
The contract title and the publication reference (see item 1 above) must be clearly marked on the envelope containing the application and must always be mentioned in all subsequent correspondence with the contracting authority.
Applications submitted by any other means will not be considered.
By submitting an application candidates agree to receive notification of the outcome of the procedure by electronic means. Such notification shall be deemed to have been received on the date upon which the contracting authority sends it to the electronic address referred to in the application.
26.Alteration or withdrawal of applications:
Candidates may alter or withdraw their applications by written notification prior to the deadline for submission of applications. No application may be altered after this deadline.
Any such notification of alteration or withdrawal shall be prepared and submitted in accordance with item 25. The outer envelope (and the relevant inner envelope if used) must be marked ‘Alteration’ or ‘Withdrawal’ as appropriate.
27.Operational language:
All written communication for this tender procedure and contract must be in English.
28.Date of publication of prior information notice:
26.7.2016.
29.Legal basis:
Regulation (EU) No 236/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11.3.2014 laying down common rules and procedures for the implementation of the Union's instruments for financing external action and Regulation (EU) No 231/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11.3.2014 establishing an Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA II).
30.Additional information:
When filling in the standard application form and in particular items 3, 4, 5 and 6 therein, candidates must provide all information necessary to allow the shortlist panel to assess their compliance with the selection criteria under points 21.1), 21.2) and 21.3) above. Particularly, candidates are strongly recommended to provide full project details in item 6 of the standard application form.
In the section ‘Detailed description of project’, candidates are instructed to provide a clear description of the overall project/contract.
In the section ‘Type and scope of services provided’, candidates are instructed to list only those activities which have been carried out by the candidates themselves, excluding activities carried out e.g. by other members of a previously formed consortium who are not part of the application for this tender procedure.