Number and titles of lots

One lot only

Maximum budget

EUR 1,130,000

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 EUR 1,130,000. Any extension of the contract would be subject to satisfactory performance by the Contractor.

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 a eligible country or territory  as defined under the Regulation (EU) N°236/2014 establishing common rules and procedures for the implementation of the Union's instruments for 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.

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.

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 will be excluded.

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 unless prior approval from the Contracting Authority has been obtained (see Practical Guide – PRAG - 2.4.3.). Short-listed candidates may not form alliances or subcontract to each other for the contract in question.

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.

Sub-contracting

Subcontracting is allowed.

Number of candidates to be short-listed

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.

Provisonal timetable

Provisional date of invitation to tender: July 2016

Provisional commencement date of the contract: November 2016

Initial period of implementation of tasks: 36 months

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 sub-contractors.

1)  Economic and financial capacity of candidate (based on item 3 of the application form). In case of candidate being a public body, equivalent information should be provided. The reference period which will be taken into account will be the last three years for which accounts have been closed.

a) The average annual turnover of the candidate in the last three closed financial years
(2013, 2014 and 2015) must be at least EUR 750,000; and

b) Current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) in the last year for which accounts have been closed must be at least 1. In case of a consortium this criterion must be fulfilled by each member.

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 three years from submission deadline.

a)  At least 3 permanent staff currently working for the candidate in the fields related to this contract (technology transfer and/or innovation).

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 five years from submission deadline.

a) The candidate has provided services under at least 2 different contracts, each with a budget of at least EUR 600,000 within last 5 years from submission deadline in the fields related to this contract (technology transfer and/or innovation).

This means that the project the candidate refers to could have been started or completed at any time during the indicated period but it does not necessarily have to be started and completed during that period, nor implemented during the entire period. Candidates/tenderers are allowed to refer either to projects completed within the reference period (although started earlier) or to projects not yet completed. In the first case the project 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 case of projects still on-going 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 completed) also detailing its value. If a candidate/tenderer has implemented the project in a consortium, the percentage that the candidate/tenderer has successfully completed must be clear from the documentary evidence, together with a description of the nature of the services provided if the selection criteria relating to the pertinence of the experience have been used.

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 reexamined to identify the eight best candidates.  The only factors which will be taken into consideration during this re-examination are:

1)  the highest number of projects compliant with the requirements listed above in point 21.3(a);

2)  the highest value of projects compliant with the requirements listed above in point 21.3(a).

Source: ted.europa.eu