EIGE/2012/ADM/07 TENDER SPECIFICATIONS for PROVISION OF … · 2012. 3. 30. · EIGE/2012/ADM/07 ....

EIGE/2012/ADM/07

EIGE/2012/ADM/07

TENDER SPECIFICATIONS for

PROVISION OF INTERIM PERSONNEL SERVICES FOR THE EUROPEAN INSTITUTE FOR GENDER EQUALITY IN VILNIUS, LITHUANIA

Framework service contract

OPEN PROCEDURE

The purpose of these Tender Specifications is to give instructions and guidance to candidates about the nature of the Offer they will need to submit and to serve as the Contractor's mandate during project implementation. The Specifications ensure that the project will be properly conceived by the Contractor, that the work is carried out on schedule and that resources will not be wasted. The Tender Specifications will become part of the contract that may be awarded as a result of this tender.

EIGE/2012/ADM/07 Provision of interim personnel services for the European Institute for Gender Equality

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CONTENTS:

1 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS ................................................................................................. 3

1.1 GENERAL BACKGROUND............................................................................................................................................................ 3 1.2 SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................................................................................ 3 1.3 DESCRIPTION OF TASKS AND WORKING CONDITIONS ................................................................................................... 3 1.4 DELIVERABLES ................................................................................................................................................................................ 6 1.5 COMMUNICATION AND REPORTING ..................................................................................................................................... 8

2 THE TENDER ............................................................................................................................ 9

2.1 SUBMISSION OF THE TENDER ................................................................................................................................................... 9 2.2 OPENING OF TENDERS ................................................................................................................................................................ 9 2.3 CONTACT WITH EIGE ................................................................................................................................................................. 10 2.4 CONTENT OF THE TENDER ...................................................................................................................................................... 10

2.4.1 SECTION ONE: ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA - ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION ............................................. 11 2.4.2 SECTION TWO. EXCLUSION CRITERIA DOCUMENTATION ......................................................................... 12 2.4.3 SECTION THREE: SELECTION CRITERIA DOCUMENTATION ....................................................................... 14 2.4.4 SECTION FOUR: TECHNICAL PROPOSAL (Annex 10 of SSF) ...................................................................... 15 2.4.5 SECTION FIVE: FINANCIAL PROPOSAL (Annex 9 of SSF) ............................................................................. 16

3 THE ASSESSMENT PROCEDURE ........................................................................................... 17

3.1 EVALUATION OF THE TENDERERS........................................................................................................................................ 17 3.2 EVALUATION OF THE TENDERS ............................................................................................................................................. 18 3.3 AWARD OF THE CONTRACT ................................................................................................................................................... 19

3.3.1 AWARD PRINCIPLE .................................................................................................................................................... 19 3.3.2 INFORMATION TO TENDERERS ............................................................................................................................. 19 3.3.3 STANDSTILL PERIOD ................................................................................................................................................. 20 3.3.4 EVIDENCE BY CONTRACTOR .................................................................................................................................. 20 3.3.5 NO OBLIGATION TO AWARD THE CONTRACT ................................................................................................ 20

4 THE CONTRACT ..................................................................................................................... 21

4.1 NATURE OF THE CONTRACT................................................................................................................................................... 21 4.2 STARTING DATE OF THE CONTRACT AND DURATION OF THE TASKS .................................................................... 21 4.4 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE ...................................................................................................................................................... 22 4.5 VOLUME OF THE CONTRACT ................................................................................................................................................. 22 4.6 TERMS OF PAYMENT ................................................................................................................................................................. 22 4.7 GUARANTEES ............................................................................................................................................................................... 22 4.8 DATA PROTECTION ................................................................................................................................................................... 22


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1 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

1.1 GENERAL BACKGROUND

The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) was created by Regulation (EC) No 1922/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006. The overall objectives or long-term effects of EIGE’s work are defined in the Regulation as:

…"To contribute to and strengthen the promotion of gender equality including gender mainstreaming in all Community policies and the resulting national policies, and the fight against discrimination based on sex, and to raise EU citizens’ awareness of gender equality."

The main tasks of the Institute are the dissemination of the collected and analysed comparable data on gender issues and the facilitation of the exchange of best practices and dialogue among stakeholders in order to raise awareness among EU citizens.

1.2 SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES

EIGE is a multi-cultural and multi-lingual organisation established by the European Parliament and European Council; English is its main working language. EIGE currently has 40staff members; this number is expected to grow up to maximum 45 people by 2014.

Staff employed by EIGE is subject to the Staff Regulations and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities (Council Regulation Nr. 259/68 of 29 February 1968, last amended by Council Regulation (CE, EURATOM EC) No 1558/2007 of 17 December 2007).

The overall objective of this tender is to conclude a Framework service contract in order to provide EIGE with the necessary interim personnel in a timely fashion and in line with the job profiles requested, in cases such as:

• to support EIGE’s statutory staff by providing secretarial and administrative support;

• to carry out, on a temporary basis, additional tasks to the ordinary ones resulting from specific projects;

• to cope with peak work periods which require an additional workforce for a fixed period of time;

• to reinforce staff shortages in case of absences of EIGE staff due to maternity/parental leaves, sickness or other reasons of absence.

1.3 DESCRIPTION OF TASKS AND WORKING CONDITIONS Interim personnel are considered non statutory staff of EIGE and will be subject to Lithuanian employment law. Throughout the duration of the contract, the contractor remains the employer of the interim personnel. To this end the contractor shall comply with the relevant Lithuanian legislation on employment, taxes, social and pension contributions. The contractor shall ensure the fulfilment of all legal and financial obligations towards the interim personnel, which include, in addition to the gross salary, all social and pension contributions foreseen by the Lithuanian law. Any irregularities would be the sole responsibility of the contractor, who would assume the consequences thereof vis-à-vis the


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Lithuanian authorities. Such irregularities may lead to termination of the framework contract between EIGE and the contractor. The contractor shall employ and pay the interim personnel assigned to EIGE in line with the national employment legislation and any applicable collective labour agreement(s); the provision of interim personnel to EIGE shall in no way lead to an employment relationship between the interim personnel and EIGE. Hence the regulations applicable specifically to EIGE’s statutory staff (Staff Regulations of Officials and Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Community) shall not at any stage apply to the interim personnel. The contractor shall provide EIGE with interim personnel who have the level of training, professional qualifications, experience and skills and competencies required by EIGE and shall take all measures and precautions to supply only interim personnel who are trustworthy and of sufficient moral standing and whose general behaviour patterns are compatible with the exercising of their function. EIGE operates in an international and multicultural professional environment. The Contractor will ensure that the personnel proposed has the ability to work in a multilingual, and multicultural environment. Interim personnel shall have a good command of written and spoken English (European language level C1 on written and spoken)1, which will be the predominant language of internal communication in EIGE. The contractor shall include a confidentiality clause in the employment agreement concluded between the contractor and the interim personnel and the requirement to fully respect the EIGE internal rules and code of conduct.

Profiles of interim personnel EIGE may request the contractor to provide interim personnel in the below listed Interim personnel categories:

Interim personnel category

Type of services/profiles Minimum requirements

Category A – Secretarial support

Secretarial support in:

• Receptionist services • Filling and archiving • Data input • Logistical back-up • assistance with meetings and events

organisation • Other clerical and secretarial support

as needed

University education attested by diploma

OR

Secondary education attested by a diploma giving access to post-secondary education and professional experience of one year, relevant to the tasks, as they are described in the technical specifications.

Category B - Assistants

Assistance in the areas of:

• General administration • IT support/

University education attested by diploma

OR

1 http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/LanguageSelfAssessmentGrid/en


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• Web mastering • Communications • Research • Proofreading and editing in English

language • Events organisation • Project management • Procurement • Events and meetings organisation • Library and document management

Secondary education attested by a diploma giving access to post-secondary education and professional experience of three years, relevant to the tasks, as they are described in the technical specifications

Category C – Administrative support

Administrative support in the areas of:

• Project/contract administration • IT and web mastering • Legal matters • Communications • Networking • Procurement • Drafting and editing in English • Events organisation • Research (social sciences) • Library and document management

Completed university studies of at least three years attested by diploma and professional experience of at least three years, relevant to the tasks, as they are described in the technical specifications

In addition to the minimum requirements, the interim personnel will be requested to:

• Have very good administrative skills, be a self-starter. • Have both team-working and self-driving capacities. • Have a very good command of English both written and oral (preferably C1 level of the

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages). • Possess full computer literacy and in particular a good knowledge of Ms Outlook, Ms Office

and Internet. The above list of type of services/profiles under each category is not exhaustive and therefore EIGE may request the Contractor to provide interim personnel within the specified categories to execute other tasks not listed above. However, the above set minimum requirements for each category will be respected. By requesting interim personnel, EIGE will define the category, type of services/profile for the assignment, the skills and qualifications required, and the expected timeframe (starting date and duration). Working conditions of interim personnel The contractor will ensure that the interim personnel working at EIGE is subject to the following working conditions: 1. They will be assigned to EIGE’s office in Vilnius. 2. The tasks performed by the interim personnel member will be agreed between the interim personnel and her/his superior in EIGE. 3. A confidentiality agreement will be signed between the interim personnel and EIGE before commencement of her/his assignment. 4. Travelling to the EIGE office and related expenses are not reimbursed to either interim personnel or contractor.


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Exceptionally, EIGE may request the interim personnel to go on mission outside EIGE premises in Vilnius. In such cases the interim personnel shall be covered by EIGE’s specific mission rules and guidelines. Working hours and holidays

1. EIGE may request interim services to be provided on a part-time or a full-time basis during the normal working week.

2. The normal working week shall be 40 hours per week as per Lithuanian legislation, i.e. from 9:00 till 18:00 with 1 hours lunch break.

3. Hours performed over and above 40 hours per week are not authorised, unless requested by EIGE and agreed in advance in writing.

4. EIGE closes on a number of days during the year, which do not necessarily correspond to Lithuanian public holidays. The number of these days may vary from year to year2; EIGE’s public holidays in 2012 (Annex 1).

Absences Any absence on the part of the interim personnel shall be considered by EIGE as an interruption of the service provided by the contractor and as a “fault” on the part of the interim personnel, except in cases of either sickness substantiated by a medical certificate or annual vacation leave as applicable. In the event of extended sickness on the part of the interim personnel (more than five working days), or in the event of extended non-availability (e.g. maternity/parental leave), the contractor shall provide a replacement solution on the sixth working day of absence. Duration and nature of the assignment Interim personnel will be requested by EIGE for periods not exceeding the maximum statutory period mandated by the Lithuanian legislation for the duration of ‘interim’ contracts. It is the clear responsibility of the selected contractor to inform EIGE at least two months in advance in regards to this statutory limit. The contractor shall guarantee that interim personnel does not acquire any legal right with respect to EIGE under Lithuanian employment law by reason of duration or other circumstances of their employment in EIGE. The contractor undertakes to keep EIGE updated on the situation regarding length of employment or other circumstances that may give rise to claims on the part of interim personnel. No contract of employment shall be established between EIGE and the interim personnel member. Duration of each assignment of an interim personnel member to EIGE shall be specified in the relevant Order Form (described under section 4.3). Security considerations The interim personnel shall comply with EIGE’s security rules. EIGE may request interim personnel to provide a certificate of good conduct or equivalent (e.g. police conduct certificate). In such case, EIGE will specify this requirement in the Order Form referred to above. In all cases the interim personnel will be requested to sign an absence of conflict of interest and confidentiality declaration.

1.4 DELIVERABLES

2 The list of public holidays for the subsequent years will be provided each year not later than 10th December.


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The contractor shall appoint a contract manager within its organisation, who will handle communications with EIGE, supervise and manage EIGE’s requests, and liaise with EIGE contact person. The contractor shall appoint a qualified and experienced contract manager. The contract manager shall have a minimum of three years of experience in the provision and management of interim personnel in Lithuania and knowledge of Lithuanian labour law applicable to temporary work in Lithuania. Therefore, the CV of the suggested contract manager shall be submitted to evidence that this requirement will be met (see under section 2.4.3. - B-Technical and professional capacity). The contractor will ensure availability of its personnel throughout the year, including June, July and August, to execute the tasks of this contract. The contract manager must have a good knowledge of spoken and written English. The appointed contract manager responsible on the contractor’s side for the relation with EIGE will be in charge of the following:

• Provide a permanent contact between EIGE and the contractor in all matters relating to the implementation of the framework contract, in particular aspects related to the pool of candidates, orders and invoicing, as well as advice on legal local employment matters, if and when required;

• Advise the HR unit concerning issues that may be encountered in relation to interim personnel, under the applicable labour legislation;

• Understand the needs of EIGE and constantly update its CV database to ensure that the profiles required by EIGE are available at short notice;

• Provide induction training and information package to interim personnel before starting their work with EIGE, including job description.

• Any other task of an administrative nature that may arise, in connection with implementation of the framework contract.

Upon receipt of the request to propose candidates (including job description) from EIGE, the contractor will identify a minimum of three suitable candidates and will send their curriculum vitae to EIGE within maximum 10 working days from receipt of the request. The curriculum vitae in English should be sent using a standard Europass CV format to ensure easy comparison. The CV template can be downloaded here: http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/europass/home/hornav/Downloads/EuropassCV/CVTemplate.csp Upon selection of the suitable candidates for the interview by EIGE, the contractor will ensure that the candidates attend the interviews at the dates and times communicated by EIGE. The interviews will be held at EIGE’s premises, with EIGE staff members, following which EIGE will identify the candidate it wishes to select. Candidates may be required to undergo further competency assessment exercises and tests during the interviews. The contractor shall ensure that the proposed candidates are available for the interviews and aware of the job description for the assignment. The contractor shall provide the proposed candidates with a copy of the job description prior to their interview.

http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/europass/home/hornav/Downloads/EuropassCV/CVTemplate.csp

http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/europass/home/hornav/Downloads/EuropassCV/CVTemplate.csp


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Upon selection of the successful candidate as a result of the interviews and after signature of the Order form (as described in section 4.3), the contractor will ensure that the interim personnel commences her/his activities on the date specified in the Order form. An assignment will only commence after the signature of the Order form by both the contractor and EIGE.

1.5 COMMUNICATION AND REPORTING

Upon needs, meetings may be organised with EIGE representatives, at EIGE premises, to review on-going issues and exchange information on the feedback collected by the contractor from the interim personnel and the performance of the interim supplied. The contractor shall be available to meet the interims once a month, at the EIGE premises. At the end of each month, the interim personnel shall provide EIGE with a completed time sheet, indicating the number of days, the number of hours per day and the total number of hours worked by the interim personnel. The monthly time sheet shall be integrated with a monthly report per each interim personnel indicating the name and surname, number of assignment, unit of assignment at EIGE, category of the interim personnel, starting date of assignment, ending date of assignment, dates of eventual extensions, total number of hours worked during the month in question, the hourly rate and the total amount due. The monthly report shall make reference to the contract and the Order form number. Upon confirmation by EIGE that the number of working hours is correct, the contractor shall prepare on a monthly basis invoice/s covered by Order forms and submit to EIGE on a monthly basis for payments in accordance with the relevant provisions of the attached Model Contract (Annex II). Invoicing shall be based on the number of hours actually worked by the interim personnel. The invoice shall be accompanied by the individual time sheets and monthly reports concerning each interim personnel.


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2 THE TENDER

2.1 SUBMISSION OF THE TENDER

Participation in this tender (including each member of a consortium if applicable) is open on equal terms to all natural and legal persons coming within the scope of the Treaties and to all natural and legal persons who are nationals of a third country which has a special agreement with the European Communities in the field of public procurement under the conditions laid down in that agreement.

Tenders must be submitted in accordance with the specific requirements of the Letter of Invitation to Tender and, without fail, within the deadlines laid down therein.

Late delivery will lead to the exclusion of the tender from the award procedure for this contract. Offers sent by e-mail or by fax will also be non admissible. Envelopes found open at the opening session will also lead to non-admissibility of the tender. Consequently, tenderers must ensure that their bids are packed in such a way as to prevent any accidental opening during its mailing.

The tender must remain valid for a period of six months from the final date for submission of the tenders. Where the initial contract is stated to be renewed, the offer will remain valid for such renewals. Upon renewals of contract, EIGE reserves the right to request updated forms for exclusion and selection criteria. If the situation concerning these requirements has altered, any changes must be reported immediately to the Institute.

This invitation to tender is intended to be competitive. Any attempt by a tenderer to obtain confidential information, enter into unlawful agreements, collude or make arrangements with competitors, canvass or solicit EIGE personnel or influence the evaluation committee or its individual members in any way during the tendering process will render tender invalid.

Submission of a tender implies that the Contractor accepts all the terms and conditions set out in these specifications (including the annexes and the technical specifications) and waives all other terms of business.

Submission of a tender binds the Contractor to whom the contract is awarded during performance of the contract. Once EIGE has accepted the tender, it shall become the property of the Institute that shall treat it confidentially.

EIGE shall not reimburse expenses incurred in preparing and submitting tenders. No compensation may be claimed by tenderers whose tender has not been accepted, including when the Institute (the contracting authority) decides not to award the contract.

The Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union shall apply to this invitation to tender.

2.2 OPENING OF TENDERS

Tenders will be opened on

21/05/2012 at 14:00 EET (Vilnius time)

at the following location:

European Institute for Gender Equality


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Švitrigailos g. 11M, 03228 Vilnius, Lithuania

One authorised representative of each tenderer may attend the opening of the bids as observer. Companies wishing to attend are requested to notify their intention at the latest two working days in advance to the following e-mail address: [email protected]. The reference number of the procurement procedure should be clearly indicated.

This notification must contain an authorisation document signed by an authorised officer of the tenderer and specify the name of the person who will attend the opening on the tenderer's behalf. The credentials of the representative will be checked by EIGE.

2.3 CONTACT WITH EIGE

In principle, no contact is permitted between the Institute and any tenderer during the tendering procedure. However, contact may exceptionally be permitted in cases specified in the Letter of Invitation.

Under the conditions described in the Letter of Invitation, further information can be obtained by sending a request to:

e-mail: [email protected]

Provided it has been requested in good time, additional information will be supplied simultaneously to all economic operators by posting it onto EIGE’s web-site, located at http://eige.europa.eu. The Institute is not bound to reply to requests for additional information received less than five working days before the final date for submission of tenders.

EIGE will inform interested parties of the existence of an error, a lack of precision, an omission or any other type of defect in the documents relating to this call for tenders by supplying information on the Internet address http://eige.europa.eu .

During the assessment procedure, EIGE may require some clarification in connection with a tender, or if obvious clerical errors in the tender must be corrected. In any event, such contact must not lead to any amendment of the terms of the tender.

2.4 CONTENT OF THE TENDER

All tenders must contain all the information and all the supporting documents required by these Specifications. In the absence of the required information or documents, the Institute may disqualify the bid. EIGE reserves the right, however, to request additional evidences in relation to the bid submitted for evaluation or verification purposes within a time-limit stipulated in its request.

Tenders must be clear and concise, with continuous page numbering, and assembled in coherent fashion (e.g. bound or stapled).

Tenders shall be submitted in an official EU language if possible in English, the working language of EIGE.

All tenders must include:

A. Covering letter signed by the tenderer or his/her duly authorised representative.

B. Standard Submission Forms (SSF) as annexed to these specifications with the following five sections:

mailto:[email protected]

http://eige.europa.eu/

http://eige.europa.eu/


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Section One: Administrative information

Section Two: Documents related to the Exclusion criteria

Section Three: Documents related to the Selection criteria

Section Four: Technical proposal addressing technical specifications and award criteria

Section Five: Financial proposal

2.4.1 SECTION ONE: ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA - ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION The Tenderer must provide the following identification documentation:

• Tenderer identification Form The tenderer identification form is to be provided in original, signed by a representative of the Tenderer authorised to sign contracts with the third parties

• Legal entity Form The legal entity form is to be provided in original signed by a representative of the Tenderer

authorised to sign contracts with the third parties. This form (individuals, private entities or public entities) is available at:

http://ec.europa.eu/budget/execution/legal_entities_en.htm • Financial identification Form

The original bank identification form must be filled in and signed by an authorised representative of the Tenderer and his/her bank. A standard form is available at:

http://ec.europa.eu/budget/execution/ftiers_en.htm The above forms must be accompanied by the evidence as indicated at the bottom of each form (for private entities: proof of registration, VAT registration etc; for individuals: copy of passport, proof of registration/VAT if applicable; for public entities: official document on establishment etc.).

Joint Offers

A joint tender is a situation where an offer is submitted by a group of tenderers (consortium). If awarded the contract, each member of the consortium will be jointly and severally liable towards EIGE for the performance of the contract.

A consortium can be a permanent, legally established grouping or a grouping which has been constituted for this tender procedure.

Consortia members in joint tenders may submit only one tender for a single contract. All members of the consortium shall sign the tender or one of the consortium members which is designated as the representative authorised to undertake commitments on its behalf (copy of the authorisation must be provided with the offer).

The tender must indicate which member (lead consortium partner) will represent the consortium in dealing with the contracting authority. The tender must describe the form the cooperation is to take in order to achieve the desired results and how technical, administrative and financial aspects will be organised.

http://ec.europa.eu/budget/execution/legal_entities_en.htm

http://ec.europa.eu/budget/execution/ftiers_en.htm


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If the tender does not mention that all members are jointly and severally liable, all other parties included in the tender than the party signing the tender (Tenderers) will be considered subcontractors.

In case of submission of a joint offer, the Tenderers are asked to provide an original of filled in and duly signed one of the attached Powers of attorney of the Standard Submission Forms depending on the set up that has been chosen by the Tenderers, and specify the role of the group, as well as who has been appointed by the others as the group leader.

In case of a joint offer, only the group leader must return the financial identification form.

Subcontracting

Subcontracting is the situation where the Contractor in order to implement the contract, enters into legal commitments with other legal or natural persons for performing part of the service (in particular, any work performed by a person who is not an employee of the tenderer will be considered as subcontracted). .

The Contractor shall remain bound by his obligations to EIGE and shall bear exclusive liability, sole and fully responsibility for the performance of the contract. EIGE has no direct legal relationship with the subcontractor(s).

If the Tenderer envisages subcontracting, the tender must include, using models in Standard Submission Forms:

• a subcontracting form by Tenderer clearly stating the roles, activities and responsibilities of the proposed subcontractor(s), and the reasons why subcontracting is envisaged;

• a letter of intent by each proposed subcontractor stating its intention to collaborate with the tender if the Tenderer wins the contract and their willingness to accept the tasks and the terms and conditions of the contract.

The Tenderer must indicate clearly in their methodology, which parts of the work will be sub-contracted.

The main contractor retains full liability towards EIGE for performance of the contract as a whole. Accordingly:

• EIGE will treat all contractual matters (e.g. payment) exclusively with the main contractor, whether or not the tasks are performed by a subcontractor;

• under no circumstances can the main contractor avoid liability towards the agency on the grounds that the subcontractor is at fault.

Prior written approval from EIGE is necessary in order to replace a subcontractor and/or have work which was not originally subcontracted in the original tender carried out by third parties.

In case the identity of subcontractors is not known at the time of submitting the offer, any future subcontract may be awarded according to the provisions of the contract.

2.4.2 SECTION TWO. EXCLUSION CRITERIA DOCUMENTATION

A. Tenderers (including consortium members in case of a joint offer and subcontractors in case of subcontracting) or their representatives, shall provide an original Declaration on honour, duly signed and dated in which they:


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• state whether or not they are in one or more of the situations referred to in Articles 93 and 94 of the Financial Regulation and detailed in the SSF;

• undertake to submit to EIGE any additional document relating to the exclusion criteria, that the Institute considers necessary to perform its checks, within seven calendar days following the receipt of the agency's request.

By returning the above-mentioned Declaration, duly signed, Tenderers confirm that they have been notified of the following points:

• Administrative or financial penalties may be imposed by the Institute on Tenderers who are in one of the cases of exclusion provided for in Articles 93 and 94 of the Financial Regulation after they have been given the opportunity to present their observations.

• These penalties are detailed in Article 96 of the Financial Regulation and Articles 133a and 134b of the Regulation laying down the rules for implementing the Financial Regulation (2342/2002/ of 23.12.02).

B. The tenderer to whom the contract is awarded shall provide, within 15 days following the dispatch of the letter informing him of the proposed award of the contract and preceding the signature of the contract, the following evidences confirming the statements referred to in the Declaration.

EIGE will accept, as satisfactory evidence that the tenderer is not in one of the situations described

- in point (a), (b) and (e) of the Declaration, production of a recent extract (dated no earlier than 4 months before the deadline for submission of tenders) from the judicial/criminal records or, failing this, a recent equivalent document issued by a judicial or administrative authority in the country of origin or provenance attesting that these requirements are satisfied;

- in point (d) of the Declaration, a recent certificate (dated no earlier than 6 months before the deadline for submission of tenders) issued by the competent authority of the State concerned. These documents must provide proof of payment of all taxes and social security contributions for which the tenderer is liable, including VAT, income tax (natural persons only), company tax (legal persons only) and social security contributions.

Where no such certificate or document is issued in the country concerned, it may be replaced by a sworn or, failing this, solemn statement by the interested party before a judicial or administrative authority, a notary or a qualified professional organisation in his/her country of origin or provenance.

EIGE will accept, as satisfactory evidence that the tenderer is not in one of the situations described:

- in points (c) and (f) of the Declaration, recent certificates issued by competent national authorities;

If the tenderer is a legal person and the national law of the country in which he is established does not authorise legal persons to provide such documents, the documents (such as the judicial/criminal records) must be provided by natural persons with powers of representation in relation to the tenderer.

Where they have doubts as to whether tenderers are in one of the situations of exclusion, EIGE may itself apply to the abovementioned competent authorities to obtain any information they consider necessary about that situation.

EIGE may waive the obligation of a tenderer to submit the abovementioned documentary evidence if such evidence has already been submitted to it for the purposes of another procurement procedure and provided that the issuing date of the documents does not exceed one year and that they are still valid. In such a case, the tenderer shall declare on his honour that the


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documentary evidence has already been provided to EIGE in a previous procurement procedure and confirm that no changes in his situation have occurred. He shall indicate in its tender all the references necessary to allow the EIGE services to check this evidence.

2.4.3 SECTION THREE: SELECTION CRITERIA DOCUMENTATION

This part of the tender concerns the evidences relating to the economic and financial capacities, as well as technical and professional capacities of the service provider(s) involved in the bid.

An economic operator may rely on the capacities of other entities, regardless of the legal nature of the links which it has with them. In that case, evidence must be provided, that it will have at its disposal the resources necessary for performance of the contract, for example by producing a clear undertaking on the part of those entities to place those resources at its disposal.

In the case of joint tender (consortium) or subcontracting, the technical and professional capacity shall be assessed in relation to the combined capacity of all the parties involved in the tender.

EIGE reserves the right to request additional information for the evaluation of the economic and financial capacity of each member of a consortium.

In case on of subcontracting not more than 30% of the contract, provided the main contractor does not rely on the subcontractor’s economic and financial capacities, the subcontractor(s) does not have to provide the economic and financial capacity form. However, EIGE reserves the right to request additional information for the evaluation of the economic and financial capacity.

A. Economic and financial capacity

Tenderers must provide EIGE with sufficient poof of their financial standing, and more importantly that they have the necessary resources and financial means to carry out the work involved. The tenderer must prove they are viable for the duration of the contract.

Evidence on compliance with the economic and financial capacity requirement must be provided by the following document:

The tenderer which according to the law of the country in which it is established is required to publish the balance sheet shall complete and include in the offer a statement "Economic and financial capacity" as presented in the Standard submission forms. Please observe the following aspects in completing this financial statement:

It should be presented in original and certified by means of a signature of the chief accounting officer of the tendering organisation.

EIGE has the right during the tendering process and before awarding the contract to request further evidence on the tenderer's compliance with the economic and financial capacity requirement, in which case balance sheets and profit and loss accounts for the past financial years may be requested.

The tenderer which according to the law of the country in which it is established is not required to publish the balance sheet shall provide the extract from the budget.

In the case of a consortium submitting an offer, the consortium may rely on the capacities of members of the consortium. It must prove in its offer that it will have their resources at its disposal.

The statements of Economic and financial capacity should be included in the offer for all consortium partners.


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In the case of a physical person the financial statement should be included into the offer for where only two lines on Turnover need to be filled in and the financial statement can be signed by the physical person only.

The average annual turnover of the tenderer must be not lower then EUR 100 000 during the past three years.

B. Technical and professional capacity

The technical and professional capacity of the tenderers to provide the services required will be assessed with regard to their know-how, efficiency, effectiveness, experience, reliability in providing the required expertise.

The tenderer needs to demonstrate in the Offer the capacity to provide EIGE with the necessary interim personnel in a timely fashion and in line with the job profiles requested. Therefore, the technical and professional requirements are:

1. The tenderer shall have at least three years of experience in providing the services requested under these technical specifications

2. The tenderer shall have a record of at least 5 clients to which services of similar nature were provided in the past three years.

3. The tenderer’s organisational and staffing structure shall be sufficient and appropriate for the contract implementation; the appointed contract manager shall have minimum three years of experience in provision and management of interim personnel in Lithuania and knowledge of the Lithuanian labour law applicable to temporary work in Lithuania.

Evidence of the technical and professional capacity shall be presented as described in Annex 12 of the Standard Submission Forms, i.e. by the following:

- a brief history of the tenderer, including length of time in business, overall size and description of activities relating to services of the type required in this invitation to tender. The tenderer must have a minimum experience of at least 3 years in providing the required services;

- reference list (including contact details) of a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 10 current and/or past customers to whom the tenderer has supplied the core services, as they are specified in Section 1.3 in the past three years specifying the Tenderer’s share in provision of the services and if subcontractors were used for any of the services;

- the description of the tenderer’s organisational structure as well as the CV of the proposed contract manager proving that the requirements set above are met.

In the case of joint offer (consortium) or subcontracting, the technical and professional capacity shall be assessed in relation to the combined capacity of all the parties involved in the tender.

2.4.4 SECTION FOUR: TECHNICAL PROPOSAL (Annex 10 of SSF) To be signed by the authorised representative on the front page and initialled on each page.

This section is of a great importance in the assessment of the bids, the award of the contract and the future execution of the resulting contract. Attention is also drawn to the award criteria, which define those parts of the technical proposal to which the tenderers should pay particular attention. The technical proposal should address the tenderer’s approach to and solutions for all matters laid down in the technical specifications while the tenderer should be aware, that a simple repetition of


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the Technical specification will result in a very low technical score. The level of detail of the tender will be very important for the evaluation of the tender.

To grant equal treatment of all tenders, it is not possible to modify offers after their submission. As a consequence, incompleteness in this section can only result in negative impact for the evaluation of award criteria. Please note also, that proposals deviating from the Technical Specifications may be rejected for non-conformity.

The Technical Specifications and the tenderer's bid shall be integral parts of the contract and will constitute annexes to the contract, while in case of contradictions the Technical Specifications prevail.

In the technical offer, the style and presentation must, as far as possible, be simple and clear. The technical offer must be consistent with the Technical Specifications and contain all information needed to apply the award criteria (section 3.2).

VARIANTS

Variants are not allowed.

Variant means a solution technically or economically equivalent to a model solution known to the contracting authority. Variants may relate to the whole contract or to certain parts or aspects of it.

2.4.5 SECTION FIVE: FINANCIAL PROPOSAL (Annex 9 of SSF)

A. All tenders must contain a financial proposal provided in SSF Annex 9.

Tenderers must provide the hourly rate per profile. The hourly rates are fixed and thus shall include all associated costs (salary and all entitlements to be paid to the Interim personnel, employer’s social and any other related contributions, project management, quality control, travel costs, back-up resources, etc.) directly and indirectly connected with the provision of the interim personnel services.

Travel time and costs incurred during the journey to EIGE office are not reimbursed to either interim staff or contractors.

EIGE has established a minimum Gross3 monthly salary to be paid to the Interim personnel per each category as follows:

Category of Interim Personnel

Minimum Gross monthly salary to be paid EUR/LTL

Category A – Secretarial support

€ 686/2368.62 LTL

Category B - Assistants €763/2634.49 LTL

Category B – Administrative support

€915/3159.31 LTL

B. The tenderer’s attention is drawn to the following points:

3 The minimum salary is calculated for a standard working month – 22 working days(8 hours/day, thus 176 working hours/month)


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Prices must be quoted in EUROs (as well as in LTL).

Prices should be quoted free of all duties, taxes and other charges e.g. free of VAT, as the European Institutions are exempt from such charges in the EU under Articles 3 and 4 of the protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union of 8 April 1965 (OJ L 152 of 13 July 1967). Exemption is granted to the agencies by the governments of the Member states, either through refunds upon presentation of documentary evidence or by direct exemption. For EIGE the Lithuanian national legislation provides an exemption by means of a reimbursement. The amount of VAT is to be shown separately.

In case of doubt about the applicable VAT system, it is the tenderer’s responsibility to contact the national authorities to clarify the way in which the European Union is exempted from VAT.

The prices referred to in the above paragraph shall be fixed and not subject to revision for the first year of performance of the Contract.

From the beginning of the second year of performance of the Contract, the amount may be revised upwards or downwards each year, where such revision is requested by one of the contracting parties by registered letter received by the other no later than three months before the anniversary of the date on which the Contract was signed.

This revision shall be determined by the trend in the harmonised consumer price index MUICP published for the first time by the Publications Office of the European Union in the Eurostat monthly 'Data in Focus' publication at http://www.ec.europa.eu/eurostat/.

Revision shall be calculated in accordance with the following formula:

Ir

Ar=Ao —

Io

where

Ar = revised total amount;

Ao = total amount in the original tender;

Io = index for the month in which the validity of the tender expires;

Ir = index for the month in which the revised prices take effect

3 THE ASSESSMENT PROCEDURE

3.1 EVALUATION OF THE TENDERERS

Stage 1 - Application of exclusion criteria

The aim is to check whether tenderers are eligible to take part in the tendering procedure.

The eligibility of the tenderer will be evaluated on the basis of the documents submitted as indicated in Section 2.4.2 Exclusion criteria.

http://www.ec.europa.eu/eurostat/


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In case of joint offers or/and subcontracting, the exclusion criteria will be assessed in relation to each consortium member and subcontractor individually.

If a member of a consortium is subject to exclusion, the rest of the consortium will be excluded.

If a subcontractor is subject to exclusion, the tenderer shall be excluded.

Stage 2 - Application of selection criteria

The aim is to check the technical and professional capacity and economic and financial capacity of each tenderer who has passed the exclusion stage.

The eligibility of the tenderer will be evaluated on the basis of the documents submitted as indicated in Section 2.4.3 Selection criteria. All tenderers will undergo strict evaluation of conformity to selection criteria laid down in the Tender Specifications. The Tenderers not satisfying the selection criteria will not be selected and their offers will not be further evaluated against award criteria.

In case of joint offers or/and subcontracting:

– For minimum viability standards on financial and economic standing an individual evaluation shall take place

– For the overall turnover or turnover a consolidated assessment shall be made.

– The selection criteria for technical and professional capacity will be assessed in relation to the combined capacities of all members of the consortium and subcontractors, as a whole.

3.2 EVALUATION OF THE TENDERS

Stage 3 - Application of award criteria

The aim is to assess, on the basis of the award criteria, the technical and financial offers and establish a ranking list in order of merit.

A. Technical evaluation The quality of Technical Proposal will be evaluated according to the following technical award criteria: Criteria number

Criteria description Maximum points per criteria

Minimum required score

1 Quality of the selection methods used to select the candidates for the interim personnel prior to proposing them to EIGE (e.g. assessment of CVs, interviews and tests concerning skills, etc.).

30 21

2 Quality of the methodology used to attract, select and establish a database of candidates to meet EIGE’s needs.

25 17.5

3 Structure and profiles of the team proposed for the implementation of the contract and management of EIGE’s requests.

25 17.5

4 Quality of the methods proposed for monitoring 10 7


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performance of the interim personnel.

5 Procedure proposed to handle cases of dissatisfaction with the performance of interim personnel.

10 7

Total 100 70

Tenders scored either below the minimum score required per criterion and below 70 out of total 100 points will be excluded and thus not be considered for the next step of the evaluation

Tenders should elaborate on all points addressed by these specifications in order to score as many points as possible. If certain essential points of these specifications are not expressly covered by the tender, EIGE may decide to give a zero mark for the relevant qualitative award criteria. B. Financial evaluation The financial evaluation will be carried out on the basis of the average hourly rate. The average hourly rate will be calculated by summing up the hourly rates being proposed for each job profile in the Financial proposal and dividing the result by the number of the job profiles. The average hourly rate will not become part of the service contract and will be used solely for the purpose of the financial evaluation of the tenders. Only the hourly rates specified by the tenderer in the Financial proposal will become part of the contract.

3.3 AWARD OF THE CONTRACT

3.3.1 AWARD PRINCIPLE

The contract will be awarded to the most economically advantageous offer on the basis of the quality and the price ratio, in accordance with the following formula:

The final score will be calculated using the following formula:

Final score = Technical score / Average hourly rate The tender obtaining the highest final score will be deemed to be the most economically advantageous tender.

The tenderer having the highest score will be awarded the framework contract under condition of respect of requirements on absence of conflict of interest and other requirements linked to criteria on exclusion from award.

EIGE will inform tenderers of the decisions reached concerning the award of the contract, including the grounds for any decision not to award a contract or to recommence the procedure.

3.3.2 INFORMATION TO TENDERERS

Upon respective written requests made by the tenderers, EIGE will inform all rejected tenderers of the reasons for their rejection and all tenderers who submitted an admissible tender of the


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characteristics and relative advantages of the tenders selected for the contract award and the name of the successful tenderers.

However, certain information may be withheld where its release would impede law enforcement or otherwise be contrary to the public interest, or would prejudice the legitimate commercial interests of economic operators, public or private, or might prejudice fair competition between them.

3.3.3 STANDSTILL PERIOD

EIGE shall not sign the contracts with the successful tenderer until a standstill period of 14 calendar days has elapsed, running from the day after the simultaneous dispatch of the award decisions and letters to unsuccessful tenderers. Otherwise, the contract to be considered null and void.

3.3.4 EVIDENCE BY CONTRACTOR

The tenderer to whom the contract is to be awarded shall provide, within 15 days following the receipt of the letter informing him of the proposed award of the contract and preceding the signature of the contract, the evidence on exclusion criteria, defined in section 2.4.2. If this evidence is not provided or proved to be unsatisfactory, the Institute reserves the right to cancel the award procedure or to change the award decision to the benefit of the next best ranked tenderers on condition that s/he provides the evidence on exclusion.

3.3.5 NO OBLIGATION TO AWARD THE CONTRACT

The tendering procedure shall not involve EIGE in any obligation to award the contract. EIGE may, before the contract is signed, either abandon the procurement procedure or cancel the award procedure without the Tenderers being entitled to claim any compensation.

In the event of cancellation of the tender procedure, Tenderers will be notified. In no event shall the Institute be liable for any damages in any way connected with the cancellation.


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4 THE CONTRACT

4.1 NATURE OF THE CONTRACT Framework Service Contract with single contractor.

4.2 STARTING DATE OF THE CONTRACT AND DURATION OF THE TASKS The contract shall commence on the day following signature by EIGE as the last contracting party. The Contract is expected to be signed in June – July 2012. The duration of the contract shall not exceed four years. The execution of the tasks may not start before the contract has been signed. The period of execution of the tasks may be extended before the end of the period originally stated in the contract, but only with the written agreement of the contracting parties.

The FWC will have an initial duration of one year as from the date of signature, and will be automatically renewed up to three times for an additional period of one year each time unless written notification to the contrary is sent by one of the contracting parties and received by the other no later than three months before expiry of the contract.

The duration of the FWC shall not exceed four years. 4.3 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONTRACT The implementation of the FWC will be through Order Forms to be signed by the two parties that will be signed following the procedure described below. Please note that signature of a framework contract imposes no obligation on EIGE to purchase the services. Only implementation of the framework contract through Order Forms is binding on EIGE. Whenever EIGE needs to purchase the services, an Order Form will be signed with the contractor as a result of the following procedure: a) EIGE will draw up the job description and Request for services. The job description will specify the requirements: education and training; professional experience; knowledge and skills (language, communication, interpersonal, intellectual); description of tasks; duration of the assignment, etc. b) The job description and a request to propose potential candidates will be sent to the contractor. c) Within 10 working days from EIGE’s request, the contractor should submit the curriculum vitae of the proposed candidates to EIGE. d) EIGE will assess the curriculum vitae of the candidates proposed by the contractor and will interview only the candidates whose curriculum vitae are considered to be most suitable for the assignment. The interviews will be held at EIGE’s premises, by EIGE staff members, following which EIGE will identify the candidate it wishes to select. e) EIGE will notify its decision to the contractor and will send an Order Form (pertaining to the selected candidate) for contractor’s signature. The hourly rates shall correspond to those specified in the framework contract under Annex II.


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The selected interim personnel shall commence her/his activities once the Order form is signed by the contractor and returned to EIGE, at the date indicated in the Order form. Please note that: _ If the curricula vitae submitted by the contractor are not considered to be appropriate, EIGE may request the contractor to propose additional potential candidates. _ In the event of extended sickness on the part of the interim personnel (more than five working days), or in the event of extended non-availability (e.g. maternity/parental leave), the contractor shall provide a replacement solution on the sixth working day of absence. Any change in the legal status of the company, for example its acquisition by or merger with another company must be notified to EIGE immediately in writing. If the conditions for performance of the contract are no longer guaranteed as a result of these changes, EIGE reserves the right to terminate the contract.

4.4 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE The main place of performance is at the EIGE, currently located at Svitrigailos 11M, Vilnius, Lithuania4. Meetings between the Contractor and EIGE will be also held on EIGE premises in Vilnius.

4.5 VOLUME OF THE CONTRACT

The maximum value of the contract for total maximum duration of 4 years is estimated at 250 000 EUR, excluding VAT. Depending on the budget availability and the needs of EIGE, this threshold could be increased up to 50%.

4.6 TERMS OF PAYMENT Payments shall be made in accordance with the Articles I.4 of the Draft Framework Service Contract. Payments shall be executed only if the Contractor has fulfilled all the contractual obligations by the date on which the invoice is submitted. Payment requests may not be made if an earlier payment has not been executed as a result of default or negligence on the part of the Contractor. The reporting requirement associated with the invoices are detailed in section 1.5.

4.7 GUARANTEES No guarantees are required by the contract.

4.8 DATA PROTECTION See Section I.8 in the Draft Framework Service Contract and the Invitation to Tender.

4 EIGE is planning to change its present location in 2012 although it shall remain located in the central part of Vilnius.


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Annex 1 – EIGE’s public holidays in 2012

Public holidays No. of

days January 02 Monday, the day following New Year's Day 1

February 16 Thursday, Restoration of the State Day 2 April 05 Maundy Thursday/ Holy Thursday 3

06 Good Friday 4

09 Easter Monday 5

May 17 Thursday, Ascension Day 6

18 Friday, the day following Ascension Day 7

28 Whit Monday 8

July 06 Friday, Anniversary of the Coronation of King Mindaugas 9

August 15 Wednesday, Assumption Day 10

November 01 Thursday, All Saints' Day 11

02 Friday, All Souls' Day 12

December 24 Monday, Christmas holidays through end of year 31 Monday, (6 days)

13-18

TOTAL DAYS 18

EIGE/2012/ADM/07 TENDER SPECIFICATIONS for PROVISION OF … · 2012. 3. 30. · EIGE/2012/ADM/07 ....

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