SERVICE
PROCUREMENT NOTICE
Communications multiplier activities in the ENPI
Region: Training & Network Building ENPI East and South region –
1. Publication reference
EuropeAid/125473/C/SER/Multi
2. Procedure
Restricted
3. Programme
ENPI
4. Financing
European
Neighbourhood and Partnership (ENP) financial cooperation with Mediterranean
countries (budget line 19.080101)
European
Neighbourhood and Partnership (ENP) financial cooperation with
5. Contracting Authority
The European
Community, represented by the European Commission for beneficiary countries and
territories
CONTRACT SPECIFICATION
6. Nature of contract
Global price
7. Contract description
This is a results-based contract. The Candidates must propose a strategy to design, develop and
implement a training, capacity building and networking project for journalists
and media professionals, including journalism schools, from the countries
beneficiary of the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument – ENPI (Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia,
Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Moldova, Morocco, Palestinian Territories, The Russian
Federation, Syria, Tunisia and Ukraine).
The main objectives are as
follows:
·
Provide training to a maximum number of
journalists, editors, producers, and other media professionals, from the
beneficiary countries, to develop the professional skills required to report on
EU affairs (minimum of 200 trainees, each trainee participating at least in 5
trainings).
·
Support journalists in using their newly
acquired skills and knowledge in their job, by developing a complementary
program for their media editors/managers/owners (minimum 50).
·
Develop a
sustainable network of trained journalists and other media specialists, across
the beneficiary countries (including making use of and building on the existing
network of alumni of previous journalist training programmes and visits
undertaken by the EU). Ensure sustainability of the
network after the project has been completed.
8. Number and titles of lots
NA
9. Maximum budget
The maximum budget is 4M€ (of which approx. 2,7M€ of
incidental expenditures)
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 a maximum not exceeding the length and value of
the initial contract. Any extension of the contract would be subject to
satisfactory performance by the Contractor.
CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION
11. Eligibility
Participation is open
to all legal persons
[participating either individually or in a grouping (consortium) of candidates]
which are established in a Member State of the European Union or in a country
or territory of the regions covered
and/or authorised by the specific
instruments applicable to the programme under which the contract is financed
(see also item 30 below). Participation is also open to international
organisations. The participation of natural persons is governed by the specific
instruments applicable to the programme under which the contract is financed.
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 one application can be submitted by a
natural or legal person whatever the form of participation (as an individual
legal entity or as leader or member of a consortium submitting an
application). In the event that a
natural or legal person submits more than one application, all applications in
which that person has participated may be excluded.
14. Shortlist
alliances prohibited
Any tenders received from tenderers comprising firms
other than those mentioned in the short-listed application forms will be
excluded from this restricted tender procedure. Short-listed 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 Practical Guide
to contract procedures for EC external actions
16. Sub-contracting
Sub-contracting will be allowed up
to a maximum percentage of 25% of the global price of the contract, incidental
expenditures utilisation is not considered as sub-contracting.
17. Number of candidates to be short-listed
On
the basis of the applications received, between 4-8 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
July 2007
19. Provisional
commencement date of the contract
January 2008
20. Initial
period of execution and possible extension of the contract
36 months with possible extension as
indicated in article 10.
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:
1) Economic and financial capacity of candidate (based
on item 3 of the application form)
(a) the average
annual turnover of the candidate must exceed
3M€ in the last three years (2004, 2005 and 2006). In case of consortium
the Leader average annual turnover should exceed 1,5M€ in the last three years.
2) Professional capacity of candidate (based on items
4 and 5 of the application form)
(a) at least 10 staff currently work for the applicant
in fields related to this contract;
3) Technical capacity of candidate (based on items 5
and 6 of the application form)
(a) the Candidate has worked successfully on at least
three projects with a budget (with exclusion of incidental expenditures or
reimbursables) of at least 0,5M€ in fields related to this contract in the past
10 years
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 an
undertaking on the part of those entities to place those resources at its
disposal. Under the same conditions, a consortium of economic operators may
rely on the capacities of members of the consortium or of other entities.
If more than 8 eligible candidates meet the above
selection criteria, the
relative strengths and weaknesses of the applications of these candidates must
be reexamined to identify the eight best applications for the tender
procedure. The only factors which will
be taken into consideration during this re-examination are in order of
importance:
1) number of realized projects in media training
2) number of realized projects in the countries and
territories of the ENPI
22. Award
criteria
As specified in the tender dossier annexed to the
letter of invitation to tender which will be sent to short-listed candidates.
APPLICATION
23. Deadline for receipt of applications
8
August 2007 - 16:00 Central European Time
Any application received after this deadline
will not be considered.
24. Application
format and details to be provided
Applications must be
submitted using the standard application form (available from the following
Internet address: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/procedures/index_en.htm),
whose format and instructions must be strictly observed.
Any additional documentation (brochure, letter, etc)
sent with an application will not be taken into consideration.
25. How
applications may be submitted
Applications must be submitted in English exclusively
to the Contracting Authority:
·
EITHER by recorded delivery
(official postal service) to :
European
Commission
EuropeAid
Co-operation Office
Finance, Contracts and Audit Unit EuropeAid A/5
EuropeAid/125473/C/SER/Multi
Office: J-54, 01/237
B-1049
·
OR hand delivered
(including courier services) directly
to the Contracting Authority in return for a signed and dated receipt to:
European Commission
Service du Courrier
EuropeAid
Finance, Contracts and AuditUnit EuropeAid A/5
EuropeAid/125473/C/SER/Multi
Office: J-54, 01/237
Avenue de
Bourget, 3
B-1140 Brussels-Evere
Tel.: +32.2.295.76.43
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.
26. Alteration
or withdrawal of applications
Candidates may alter or withdraw their applications by
written notification prior to the deadline for submission of tenders. No application may be altered after this
deadline.
Any such notification of alteration or withdrawal
shall be prepared and submitted in accordance with Clause 25. The outer envelope (and the relevant inner
envelope) must be marked 'Alteration' or 'Withdrawal' as appropriate.
27. Operational
language
All written communications for this
tender procedure and contract must be in English.
28. Additional
information
Selected Candidates will be invited
to a mandatory clarification meeting in
This contract notice is published under a suspension clause, subject to the decision of the Commission and to the related commitment of funds for this programme.
29. Date of
publication of contract forecast
25 April 2007
30. Legal
basis
Regulation (EC, EURATOM) No. 99/2000 of the Council of 29 December 1999
concerning the provision of assistance to the partner States in Eastern Europe
and Central Asia (TACIS Regulation)
Regulation (EC) N° 1638/2006 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 24 October 2006 adopting general provisions establishing a European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI
Regulation)