EUROPEAN COMMISSION

EuropeAid Co-operation Office

 

 


Call for expressions of interest

 

Reference Nr EuropeAid/ 123304/C/SER/TPS

"Provision of training on various subjects
related to the implementation of projects
financed from the EU General Budget
in the context of external actions"


 

1.    Name and address of the contracting authority

 

European Commission, EuropeAid Co-operation Office

B-1049 Brussels Belgium

http://europa.eu.int/comm/europeaid/index_en.htm

 

2.    Type

 

Notice of call for expressions of interest. Persons interested are invited to submit an application in accordance with the rules set out in this notice for the purpose specified.

 

       The contracting authority will draw up a list of candidates who meet the criteria set out at point 8 below. This list comprises sub‑lists, corresponding to each of the fields described in point 4.

 

       Each time a specific contract is to be concluded relating to the field described at point 4, the contracting authority will invite all the candidates on the relevant sub‑list(s), selected on the basis of objective and non‑discriminatory criteria, to submit a tender.

Should the contracting authority have to set a maximum number of candidates who will be invited to submit a tender for a given contract, the range is 3 to 8. The contracting authority will send the candidates invited to submit a tender the call for tenders relating to the contract in question.

Inclusion on the list entails no obligation on the part of the Commission concerning the award of the contract nor, in view of the preceding paragraph, concerning an invitation to tender.

 

3.      The list resulting from this notice will be used exclusively for public contracts of the following type:

­       Service contracts under Annex IIB to Directive 2004/18/EC, with no limit as to amount

4.      Full description of the fields covered by the call for expressions of interest.

Contracts resulting from this call for expression of interest may be signed by the European Commission for its own interest or on behalf of the countries which are beneficiaries of its external aid.

The following sub-fields may include activities related to distance learning, or pedagogical methods such as on-the-job training or case studies. They may also include design, printing and delivery of publications such as brochures, leaflets and reports related to training activities undertaken by EuropeAid

Sub-list 1:       EC contractual and financial procedures related to the implementation of projects financed from the EC General Budget in the context of external actions          

§         Design, organisation and delivery of the general training module on contractual (services, supplies, works and/or grants) procedures as well as financial procedures, to EC staff both in Brussels ("Relex family") and/or EC Delegations in Third Countries;

§         Design, organisation and delivery of specific ad-hoc training modules on contractual (services, supplies, works and/or grants) procedures as well as financial procedures, to EC staff both in Brussels ("Relex family") and/or EC Delegations in Third Countries;

§         Design, organisation and delivery of presentation / training during information and clarification meetings organised in the framework of tenders or calls for proposals. These meetings are usually organised in order to ensure the transparency and visibility of projects being launched, as well as to enhance the quality of offers / proposals received through a better understanding of the rules by the potential applicants;

§         Design, organisation and delivery of training to contractors / beneficiaries in order to ensure that they understand the rules attached to their contracts and to give them the right information in order to soundly manage their contracts with the Commission. Generally, this kind of trainings will be organised in the inception phase of projects. They may also included components related to PCM methodological and analytical tools in order to better implement the activities foreseen in the contracts and maximise their results.

Sub-list 2:       Various fields related to cooperation and development

 

§         Design and delivery of pedagogical material (syllabus, handbooks, etc.) for training courses in various fields related to cooperation and development

§         Design and delivery of distance learning support SCORM compliant for training courses in various fields related to cooperation and development

Sub-list 3:       Knowledge Management projects

 

§         Design, organisation and implementation of Knowledge Management projects (KM) to EC staff both in Brussels (AIDCO) and / or EC Delegations in Third Countries. Projects will be first implemented at Brussels Headquarters, in relevant Directorates and Units, in order to ensure appropriate KM visibility and operational results. Generally, this kind of projects improves the performance of both the organisation and its staff.

 

Sub-list 4:       Information systems

 

§         Design, organisation and delivery of training modules on information systems of the "Relex family" (CRIS, ABAC, SI2) to EC staff both in Brussels and/or EC Delegations in Third Countries.

5.      Place of provision of services

Brussels, Belgium or any other country (European Union or Third countries): see tender documents for each specific contract.

6.      Expiry date of the list resulting from the call for expressions of interest:

This list is valid up to three years following its publication. Any person interested may submit an application at any time during the period of validity of the list, with the exception of the last three months.

7.      Where applicable, the legal form to be assumed by the grouping of suppliers, contractors or service providers to whom the contract will be awarded

No special legal form is required. Groups of service providers may apply.  Any such group, should its application be accepted, will be included on the relevant sub-list as a group, and should they be invited to tender, will be invited to tender as a group.  Groups must nominate a lead member, who will take full responsibility for the work of the group as a whole (as the principal contractor), should the group be awarded a contract.  The selection criteria will be verified for the group as a whole. Therefore the group must specify the role, qualifications and experience and provide all the documentation required in point 9 for each member of the grouping.

8.      Criteria for inclusion on the sub‑lists

A selection panel made up of EC officials will appraise the eligibility as well as the economic, professional and technical capacity of the candidate.  Candidate's experience not related to the relevant sub-field(s) will not be considered in the appraisal of the minimum capacity standards.  It is the responsibility of the selection panel that examines the application to decide whether or not the documents presented to justify the exclusion and selection criteria can be accepted or not. The contracting authority will draw up a list of candidates who meet the criteria set out below.

In the case of groups of two or more service providers, should a member of the group be non eligible (cf. point 8.1) or excluded from participation in procurement procedures (cf. point 8.2), then the application of the group will be automatically excluded.

8.1 Eligibility

Participation in this tender procedure is open on equal terms to all natural and legal persons coming within the scope of the Treaties and to all natural and legal persons in a Third Country which has a special agreement with the Communities in the field of public procurement on the conditions laid down in that agreement. This contract is also open to nationals of the countries that have ratified the Plurilateral Agreement on Government Procurement concluded within the WTO, on the conditions laid down in it.

8.2 Exclusion criteria

Participation is open to candidates who are not in any of the situations listed in article 93 of the Financial Regulation applicable to the General Budget of the European Communities[1].

 

 

 

8.3 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.

 

8.3.1 Economic and financial capacity

The average of annual turnovers of the candidate must exceed 200.000€ in the past 3 years available (i.e. minimum 600.000€ in the three years in total).         

8.3.2 Technical capacity

a) The candidate has worked on at least three projects in the fields of the related sub-list in the past three years (2003 / 2004 / 2005).

 

b) The candidate can provide five CVs of experts in the fields of the related sub-list. At least two of these experts must be employed (or self-employed) on a permanent basis by the candidate. 

 

 

9.      Full list of information, formalities and documents to be supplied by persons interested.

In the case of applications submitted by a consortium, the following documents must be submitted by each member of the consortium.

 

9.1 Documents required for the evaluation of the exclusion criteria

 

Admissible proof or statement usual under the law of the country in which the candidate is established certifying that the candidate does not fall into any of the exclusion situations listed in article 93 of the Financial Regulation applicable to the General Budget of the European Communities.  The date on the evidence or documents provided must be no earlier than 6 months before the date of the application to this call for expression of interest.  

 

9.2 Documents required for the evaluation of the selection criteria


9.2.1 Economic and financial capacity

In order to allow the Contracting Authority to verify the minimum level of standards required, the candidate must submit its balance sheets or extracts from balance sheets including the requested data, certified by a legal auditor, for the last three years available (2002, 2003 and 2004, or 2003, 2004 and 2005 depending on the date of closure of the accounts).

 

Furthermore, the contracting authority reserves the right to ask the applicants selected on the sub-lists to send in their latest balance sheet and profit and loss accounts each year, in order to check on the basis of the latest accounting documents their economic and financial situation against the above-mentioned selection criteria.

9.2.2 Technical capacity

In order to allow the contracting authority to verify the minimum level of standards required, the candidate must submit:

 

a) a table of maximum 15 references per sub-list including the project title and detailed description, the amount, the year and the client.

 

b) 5 CVs of experts in the fields of the related sub-list. The CVs must be presented according to the Europass format. The proof of the employment on a permanent basis of at least two of the experts by the candidiate must be provided.

 

10.    a)  Address to which applications must be sent.

European Commission, EuropeAid Co-operation Office

For the attention of Mr José IZARRA AGUADO,

Head of Unit "Programming and budgetary matters" (AIDCO G/1)
Office L41 07/063   B-1049 Brussels Belgium
Tel: +32.2.29 90 769   Fax: +32.2.29 57 470

 

b)   Arrangements for submitting and presenting applications including all the information, formalities and documents referred to at point 9.

 

Applications must be sent in one sealed envelope containing all documents referred to at point 9.

c)   If the list is divided into sub‑lists, arrangements for candidates to specify the field or fields they are interested in.

A candidate may apply for one or more sub-list. Reference to the sub-list(s) for which the candidate applies should be clearly indicated on the envelope and on the documents of the expression of interest.

11.  Other information.

 

Candidates will be informed of the status of their candidatures. Inadequate or incomplete candidatures may not be examined. In addition to the information provided by the candidate, the Commission reserves the right to use any other information from public or specialist sources.

Candidates must inform the European Commission about any change in their situation or contact details in order to allow their candidature file to be kept updated.

All correspondence relating to this call for expressions of interest must be in writing.

Candidatures will be examined every two months. The first selection panel will examine candidatures received until 16/06/2006. All the candidates will be informed on the outcome of their applications.