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Service for Foreign Policy Instruments
Call for tendersClosed

Asia-Pacific Research and Advice Network (APRAN)

Details

Status
Closed
Publication date
Deadline date
Opening of tenders
Department
Service for Foreign Policy Instruments

Description

SERVICE CONTRACT NOTICE
Asia-Pacific Research and Advice Network (APRAN)
Location – European Union, Asia-Pacific Region

1. Publication reference

EuropeAid/137455/DH/SER/MULTI

2. Procedure

Restricted

3. Programme title

Asia-Pacific Research and Advice Network (APRAN)

4. Financing

Partnership Instrument - Annual Action Programme (AAP) 2015 - PI/2015/038-434

5. Contracting Authority

European Union, represented by the European Commission

CONTRACT SPECIFICATION

6. Nature of contract

Fee-based

7. Contract description

The project is designed to provide European policymakers with policy advice, specialised research and analysis on the Asia-Pacific region and on EU's relations with Asia-Pacific with the aim to promote EU's objectives in the region and to support policy formulation and implementation. The required services will include, inter alia, carrying out studies, organization of conferences, workshops and policy briefings, opinion polls, mobilization of experts, publications, and the establishment of databases.

8. Number and titles of lots

One lot only

9. Maximum budget

EUR 1,500,000

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 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.

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,

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 will 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 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.

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 2.3.2 of the PRAG.

16 Sub-contracting

Subcontracting is allowed.

17. 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.

PROVISIONAL TIMETABLE

18. Provisional date of invitation to tender

01/02/2016

19. Provisional commencement date of the contract

01/05/2016

20. Initial period of implementation of tasks

36 months

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). In case
of candidate being a public body, equivalent information should be provided.

(a) The average annual turnover of the candidate in the last three years for which accounts have
been closed must exceed EUR 500,000, 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 10 staff currently work for the candidate in at least one of the fields related to this
contract (eg. conduction of studies, research and analysis; organization of conferences and
workshops; carrying out surveys and opinion polls; provision of technical assistance; publications;
setting up and management of databases; etc) of which minimum 3 should be permanently employed.

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 three years from submission deadline.

(a) The candidate has provided services on at least 4 projects with a budget of at least that of this
contract in at least one of the fields related to this contract (see criterion 21.2(a) above). The portion
carried out by the candidate in each project must represent a budget of at least EUR 750,000.

(b) The candidate has provided services on at least 4 projects, altogether covering at least two of
these countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, East Timor, China (including
Hong Kong and Macau), Japan, Republic of Korea.

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 an undertaking 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 and notably that of nationality, as the economic
operator.

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:

  • The highest number of projects found eligible under criterion 21.3(a); then
  • The highest total value of the eligible portions carried out by the candidate of the projects found eligible under criterion 21.3(a).

22. Award criteria

Best value for money.

APPLICATION

23. Deadline for receipt of applications

17:00 Central European Time on 08/01/2016.

Any application received by the Contracting Authority after this deadline will not be considered.

24. Application format and details to be provided

Applications must be submitted using the standard application form, the format and instructions
of which must be strictly observed. The application form is available from the following Internet
address: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/prag/annexes.do?chapterTitleCode=B

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 in a sealed
envelope:

  • EITHER by recorded delivery (official postal service) to :

    European Commission
    Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI.4)
    200 rue de la Loi
    B-1049 Brussels, BELGIUM

  • OR hand delivered (including courier services) directly to the Contracting Authority in return for a signed and dated receipt to:

    European Commission
    Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI.4)

    For the attention of Genoveva RUIZ CALAVERA
    Avenue de Bourget 1
    1140 Brussels, BELGIUM

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 applications. No application may be altered after this deadline.

Any such notification of alteration or withdrawal shall be prepared and submitted in accordance with Item 25. The outer envelope (and the relevant inner envelope if used) 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. Date of publication of prior information notice

19/08/2015

29. Legal basis1

Regulation (EU) N°236/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2014 laying down common rules and procedures for the implementation of the Union's instruments for financing external action and (EU) No 234/2014 of 11 March 2014 establishing a Partnership Instrument for cooperation with third countries. - See Annex A2 of the Practical Guide.

30. Additional information

Questions, clearly stating the reference and title of the call, can be sent to the following email address: FPI-4-GRANTS-TENDERSatec [dot] europa [dot] eu (FPI-4-GRANTS-TENDERS[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu).

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1 Please state any specificity that might have an impact on rules on participation (such as geographic or thematic or
long/short term).