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Service for Foreign Policy Instruments
Call for tendersClosed

EU Policy and Outreach Partnership and Cultural Diplomacy Platform Location – Americas, Asia-Pacific, Africa

Details

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

Description

1. Publication reference

EuropeAid/137304/DH/SER/Multi

2. Procedure

Restricted

3. Programme title

Partnership Instrument

4. Financing

PI Annual Action Programme (AAP) 2015

5. Contracting Authority

European Union, represented by the European Commission

CONTRACT SPECIFICATION

6. Nature of contract

Fee-based

7. Contract description

In the framework of the development of a coherent EU Public Diplomacy in external relations, the actions will support and strengthen the EU's ability to engage meaningfully with different partners through the services provided by contractors specialized in the field of Public Diplomacy and Cultural Diplomacy. The action will reinforce the EU's capacities in these fields and will support public diplomacy and cultural stakeholders in their networking, implementation and visibility efforts. This action aims at increasing mutual understanding and at supporting key European principles and policies through people to people exchanges. This will be achieved by providing assistance to the set-up of Policy and Outreach Partnerships and by developing a Cultural Diplomacy Platform and running cultural diplomacy activities.

More specifically, the Policy and Outreach Partnership strand will allow engaging with various key stakeholders (e.g. think tanks universities, business organisations, media and other opinion-makers/influencers) in third countries on policies of common interest, related inter alia to Global Challenges, Europe 2020 strategy, Economic Partnership and Fundamental Rights. The Cultural Diplomacy strand will foster the role that culture plays in external relations as an integral component of Public Diplomacy.

The Cultural Diplomacy platform aims at providing, mainly upon request, expertise, recommendations and advice to the relevant EU institutions (in particular the EEAS) regarding the role of culture in external relations and how culture can contribute to the development of EU's relationships with its key partner countries (in particular its 10 strategic partners). The platform will also include a cultural leadership training component aimed at reinforcing the skills of future cultural leaders in a European/international context and thereby facilitating mutual cultural engagement and cooperation.

8. Number and titles of lots

2 lots

  • Lot 01 EU Policy and Outreach Partnership
  • Lott 02 Cultural Diplomacy Platform

9. Maximum budget

EUR 1,990,000

  • Lot 1: EUR 1,050,000
  • Lot 2: EUR 940,000

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, 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 will be excluded.

The candidates may submit an application for one lot only, several lots or all of the lots, but only one application per lot. Contracts will be awarded lot by lot and each lot will form a separate contract.

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 per lot 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

15/10/2015

19. Provisional commencement date of the contract

20/01/2016

20. Initial period of implementation of tasks

24 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. The reference period which will be taken into account will be the last three years for which accounts have been closed.

Criteria for legal and natural persons:

For both Lots:

    1. The average annual turnover of the candidate in the last 3 years (2012,2013 and 2014) must exceed the annualised maximum budget of the contract (i.e., the maximum budget stated in the contract notice divided by 2, which is the initial contract duration in years); and
    2. 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.

Criteria for legal and natural persons:

Lot 1:

1- have at least 10 staff members currently working full time for the candidate in fields related to this contract.

Lot 2:

1- have at least 5 staff members currently working full time for the candidate in fields related to this contract.

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.

Criterion for legal and natural persons:

1. For lot 1, the candidate has provided in the course of the past 3 years (starting from 28/09/2012 up to the deadline for receipt of applications) at least 2 projects (the candidate’s proportion being more than € 525,000 for his services in each project) in the following fields:

      • a. Cultural Diplomacy,
      • b. External Relations
      • c. Public Diplomacy

Altogether, the references projects must cover all the fields identified above.

2. For lot 2, the candidate has provided in the course of the past 3 years (starting from 28/09/2012 up to the deadline for receipt of applications) at least 2 projects (the candidate’s proportion being more than € 470,000 for his services in each project) in the following fields:

      • a. International Cultural Relations,
      • b. Cultural Diplomacy,
      • c. External Relations,
      • d. Public Diplomacy.

Altogether, the references projects must cover all the fields identified above.

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 total number of reference projects found eligible under 21.3; and in case of equality on this criterion, then
      • The highest value of the eligible part (the portion carried out by the candidate) of the projects found eligible under 21.3.

22. Award criteria

Best value for money.

APPLICATION

23. Deadline for receipt of applications

17:00 Central European Time on 28/09/2015.

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
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

28/07/2015

29. Legal basis

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)