MODEL LETTER OF INVITATION TO SUBMIT A TENDER - Europa

DIRECTORATE-GENERAL INTERNAL POLICIES 

DIRECTORATE A - Economic and Scientific Policies 

Call for tender for framework service contract 

IP/A/ITRE/FWC/2013-046 

in four (4) lots for provision of external expertise on regulatory and 

policy issues in the fields of industry, ICT, research and innovation, 

energy and climate change 

QUESTIONS RECEIVED UNTIL 14 June 2013 

Ref.: Contract notice n° 2013/S 084-140889 

Brussels, June 2013 

Until 14 June 2013, the European Parliament's services have received the following questions 

and have responded as follows: 

Q1. We currently have a framework contract with the European Parliament in another subject 

area. Would the submission of a proposal for this framework contract, and the potential 

selection result in a conflict of interest with any current or future work carried out under 

our existing framework contract or under a possible future contract in another subject 

area? 

A1. To participate in one of the framework contract call for tenders does not constitute a conflict 

of interest in view of the participation in the other ones. Similarly, contractors can have several 

(framework) contracts with the European Parliament running in parallel. 

*** 

Q2. Regarding Invitation to tender IP/A/ITRE/FWC/2013-046, please can you advise on 

the following: 

1. Section 15.2 requests ‘Proof of membership in academic research networks or thinktanks 

or other indications for scientific excellence such as awards, grants for research projects 

and similar.’ Please can you advise whether a simple list of the memberships the team 

members have will suffice? If not please can you advise what proof we will need to submit 

regarding this point? 

2. Section 15.2 also requests ‘Proof of relevant articles touching on issues of the EU 

institutional framework, experience in working in an area related to EU issues, participation 

in conferences, courses etc. on matters related to the European Union’. This information will 

be included in the team members CVs, please can you advise whether this will cover this 

point? 

1

A2.1. A simple list of memberships/awards/grants would suffice. 

A2.2. You are kindly requested to prepare a separate (short) document listing proof of 

knowledge of the EU institutional framework and decision-making process for the team 

members proposed. 

*** 

Q3. Regarding the Invitation to tender IP/A/ITRE/FWC/2013-046 please can you confirm 

the following: 

1. For the administrative part of the offer, do subcontractors need to complete and sign 

section 6. Exclusion Criteria? 

2. Section 15.2 Technical and Professional capacity, in the Specific Regulations document, 

request the following: 

i. A list of similar services supplied within the last three (3) years, with the sums, dates 

and recipients 

ii. In the list of similar services, tenderers are asked to mark in bold at least four 

international or national scientific contracts in the past five years 

This seems to be asking for one list of similar services for the past 3 years, however point ii 

asks to highlight in bold the above mentioned specific services in the past 5 years. However 

we will have only included services from the past 3 years according to point i. Please can 

you clarify how many years of similar services and specific international or national 

scientific contracts that we need to provide? 

A3.1. Subcontractors do not need to sign section 6. Exclusion Criteria of the "Administrative 

part of offer" document. Please note however that during the contract award procedure or 

performance of the contract the European Parliament may require tenderers to supply 

information about the financial, economic, technical and professional capacity of the proposed 

subcontractor(s). Likewise, the European Parliament may demand the requisite proof to establish 

whether the subcontractors comply with the requisite exclusion criteria. Please also note that the 

European Parliament is entitled to reject any subcontractor who does not comply with the 

exclusion and selection criteria. As for joint tenders, an "Administrative part of offer" document 

for each of the submitting parties must be included. For more information, see also points 8. and 

9. of the "Specific regulations governing the preparation and award of the multiple framework 

service contract IP/A/ITRE/FWC/2013-046". 

A3.2. For the sake of convenience of tenderers, we propose that they limit themselves to 

submitting one list which fulfils all requirements. As is evident from the wording, the list of 

services similar to those required by each lot for which the tenderer is applying must cover the 

last three years. For giving proof of experience with international or national scientific contracts, 

the European Parliament wants to give some leeway to tenderers insofar as also contracts within 

the last five years count, but it is perfectly possible that tenderers might easily have four 

international or national scientific contracts already within the last three years. In such a case it 

would be sufficient to provide a list for three years, marking in bold four international/national 

scientific contracts. 

If a tenderer does not reach four international/national scientific contracts in the last three years, 

he/she is encouraged to detail in the list the remaining international/national scientific contracts, 

which must, however, have been supplied within the last five years. 

In short, the list must cover the three last years, but need not extend to five years if the necessary 

requirements are met already. At the same time, proof of international/national scientific 

contracts dating further back than five years will not be taken into account in the evaluation. 

2

*** 

Q4. Regarding the CVs, are they expected to be in EuroPass format? Otherwise, any other 

format? 

A4. The CVs can take any format. As to the content the educational and professional 

qualifications of the staff should be included and for each CV it is to be indicated if it 

corresponds to a researcher, senior researcher or project leader profile. 

*** 

Q5. Regarding the aforementioned Invitation to Tender, two of the distributed documents 

are 

· annex_III_technical_offer 

· specific_regulations_for_prep_and_award 

Both documents explain the expected contents of the Composition of the research team 

(Chapter 1 in the Technical Offer) including Multidisciplinarity, coherence, variety and 

range of skills at the tenderer's disposal, including relevant CVs, also references of similar 

services, scientific contracts, publications, maximum 5 pages. 

We would appreciate it if you could please explain HOW can we address all topics listed in 

the Chapters 15 and 16 of the "specific_regulations_for_prep_and_award" for Selection 

and Award Criteria, if the whole of the "Composition of the Research Team" must fit 

within 5 pages. In particular, 

· The expected format of the CVs. The typical EuroPass CV covers between 3 and 5 

pages, if not much longer 

· We guess, we shall just include a List of References (each reference, one line in a 

table); otherwise we shall need not less than half to one page per reference. 

A5. The tenders which are administratively in order and fulfil the exclusion criteria will first be 

assessed according to the selection criteria which are described in point 15. of the "Specific 

regulations governing the preparation and award of the service contract". For this part, tenderers 

would need to provide proof for each of the 6 points listed on page 15 of the above document. 

Concerning the selection criteria there is no limit as to the number and length of the documents 

tenderers may submit. You can thus submit a CV or a list of references as long as you feel fit. 

Those tenders which fulfil the selection criteria are then evaluated according to the award criteria 

which are described in point 16. of the "Specific regulations governing the preparation and 

award of the service contract". Annex III. Technical Offer corresponds to the "Quality" part of 

the award criteria as described in point 16.1. of the "Specific regulations governing the 

preparation and award of the service contract". For this part there are limits to the length of the 

documents to be submitted. Tenderers are requested to summarise and highlight the most 

important and relevant aspects of their offer. 

*** 

Q6. Are tenderers who intend to apply for more than one lot required to prepare a 

separate application for each lot even though in such a case part of the information will be 

identical in all application packages. In other words, is it possible to submit a common part 

and another, lot-specific one? 

A6. A separate application needs to be prepared for each lot that the tenderer intends to apply 

for, including all documents requested. The evaluation of the lots are independent from 

3

each other, we therefore cannot refer to documents submitted for another lot or as a 'general' part 

of the application. 

*** 

Q7. This question concerns page 15 of the Specific regulations governing the preparation 

and award of the multiple framework service contract. 

In section 15.2 – Technical and professional capacity, the regulations require “the 

successful completion of at least four (4) international or national scientific contracts in the 

past five (5) years as part of such previous experience”. 

We would appreciate clarification of what constitutes an “international or national 

scientific contract”, and examples of the types of services that would meet this 

requirement. Would you accept past services/contracts that were performed for privatesector 

entities, in addition to services carried out for international and national 

governmental bodies? Would the provision of professional services similar to those 

requested in the tender documents qualify as a “scientific contract”? 

A7. The expression "scientific contract" refers to the approach used in elaborating the product 

for the national or international entities concerned, and not to the contract as such. The approach 

in elaborating the product needs to have been methodologically scientific. 

Scientific in this sense can be understood as gathering evidence from the outside world to 

formulate a hypothesis and then testing it by collecting and analysing data, in order to 

reformulate the hypothesis, as warranted. Evidently, in the ITRE area, sometimes the testing of a 

hypothesis might as well concern assessing the compatibility of a specific policy with higherranking 

law, or using qualitative approaches as usual in social sciences, which would still be 

qualified as "scientific". 

The contracts are not restricted to international and national governmental bodies, they can be 

also with private sector entities. 

*** 

Q8. Should the administrative offer, technical offer and financial offer be in one document 

or should each offer be in a separate document? 

A8. The administrative offer, technical offer and financial offer should be in a separate 

document. These documents can be downloaded from the following website: 

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/tenders/invitations.htm The format of these documents need to be 

retained and you should elaborate your offer by attaching the different documents requested 

under sections 14.-16. of the Specific regulations governing the preparation and award of the 

multiple framework service contract. 

*** 

Q9. On page 5 of the “Specific regulations” document it is mentioned that “If self-adhesive 

envelopes are used, they must be sealed with adhesive tape bearing the signature of the 

sender. The signature of the sender shall be deemed to comprise either the hand-written 

signature, or the signature and the company stamp.” Can any person sign the envelope or 

should it be the same person who has signed the offers who also should sign the envelopes? 

A9. Any person from the tenderers organisation can sign the envelopes. The offer should be 

signed by a person duly authorised to sign on behalf of the tenderer. 

4

*** 

Q10.1 Point 7 “Prices”, page 12 of the Global ToR. It is mentioned that, for briefing notes, 

there should be indication of “fixed price” in the “Pricelist Form”. At the same time, the 

“Pricelist Form” (Annex IV), which is to be filled in, only gives the option of “daily rate”, 

which should be multiplied per specific number of working days. Could you please clarify 

how we should foresee the “fixed price” required for the Briefing Note within the Pricelist 

Form of the Annex IV? 

Since this is a FwC, we cannot estimate Number of Days required for the assignment. 

A10.1 For briefing notes tenderers need to indicate how many man/days they consider 

necessary to finalise such a product: for the project leader, for the senior researcher etc. They 

also need to indicate the daily rates for the different staff categories. They then have to multiply 

the daily rates for the different kinds of staff who work on the product (see section 16.2 of the 

specific regulations: "Daily rate means the price per man/day deployed. Figures with up to two 

decimals may be used") with the number of days they, on average, consider necessary to finalise 

such a product, and add all these costs for a total price of a briefing note, which will be a fixed 

price. 

In the case of studies and workshops, this total cost will only be determined during the reopening 

of competition, as time frames and length of studies can vary considerably. Here, only the daily 

rates for the different staff categories needs to be quoted. 

*** 

Q10.2 Point 4 of the Administrative Part (Annex II) “Information on Consortia” should 

also be filled in by Partners, or only Consortium Leaders? 

A10.2. In principle, consortium partners have to fill in each an "administrative part of offer" as 

they officially are tenderers as well. 

However, certain sections, from their wording, are not applicable to them and can be omitted 

(especially section 4, which only relates to the lead tenderer). 

We require in any case that consortium partners fill in: 

Section 1 (para 1.10 can be omitted if all payments are processed via the lead tenderer of 

the consortium) 

Section 2 

Section 3 (as a member of a consortium, just tick "Yes" but you do not have to fill in the 

names of the other members of the consortium as you are not the lead tenderer) 

Section 5 (if the tenderer, as a partner of a consortium, intends to subcontract certain 

services to other economic operators) 

Section 6 

Section 7 and the relevant documents to be attached 

Section 8 

*** 

Q10.3 Page 8 of the Administrative Form and page 15 of the Specific Regulations. Could 

you please clarify whether similar services sample to be included in the offer should entail 

the last 3 or the last 5 years? There seems to be contradiction about this in the Tender 

Dossier. 

A10.3 As is evident from the wording, the list of services similar to those required by each lot 

for which the tenderer is applying must cover the last three years. 

For giving proof of experience with international or national scientific contracts, the European 

Parliament wants to give some leeway to tenderers insofar as also contracts within the 

5

last five years count, but it is perfectly possible that tenderers might easily have four 

international or national scientific contracts already within the last three years. In such a case it 

would be sufficient to provide a list for three years, marking in bold four international/national 

scientific contracts. 

If a tenderer does not reach four international/national scientific contracts in the last three years, 

he/she is encouraged to detail in the list the remaining international/national scientific contracts, 

which must, however, have been supplied within the last five years. 

In short, the list must cover the three last years, but need not extend to five years if the necessary 

requirements are met already. At the same time, proof of international/national scientific 

contracts dating further back than five years will not be taken into account in the evaluation. 

*** 

Q10.4 Page 4 of the Specific Regulations has contradictory pieces of information 

regarding the submission type: could you confirm whether the submission should be 

postmark or the deadline indicates the day that our offer should reach the EP Directorate 

General Internal Policies of the Union? 

A10.4 If tenders are submitted by post or by courier company, the postmark or the date of the 

deposit slip shall be no later than 20 June 2013. 

*** 

Q10.5 Page 9 of the Specific Regulations, point 8.2 mentions that “The tenderers who are 

members of the consortium shall describe in detail the contractual arrangements between 

the members…”. Could you kindly elaborate on what exactly is meant by the phrase and 

how “in detail” should the contractual arrangements between private companies be 

explained in this offer? 

A10.5 The consortium of economic operators shall furnish proof of its legal form in the tender 

and the contractual arrangements should thus be explained in the offer. Furthermore, tenders 

from consortia of economic operators must specify the role, qualifications and experience of 

each of the members of the consortium. 

*** 

Q11. Is it expected that tenderer includes for proposed sub-contractors a sort of statement 

of availability to support the consortium? 

A11. It is not necessary to submit a statement of availability from the subcontractors. 

Nevertheless, you might still want to receive some kind of statement from the subcontractors as 

you will need to declare under point 5 of the Administrative part of offer document which 

economic operators will act as subcontractors and the details of subcontracting. Furthermore, if a 

tenderer in order to fulfil the selection criteria relies on the capacity of other entities - 

irrespective of the legal nature of the links between himself/herself and those entities - he/she 

must prove to the European Parliament that he/she will have at his/her 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 his/her disposal. In such a case the European 

Parliament is entitled to refuse the application or the tender submitted if it has doubts about the 

undertaking by the third party. 

Furthermore, the European Parliament reserves the right to require information to be provided on 

the financial, economic, technical and professional capacities of the proposed subcontractor(s), 

and that the European Parliament may demand the requisite proof to establish whether the 

subcontractors comply with the exclusion criteria applying to tenderers. 

6

*** 

Q12.1. A sub-contractors could be also sub-contractor or partner in another Consortium 

for the same Tender and/or Lot? 

A12.1. Economic operators may be part of two bids, as it would be contrary to the principle of 

competition to forbid an economic operator to participate within two different bids for the same 

or different lots. In this context, it does not matter whether the expert would be a member of a 

consortium or act as a subcontractor. 

However, the European Parliament will ensure, when evaluating the offers, that the presence of 

the same economic operator in two offers is not aimed at reducing competition and at increasing 

the price of both offers. 

*** 

Q12.2. Since role of each sub-contractor will depend on specific requests received within 

the Framework Contract, it seems difficult to define in this phase the % of sub-contracted 

part of the contract (as required in Annex II – Section 5: declaration concerning subcontractors). 

Should the declared value be respected during the implementation phase (on 

a when and if needed base) or could it be different? 

A12.2. You are requested to make an estimation specifying the maximum percentage you 

intend to subcontract. As it is difficult to foresee the exact amount of subcontracting throughout 

the whole framework contract this percentage could possibly be different in the implementation 

phase. The European Parliament must be informed by the contractor in case the quoted 

maximum percentage is exceeded during the implementation phase. The relevant authorising 

officer reserves the right to accept or reject the higher ratio of subcontracting. 

Q12.3 Should sub-contractors sign the statement on exclusion criteria? 

*** 

A12.3 Subcontractors need not sign the statement on exclusion criteria. Please note, however 

that the European Parliament reserves the right to require information to be provided on the 

financial, economic, technical and professional capacities of the proposed subcontractor(s), and 

that the European Parliament may demand the requisite proof to establish whether the 

subcontractors comply with the exclusion criteria applying to tenderers. 

Q12.4. Could also CVs of sub-contractors be included in the proposed staff? 

*** 

A12.4 Yes, a complete and comprehensive documentation from the sub-contractors , including 

the CVs should be included in the tender in case the tenderer intends to rely on the capacity of 

other entities. The submitted documentation should allow the evaluation of the selection criteria 

and the award criteria as set out in sections 15.-16. of the Specific regulations governing the 

preparation and award of the multiple framework service contract. 

*** 

Q12.5. Selection criteria: list of similar services of last 3 years. Should tenderer include in 

the list of provided services also ones provided by sub-contractors or only by Consortium 

Partners? 

A12.5. See the above answer. There is no difference in the documents to be submitted 

7

depending on the legal nature of the links between the entities in the tender. 

*** 

Q12.6 Selection criteria: proof of relevant articles touching issues of the EU Institutional 

framework, participation in conferences, courses, etc. Should these articles belong only to 

staff included in the proposal or also to other staff working for the tenderer (the same for 

courses and conferences)? 

A12.6. The selection criteria mainly relate to individual experience and covers staff that is 

proposed for the tender. 

*** 

Q12.7. Selection criteria: proof of relevant articles touching issues of the EU Institutional 

framework, participation in conferences, courses, etc. Should these articles, courses and 

conferences address the specific topic of the lot tendered for? 

A12.7. This criteria touches on the general knowledge of EU institutions, governance, 

competences, legal system, etc. It is not necessary for the articles, courses and conferences to 

address the specific topic of the lot tendered for. 

*** 

Q12.8. Technical offer: methodology. Is maximum length of 5 or 6 pages (it is stated 

maximum 6 pages in Annex III and maximum 5 pages in Specific Regulations – 

Section 16)? 

A12.8. The maximum length of the methodology is 5 pages. 

*** 

Q13. I have a question related to the present invitation to tender IP/A/ITRE/FWC/2013- 

046: the specific regulations of the invitation to tender under section 15.2. (Technical and 

professional capacity) point vi state: 

(Quote) 

Proof of relevant articles touching on issues of the EU institutional framework, experience 

in working in an area related to EU issues, participation in conferences, courses etc. on 

matters related to the European Union 

(Unquote) 

Could you please provide us with further guidance as regards the nature of the required 

proof, i.e. what type of evidence/proof would be regarded as sufficient? 

A13. This criteria touches on the general knowledge of EU institutions, governance, 

competences, legal system, etc. Feel free to submit any evidence/proof you deem could be 

relevant. 

*** 

Q14.1. Do in case of a consortium all partners need to complete Annex II or only the lead 

partner? 

A14.1. See question 10.2. 

*** 

8

Q14.2. Do in case of a consortium all consortium partners need to complete a legal entity 

form? 

A14.2. Consortium partners need to sign some kind of agreement before submitting the tender 

(see paras 8.3 and 8.4 of the Specific Regulations). However, no entity with a legal personality 

needs to be set up for the tender; tenderers can make use of other legal forms as described in 

paras 8.3. and 8.4. Furthermore, the consortium members can commit (in writing) that they will 

form a legal entity should they be awarded the contract. They would also need to provide details 

of the consortium agreement in their offer (see paras 8.2 and 8.5 of the Specific Regulations). 

*** 

Q15. I contact you with reference to tender in object to ask for the following clarification: 

Annex II – Administrative Part of the offer 

Please confirm if a separate Annex II should be provided by each member of the 

Consortium for Sections 1, 2 and 3. 

Should we include in Section 7 the overall Consortium financial capacity or should we 

include a separate Section for each Consortium member? 

Finally For Sections 4, 5 and 8, should it be signed by each member of the Consortium or 

only by the Lead Partner, in case that a Power of attorney in included? 

The same for Annex III and Annex IV, could it be signed only by the Lead Partner (in case 

that a Power of attorney in included) or should each member sign a separate one? 

A15. In principle, consortium partners have to fill in each an "administrative part of offer" as 

they officially are tenderers as well. 

However, certain sections, from their wording, are not applicable to them and can be omitted 

(especially section 4, which only relates to the lead tenderer). 

We require in any case that consortium partners fill in: 

Section 1 (para 1.10 can be omitted if all payments are processed via the lead 

tenderer of the consortium) 

Section 2 

Section 3 (as a member of a consortium, just tick "Yes" but you do not have to fill 

in the names of the other members of the consortium as you are not the lead tenderer) 

Section 5 (if the tenderer, as a partner of a consortium, intends to subcontract 

certain services to other economic operators) 

Section 6 

Section 7 and the relevant documents to be attached 

Section 8 

Section 7 should list the individual financial capacity of each Consortium member. 

Section 4 only needs to be filled out by the Lead Partner, sections 5 and 8 however need to 

be signed by each member of the Consortium. 

Annex III and Annex IV needs only be completed and signed by the Lead Partner. 

*** 

Q16. It is not clear to me to what extent this tender procedure cover services requiring 

legal expertise, and to what extent the services to be provided might consist also in 

assistance on regulatory and policy issues. 

9

Based on my understanding of the Global terms of reference, Lot 1 , Lot 3 and Lot 4 might 

cover also analysis and assessment of the relevant regulatory framework. 

However, I would like to know whether you foresee that the legal analysis will be a 

marginal part of the contractual services, or whether such part will be substantial. 

On the other hand I would like to know whether most of the services will consist mostly in 

an assessment of technical and economic issues. 

A16. It is difficult to predict exactly what kind of services will be requested under the 

framework contract. Most of the advice requested will likely relate to the evaluation of policies 

and legislation, the identification and (legal, technical, social, environmental, economic, etc.) 

analysis of policy options. Examples of studies carried out in the competence area of ITRE can 

be found on the following webpage: 

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/itre/studies.html#menuzone 

*** 

Q17. Regarding the Invitation to tender IP/A/ITRE/FWC/2013-046, please can you 

confirm on the following: 

1. For the administrative part of the offer, can we provide financial statements in our 

first language, in French for example? 

Documents can be submitted in any language, however if they are not originally written in 

English they should be accompanied by an English language version. 

*** 

Q18. Regarding Invitation to tender IP/A/ITRE/FWC/2013-046, please can you advise 

whether we can include the years of educational experience (Masters level) to count 

towards the required total years of experience for a Researcher (more than 5 years). 

A18. The educational experience does not count towards to required work experience. The 

work experience - which can be professional or academic - needs to be acquired after the date the 

degree has been awarded. 

*** 

Q19. Is the project leader only referring to the Lead tenderer (coordinator of the 

consortium) or also to each partner of the consortium? 

A19. The project leader is the natural person responsible for the overall management from the 

part of the tenderer. It is only necessary to appoint a single project leader who can be either from 

the lead tenderer or from one of the consortium partners. 

*** 

Q20. Regarding the Invitation to tender IP/A/ITRE/FWC/2013-046, please can you 

confirm whether we must provide a Statement of Exclusivity for all of the experts that we 

propose? If not for all experts, then who or which entities are required to provide 

Statements of Exclusivity?" 

A20. You do not need to submit any statements regarding your experts' potential participation 

in other tenders or on exclusivity in the same tender. Please see also Q12.1 in this regard. 

*** 

10

Q21. Point 5 on Annex II regarding the subcontracts – since we don’t have a subcontract 

none of us (coordinator or partners) has to sign it right? 

A21. If you don't intend to subcontract part of the contract you don't need to sign section 5 of 

the Administrative Part of Offer. 

Q22. With regard to the page numbers (e.g. 5 pages for methodology) - is this per Lot? 

*** 

A22. A separate offer needs to be submitted for each lot. The page limits regarding the 

documents concerning the award criteria are to be understood per lot. 

*** 

Q23. We have another query concerning annex II – section 7.2.5 and 7.2.6. How many past 

years do we have to consider? 

A23. For the selection criteria under section 7.2.5. and 7.2.6. in Annex II, there is no time limit 

set, it is left to your discretion how recent proof you would like to include in your offer. 

*** 

Q24. Considering cooperation between organizations and individual experts, are the 

individual experts considered as subcontractors? If that’s the case, what documents exactly 

have to be included in the tender regarding subcontracting? 

A24. Cooperation between economic operators (natural or legal persons) can take the form of a 

consortium or subcontracting. For more information on these please see sections 8 and 9 of the 

document 'Specific regulations governing the preparation and award of the multiple framework 

service contract' 

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/tenders/2013/20133004/specific_regulations_for_prep_and_awar 

d.pdf. In case of subcontracting the lead tenderer or tenderers who intend to use subcontractors 

needs to fill out section 5 of 'Annex II Administrative part of offer'. As for the documents to be 

submitted by subcontractors, see Q12.3, Q 12.4 and Q 12.5. 

*** 

Q25. Section 15 (Selection Criteria) specifies that tenderers must have a total annual 

turnover of at least € 250,000 over the last 2 financial years, to be increased by € 50,000 for 

each additional lot the tenderer is applying for. Could you please clarify whether the € 

250,000 figure (plus € 50,000 per lot) has to be met in each of the last financial years or 

would it suffice that the average annual turnover over the last financial years exceeds that 

amount? For the purpose of calculation may we use the results of the last 3 financial years? 

A25. The € 250,000 figure (plus € 50,000 per lot) has to be met in each of the last financial 

years. For the purposes of calculation the last 2 financial years for which accounts have been 

closed should be used. Please note that tenderers may rely on the capacity of other entities to 

prove their financial and economic capacity. See chapter 15.1.of the "Specific regulations 

governing the preparation and award of the multiple framework service contract 

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/tenders/2013/20133004/specific_regulations_for_prep_and_awar 

d.pdf in this regard. 

*** 

Q26. We would like to include external experts in our team (to provide specific expertise 

11

in selected areas): should they be considered as "subcontractors"? Should they sign an 

undertaking statement? 

A26. External experts should be considered as subcontractors. Alternatively you can form a 

consortium with them and submit a joint tender. As regards the undertaking statement please see 

question 11 of the present document. 

*** 

Q27. 1 Please confirm that if a tenderer is not going to include any subcontractor, he/she 

is not required to sign Section 5 of Annex II also. 

A27.1 If a tenderer does not intend to use subcontractors, Section 5 of Annex II does not need 

to be completed. 

Q27.2 Could a member of a Consortium include CV of external experts for this proposal 

or only in-house staff is eligible? Is a statement of availability by these experts required? 

A27.2 CVs of external experts can be included in the tender. Please note however that external 

experts will be regarded as subcontractors or alternatively you would need to form a consortium 

with them and submit a joint tender. Concerning the statement of availability please see Question 

11 of the present document. 

Q27.3 Could a tenderer or member of a consortium include CVs of more than one project 

leader? 

A27.3 A single project leader should be included in point 1.8. of Annex II, who would act as a 

contact point during the tender procedure. You could include further project leaders for the 

members of a consortium or with a view to the management of individual requests (to be 

included under Annex III Technical offer - Composition of the research team). 

Q27.4 The project leader mentioned in Annex II - Section 1 (point 1.8) should be also 

included in the list of proposed staff? 

A27.4 The project leader mentioned in Annex II - Section 1 (point 1.8) acts mainly as a contact 

point during the tender procedure and hence need not be included in the list of proposed staff. 

Q27.5 In the Financial offer, in the case of short briefing notes, is it required to indicate 

the number of days required for each category of expert (project leader, senior researcher, 

researcher and support staff) producing for example a short briefing note: in the 

estimation of working days, are all these different experts supposed to work simultaneously 

on the same briefing note so that the total number of working days is within the range of 

10-20 days as required for short briefing notes or may each expert work independently for 

a number of working days among 10-20 depending on his/her experience? In the latter case 

the total number of working days (for all type of expertise) would be greater that 10-20. 

A27.5 The number of days quoted in section 3.2.1 of Annex I 'Global terms of reference' refer 

to the number of calendar days under which the services need to be delivered. So for a short 

briefing note, the contractor would have between 10 and 20 days from the signature of the order 

form to deliver the briefing. The exact timeframe will be defined in the specific requests. When 

completing Annex IV 'Financial Offer' you would need to quote the number of days that staff in 

the different categories will actually spend on working on the project. For example, if for a 

project with a deadline of 15 days you estimate that you would need one senior researcher to 

work 10 days and in parallel another senior researcher to work 8 days, you should quote 18 days 

in the corresponding cell of the table in Annex IV. 

12

Q27.6 In the case that all type of experts are not required to work together on the same 

briefing note, should we quote the number of working days required by each type of expert 

supposing that he/she will work alone to satisfy a specific request? 

A27.6 See answer to question 27.5. 

Q27.7 In the Financial offer, in the case of Briefing notes, is the maximum number of 

working days proposed by the tenderer in this step of the proposal considered the 

maximum number of working days possible for implementation of a specific service? If one 

tenderer indicates here for example 15 working days in total for a short briefing note, 

could be quoted for a specific request an higher number (or lower) of working days? 

A27.7 See answer to question 27.5. 

Q27.8 In the Financial offer, in the case of studies and workshops, can you please confirm 

that the estimated number of working days here is not required but only the daily rate is 

required? 

A27.8 For studies and workshops only the daily rates for the different staff categories need to 

be quoted. 

*** 

Q28.1 Please confirm that person indicated as Project Leader in Section II (point 1.8) 

being only a contact person with the Contracting Authority and not a member of staff 

involved, doesn't need to have 10 years ‘relevant experience. 

A28.1 A person indicated as Project Leader in Section II (point 1.8) being only a contact person 

with the Contracting Authority and not a member of staff involved, doesn't need to have 10 years 

‘relevant experience. Persons involved in carrying out the services as project leaders would 

however need to have a professional and/or academic experience of a minimum of 10 years. 

Q28.2 We would like to propose also some external experts that will be listed in Section 5 of 

Annex II. If during Framework Contract implementation we will need to recruit another 

external expert (not foreseen here) with a particular expertise to respond to a specific 

request, would it be possible? 

A28.2 Yes, it would be possible to recruit additional experts who act as subcontractors to carry 

out a specific request. Please note that the European Parliament must be informed by the 

contractor of any subsequent use of subcontracting not envisaged in the tender. The relevant 

authorizing officer reserves the right to accept or reject the proposed subcontractor. In order to 

do so he/she may demand the requisite proof to establish whether the subcontractor(s) 

complies/comply with the requisite criteria. 

Q28.3 Does each external expert (included in the list of subcontractors) need to satisfy the 

financial capacity of € 250.000 over the last 2 financial years, also in the case that our 

consortium does not need them to cover the selection criteria of financial capacity? 

A28.3 To calculate the threshold the total financial and economic capacity of all the members 

of a consortium is taken into account, so the cumulative turnover of the consortium members 

counts. Similarly, if subcontracting is used, the financial and economic capacity of 

subcontractors is taken into account in addition to the financial and economic capacity of the 

tenderer/consortium. Subcontractors or consortium members do not need to individually meet 

the threshold of annual turnover/income of € 250.000 over the last 2 financial years. Please note 

that if the tenderer relies on the capacity of other entities (irrespective of the legal nature of the 

links between himself/herself and those entities) he/she must prove to the European 

13

Parliament that he/she will have at his/her 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 his/her disposal. In such a case the European Parliament is entitled to refuse the 

application or the tender submitted if it has doubts about the undertaking by the third party. 

*** 

14

MODEL LETTER OF INVITATION TO SUBMIT A TENDER - Europa

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?