Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union, amending Regulations (EU) No 1296/2013, (EU) No 1301/2013, (EU) No 1303/2013, (EU) No 1304/2013, (EU) No 1309/2013, (EU) No 1316/2013, (EU) No 223/2014, (EU) No 283/2014, and Decision No 541/2014/EU and repealing Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012
Individuals or organisations who are interested in having their name entered on a list of potential contractors are invited to submit an application in accordance with the rules set out below.
Upon examination of the applications received the contracting authority will draw up a list of candidates or potential contractors who may be invited to reply to specific invitations to tender in the future.
Each time a specific contract is to be concluded the contracting authority will send the specifications to all or some of the applicants on the list, selected on the basis of special criteria for the contract concerned.
The list drawn up following this notice will be used solely for contracts whose estimated value is below the thresholds laid down in the relevant EU public procurement Directives.
Inclusion on a list of potential contractors does not guarantee in any way that the contracting authority will invite any contractor to tender for any contract.
Section I: Contracting authority
I.1)Name, addresses and contact point(s) I.2)Type of the contracting authority
European institution/agency or international organisation
I.3)Main activity
Economic and financial affairs
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 call for expressions of interest
II.1)Title attributed to the call for expressions of interest:
CEI 801 – Call for Expressions of Interest for Procurement of Electronic Dictionaries, Specialised Databases on Linguistic and Terminological Issues and Encyclopaedias
II.2)Type of contract and location of works, place of delivery or of performance
Supplies
Purchase
Main site or location of works, place of delivery or of performance:
Electronic versions of subscriptions to dictionaries, databases on linguistic and terminological issues and encyclopaedias are required, to the address below:
European Court of Auditors
Library
12, rue Alcide de Gasperi
L-1615 Luxembourg
LUXEMBOURG
NUTS code: LU Luxembourg
II.3)Description of the field or fields covered by the call for expressions of interest:
The ECA Library wishes to procure subscriptions to electronic dictionaries, specialised databases on linguistic and terminological issues and encyclopaedias in electronic format.
An indicative and non-exhaustive list of electronic dictionaries, specialised databases on linguistic and terminological issues and encyclopaedias with detailed specifications as they might be requested by the Court can be found in Annex 1 – Form 6 ‘Price schedule’ (Excel file). This list is to be considered as preliminary information with regard to the future orders. The final and complete list of electronic dictionaries, specialised databases on linguistic and terminological issues and encyclopaedias to be ordered by the ECA Library including start and end date of the subscription (on a general basis for 1 year, fixed price offers for multi-annual contracts are always preferred) will be provided to the preselected candidates together with the request for a price offer. The ECA intends to send the first request for a price offer in October 2022.
Candidates are required to complete the coverage table to be found in Annex 1 – Form 6.
Preselected candidates enrolled in the CEI list will be accordingly consulted for the price offers.
The list resulting from this notice will be used exclusively for public procurement service contracts below Directive's threshold (currently EUR 140 000).
II.4)Information about lots
This call for expressions of interest is divided into lots: no
Applications may be submitted for: one lot only
II.5)Information about subcontracting
The subcontracting is accepted: no
II.6)Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)
Main vocabulary
Main object: 92511000-6
Additional object(s): 22114100-3; 22114500-7; 22130000-0; 72320000-4
Section III: Legal, economic, financial and technical information
III.1)Legal form to be taken by the grouping of suppliers, contractors or service providers to whom a contract might be awarded:
In their expression of interest, economic operators must be legally capable of performing future contracts under national law. Legal capacity will be evaluated on the basis of one of the following documents:
— extract from the trade register or professional register, or a sworn declaration or certificate, membership of a specific organisation, express authorisation, or entry in the value added tax (VAT) register;
— a legible copy of the notice of appointment of the person(s) authorised to represent the tenderer in dealings with third parties and in legal proceedings, if it is not included in the above mentioned document.
III.2)Economic and financial standing:
Candidates must have sufficient economic and financial capacity to enable them to perform potential future contracts in compliance with the contractual provisions. In their expression of interest interested parties shall provide proof of their economic and financial capacity by means of the following documents:
— financial statements for the last two (2) years for which accounts have been closed, including a statement of overall turnover and turnover concerning the subscriptions covered by this call for expressions of interest;
— if the balance sheets or the statements show an average loss over the past two (2) financial years for which accounts have been closed, then the candidate must furnish another document as proof of his financial and economic capacity, such as appropriate bank references or proof of professional risk insurance cover;
— a statement of overall turnover and turnover concerning the subscriptions to dictionaries, specialised databases on linguistic and terminological issues and encyclopaedias during the last two (2) financial years available (Annex 1 – Form 5).
III.3)Technical competence:
Candidates must have sufficient technical capacity to enable them to perform future contracts in compliance with the contractual provisions. The technical capacity of economic operators will be substantiated on the basis of the following documents:
1. The candidate shall indicate on the coverage table (Annex 1 – Form 6):
• which dictionaries, specialised databases on linguistic and terminological issues and encyclopaedias he is able to supply (by indicating ‘Yes’/‘No’);
• if he is able to deliver the online dictionaries with IP recognised access (the preferred option) or single online access only (by indicating ‘Yes’/‘No’);
In order to be preselected the candidate must cover at least five (5) titles with IP recognised access.
2. Reference forms confirming that the candidate delivered at least five (5) of the requested titles with IP recognised access within the past two (2) years, the form shall include at least the following details: title and publisher of the dictionaries, databases and/or encyclopaedias, recipient(s) of the subscriptions. This could be a certificate, delivery note or an order signed by the client.
III.4)Professional competence:
Candidates must have sufficient professional capacity to enable them to perform future contracts in compliance with the contractual provisions. The professional capacity of economic operators will be substantiated on the basis of the following document:
— A brief description of measures employed to ensure the quality of supplies and services (max. two pages). This description should include the following aspects:
• team devoted to the execution of future contracts and direct contacts with the ECA Library (min. one permanent contact person + one replacement contact person, who is reachable by telephone and email within one (1) working day);
• a sample invoice as a proof of capability to produce correct and complete invoices. The sample invoice shall include at least the following positions: complete supplier and ECA delivery addresses, title and detailed description of the ordered title, subscription period with dates, delivery mode, exact prices per position and total price;
• the measures to provide a prompt support and reaction in case of problems and questions, e.g. concerning IP access, technical problems, missing or delayed deliveries, invoices, credit notes, reimbursements for downtime. The candidates shall react within one (1) working day and indicate the resolution time of problems and questions.
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1)Type of procedure
Restricted
IV.2)Grounds for exclusion
Applicants shall be excluded from participating in a contract if:
(a) they are bankrupt, being wound up or have suspended business activities, their affairs are being administered by the court, they have entered into an arrangement with creditors or similar measures or are the subject of any proceedings of that nature, or are in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations;
(b) they have been convicted of an offence concerning their professional conduct by a judgment which is not open to appeal;
(c) they have been guilty of grave professional misconduct;
(d) they have not fulfilled obligations relating to the payment of social security contributions or taxes;
(e) they are guilty of serious misrepresentation in supplying the information required by the authorising department;
(f) other.
IV.3)Selection criteria:
See Section III above:
(a) criteria relating to legal capacity;
(b) criteria relating to financial and economic capacity;
(c) criteria relating to technical and professional capacity.
IV.4)Administrative information
IV.4.1) File reference number: CEI 801
IV.4.2) Period of validity of the list resulting from this call for expressions of interests:
The list will be valid for four years from the date on which this notice is sent to the Office for Official Publications of the European Union.
Applications to appear on this list may be submitted at anytime during the period of validity of this list, with the exception of the last three months of that period.
IV.4.3) Time-limit for the submission of applications:
Date: 15 March 2026
IV.4.4) Language(s) in which applications may be submitted: Any EU official language
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.1)Presentation and submission of applications:
Interested parties are invited to submit an expression of interest in accordance with the rules set out in this notice at the following address:
ECA-PROC-CEI-801@eca.europa.eu
The contracting authority will draw up a list of pre-selected candidates (CEI list) who meet the criteria set out at Section III. Inclusion on the list entails no obligation on the part of the contracting authority concerning the conclusion of contracts. Where a specific contract relating to electronic dictionaries, specialised databases on linguistic and terminological issues and/or encyclopaedias is to be concluded, the contracting authority will invite all the candidates on the list, to submit a tender. The contracting authority will send these candidates the tender specifications or request for price relating to the contract in question.
Information and documents to be provided:
In their expression of interest, interested parties shall provide the following documents:
— administrative documents listed in Annex 1 (Forms 1, 2, 3);
— the declaration on honour (Annex 1, Form 4) in reference to the exclusion criteria, stating that the candidate is not in one of the situations of exclusion listed in the declaration;
— the completed coverage table mentioned at point 7 and provided in Annex 1, Form 6 ‘Coverage table’;
— supporting evidence for the evaluation of the selection criteria indicated at Point 11 and listed in Annex 1.
A complete list of the documents that are required in order to reply to this call for expressions of interests along with model reply forms is given in the model application form (Annex 1), available at:
https://www.eca.europa.eu/en/Pages/PublicProcurement.aspx
Under ‘Ongoing Public Procurement procedures’ – CEI 801 ‘Notice of call for expressions of interest for procurement of electronic dictionaries, specialised databases on linguistic and terminological issues and encyclopaedias’ – Access to documents.
Forms in Annex 1 can be filled in directly in Word and Excel.
VI.2)Additional information:
Protection of personal data: Processing your reply to the invitation to tender involves the recording and processing of personal data (such as your name, address). Such data will be processed pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC.
Unless indicated otherwise, any personal data will be processed solely for the purpose of the applications' and tenders' opening and evaluation by the authorising officer responsible for this procedure. Details concerning the processing of your personal data are available in the privacy statement at: https://www.eca.europa.eu/en/Pages/PersonalDataProtection.aspx
However, personal data may, where appropriate, be transferred to our external audit provider and internal audit service, the panel referred to in Article 143 of the Financial Regulation and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) of the European Commission and the Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES) set up by the Commission. Data regarding economic operators which are in one of the situations referred to in Articles 136 of the FR may be recorded in the EDES System set up by the Commission and communicated to persons designated by the Commission, to other institutions, agencies, authorities and bodies referred to in Article 142(4) of the Financial Regulation. For more information, see the Privacy Statement on
(http://ec.europa.eu/budget/explained/management/protecting/protect_en.cfm).
You may, upon request, obtain access to your personal data and ask for any inaccurate or incomplete personal data to be rectified. Should you have any queries concerning the processing of your personal data, please address them to the data controller indicated above. You may also address yourself to the Court of Auditors' Data Protection Officer (ECA-data-protection@eca.europa.eu). You have the right to lodge a complaint at any time to the European Data Protection Supervisor (edps@edps.europa.eu).
VI.3)Date of dispatch of this notice:
15 June 2022
Annex A – Additional addresses and contact points
I)Addresses and contact points from which further information can be obtained
Official name: European Court of Auditors
Postal address: 12, rue Alcide de Gasperi
Town: Luxembourg
Postal code: L-1615
Country: Luxembourg (LU)
Contact point(s)
For the attention of: Procurement Service
Telephone: +352 4398-1
E-mail: ECA-PROCUREMENT.SERVICE@ECA.EUROPA.EU
III)Addresses and contact points to which applications must be sent
Official name: European Court of Auditors
Postal address: 12, rue Alcide de Gasperi
Town: Luxembourg
Postal code: L-1615
Country: Luxembourg (LU)
Contact point(s)
For the attention of: Procurement Service
Telephone: +352 4398-1
E-mail: ECA-PROC-CEI.801@ECA.EUROPA.EU