SWIM and Horizon 2020 Support Mechanisms Call for tenders - EuropeAid/136537/DH/SER/MULTI

Belgium-Brussels: ENI — SWIM and Horizon 2020 support mechanisms

2015/S 035-058990

Service contract notice

Location: ENP South region

1.Publication reference:

EuropeAid/136537/DH/SER/MULTI.

2.Procedure:

Restricted.

3.Programme title:

This service contract will be funded under the Green Med II programme (ENI South regional environment and water programme 2014–2015).

4.Financing:

Budget line: European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI).

5.Contracting authority:

European Union
, represented by the European Commission, on behalf of and for the account of the partner countries, Brussels
, BELGIUM.

Contract specification

6.Nature of contract:

Fee-based.

7.Contract description:

The service contract will implement a regional project targeting countries in the EU Neighbourhood South region. The services will consist in providing expertise and tailored technical assistance, inter alia in the form of studies and assessments, trainings and coaching, study tours, peer-to-peer exchanges, as well as communication and visibility activities, to pursue the following 2 interrelated objectives:

— strengthening and better enforcing national regulatory and policy frameworks for reducing and preventing pollution of the Mediterranean Sea, in particular from municipal waste, urban waste water and industrial pollution (Horizon 2020 (marine pollution reduction and prevention) support mechanism — H2020 SM). Commitments under the Barcelona Convention and issues preventing sustainable investment will be prioritised,

— strengthening sustainable water management, with a special focus on water cooperation (including specific actions for shared water resources in the Maghreb), river basin management, water demand management, the water/energy/food security nexus, broad stakeholder participation and open access to data (sustainable integrated water management (SWIM) supporting mechanism — SWIM SM).

8.Number and titles of lots:

1 lot only.

9.Maximum budget:

7 000 000 EUR.

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 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 an eligible country or territory as defined under the Regulation (EU) No 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. All supplies under this contract must originate in 1 or more of these countries. However, they may originate from any country when the amount of the supplies to be purchased is below 100 000 EUR per purchase.

12.Application:

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 1 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 1 application, all applications in which that person has participated will be excluded.

14.Shortlist alliances prohibited:

Any tender received from tenderers comprising firms other than those mentioned in the shortlisted 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). Shortlisted 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 2.3.3 of the PRAG.

16.Subcontracting:

Subcontracting is allowed.

17.Number of candidates to be shortlisted:

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:

17.4.2015.

19.Provisional commencement date of the contract:

1.12.2015.

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 the case of the candidate being a public body, equivalent information should be provided:

Criteria for legal and natural persons:

1.1. the average annual turnover (revenue) of the candidate in 2012, 2013 and 2014 must have exceeded 2 500 000 EUR; and

1.2. the average current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) in 2012, 2013 and 2014 must be equal or superior to 1.

2) Professional capacity of candidate (based on items 4 and 5 of the application form that should be adapted in consequence):

Criteria for legal and natural persons:

2.1. at least 20 permanent staff (not counting administrative/support staff) currently work full time with a permanent contract for the candidate;

2.2. at least 10 permanent staff (not counting administrative/support staff) currently work full time with a permanent contract for the candidate in at least one of following fields: water governance, water policies, water resource management;

2.3. at least 10 permanent staff (not counting administrative/support staff) currently work full time with a permanent contract for the candidate in at least 2 of following fields: urban waste water, waste management or industrial emissions;

2.4. at least 5 permanent staff (not counting administrative/support staff) currently work full time with a permanent contract in the field of communication.

3) Technical capacity of candidate (based on items 5 and 6 of the application form that should be adapted in consequence):

Criteria for legal and natural persons:

3.1. the candidate has successfully implemented in the past 3 years (before the submission deadline) at least 1 international cooperation project, outside the European Union, with a budget of at least 3 000 000 EUR, in the field of water governance, water policies, water resource management. The design or construction of infrastructure projects is not eligible;

3.2. the candidate has successfully implemented in the past 3 years (before the submission deadline) at least 1 international cooperation project, outside the European Union, with a budget of at least 3 000 000 EUR, in the field of urban waste water, waste management or industrial emissions. The design or construction of infrastructure projects is not eligible;

3.3. the candidate has successfully implemented in the past 3 years (before the submission deadline) at least 2 projects with a budget of at least 100 000 EUR each, in the field of Web-based communication.

NB: As references, candidates/tenderers are allowed to list projects started before or during the reference period (i.e. the 3-year period before the submission deadline), either 1) completed during the reference period; or 2) still ongoing by the end of the reference period. In the first case, the project will be considered in its whole if proper evidence of performance is provided (statement or certificate from the entity which awarded the contract, proof of final payment). In the second case, only the portion of the project satisfactorily completed during the reference period will be taken into consideration if proper documentary evidence is also provided. If a candidate/tenderer has implemented the project in a consortium, the percentage that the candidate/tenderer has successfully completed must be supported by documentary evidence, together with a description of the nature of the services.

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 re-examined to identify the 8 best candidates. The only factor which will be taken into consideration during this re-examination is:

— the highest number of projects in criteria 3.1 and 3.2 that were implemented in the Mediterranean region.

22.Award criteria:

Best value for money.

Application

23.Deadline for receipt of applications:

23.3.2015 (18:00), Central European Time.

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?group=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, Central Mail Service, DG Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, Finance, Contracts and Audit Unit (NEAR B3), J-54 3/229, avenue du Bourget 3, 1140 Brussels, BELGIUM. Tel. +32 22929208,

— or hand delivered (including courier services) directly to the contracting authority in return for a signed and dated receipt to:

European Commission, Central Mail Service, DG Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, Finance, Contracts and Audit Unit (NEAR B3), J-54 3/229, avenue du Bourget 3, 1140 Brussels, BELGIUM. Tel. +32 22929208.

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 communication for this tender procedure and contract must be in English.

28.Date of publication of prior information notice:

20.12.2014.

EuropeAid/136537/DH/SER/Multi.

29.Legal basis:

Regulation (EU) No 236/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11.3.2014 laying down common rules and procedures for the implementation of the Union's instruments for financing external action and Regulation (EU) No 232/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11.3.2014 establishing a European Neighbourhood Instrument.

30.Additional information:

Not applicable.

Contact information	European Commission Service du Courrier Central DG Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations Finance Contracts and Audit Unit (NEAR B3) J-54 3/229 Avenue du Bourget, 3 B-1140 Brussels, Belgium Phone: 032 2 29 29208
News type	Procurement
File link	https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/europeaid/online-services/index.cfm?do=publi.welcome&nbPubliList=15&orderby=upd&orderbyad=Desc&searchtype=RS&aofr=136537&userlanguage=en
File link local	TenderSpecification.doc (DOC, 87 Kb)
Source of information	EuropeAid/136537/DH/SER/MULTI
Keyword(s)	SWIM, Horizon2020
Subject(s)	AGRICULTURE , ANALYSIS AND TESTS , CHARACTERISTICAL PARAMETERS OF WATERS AND SLUDGES , DRINKING WATER , DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION : COMMON PROCESSES OF PURIFICATION AND TREATMENT , ENERGY , FINANCE-ECONOMY , HEALTH - HYGIENE - PATHOGENIC MICROORGANISM , HYDRAULICS - HYDROLOGY , INDUSTRY , INFORMATION - COMPUTER SCIENCES , INFRASTRUCTURES , MEASUREMENTS AND INSTRUMENTATION , METHTODOLOGY - STATISTICS - DECISION AID , NATURAL MEDIUM , POLICY-WATER POLICY AND WATER MANAGEMENT , PREVENTION AND NUISANCES POLLUTION , RIGHT , RISKS AND CLIMATOLOGY , SANITATION -STRICT PURIFICATION PROCESSES , SLUDGES , TOOL TERMS , TOURISM - SPORT - HOBBIES , WATER DEMAND , WATER QUALITY
Relation	http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/prag/annexes.do?group=B
Geographical coverage	n/a
News date	04/03/2015
Working language(s)	ENGLISH