Type of document: Invitation to tender
Country: Belgium
OJEU Ref: (2019/S 154-378787/EN)
Nature of contract: Service contract
Procedure: Restricted procedure
Regulation of procurement: EU Institutions
Type of bid required: Partial bid
Contract notice
Services
BE-Brussels: EDF – Technical assistance to implement the Support Programme to the Maritime Security Strategy in Central Africa (Programme d’appui à la stratégie de sûreté et de sécurité maritimes en Afrique centrale (PASSMAR))
Gabon and the Central African region
Service contract notice
1.Publication referenceEuropeAid/140226/DH/SER/MULTI2.ProcedureRestricted.3.Programme titleSupport Programme for the Maritime Security Strategy in Central Africa (PASSMAR).4.FinancingRCO/FED/2017/039-9505.Contracting authorityThe European Union, Brussels, Belgium, , represented by the European Commission on behalf of and for the account of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS),
Contract specifications6.Nature of contractUnit price7.Contract descriptionMobilisation of technical assistance to support the project. Management, coordination, supervision, communication and visibility of the entire project implemented under direct management (P1.1, P1.2, P1.3) will be carried out by the long-term technical assistance team in close coordination and collaboration and, where appropriate, under the supervision of the SG-ECCAS. Given the project’s strong inter-institutional and inter-state dimension, technical assistance must rely on close collaboration with/between stakeholders, and must facilitate permanent understanding and simultaneous support for the structures concerned. This dialogue will be based on the institutional and political legitimacy of ECCAS and its General Secretariat, which will facilitate authoritative communication and close collaboration of the project with all stakeholders of ECCAS and its Member States.The technical assistance will consist of 4 positions, including a position in maritime governance; a position in project management and coordination; a position in support of civil society and the private sector, and a position in communication and visibility.The positions are intended for a maximum of 36 months (including leave).The technical assistance will be located in Libreville, Gabon.8.Number and titles of lotSingle lot.9.Maximum budget3 900 000 EUR.10.Additional servicesThe contracting authority may, at its own discretion, extend the service contract duration and/or contract scope subject to availability of funding up to an estimated amount of approximately 1 450 000 EUR. Any extension of the contract will be subject to satisfactory performance of the tasks by the contractor.
Conditions of participation11.EligibilityParticipation in the contract is open on equal terms to all legal entities participating either individually or as part of a grouping — consortium — of tenderers established in one of the Member States of the European Union, ACP States or in a country or territory authorised by the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement under which the programme is financed (also see point 29 below). Participation is also open to international organisations and public cooperation agencies of Member States of the European Union.It should be stressed that, as from the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union, the rules on access to the Union’s procurement procedures for economic operators established in third countries will apply to candidates and tenderers from the United Kingdom, depending on the outcome of the negotiations. If this access is not provided for by the legal provisions in force at the time of award of the contract, United Kingdom applicants and tenderers may be excluded from the procurement procedure.12.ApplicationAny eligible legal entity (as defined in point 11 above) or grouping of said parties (consortium) may apply.A consortium may be a permanent, legally-established grouping or a grouping constituted informally for a specific tender procedure. All the members of a consortium (i.e. the lead company and all other members) will be jointly and severally liable vis-à-vis the contracting authority.Should an ineligible legal entity (as defined in point 11) take part, the application concerned will be automatically disqualified. If said party belongs to a consortium, its disqualification will entail the disqualification of the consortium as a whole.13.Number of applicationsNatural persons or legal entities may submit one application only, irrespective of whether they take part as a sole legal entity, or as a lead company or member of a consortium submitting an application. Should a natural person or legal entity submit more than one application, all the applications involving the said party will be disqualified.14.Prohibition on alliances between shortlisted tenderers.Tenders which include companies not mentioned on the application forms used to compile the shortlist will be disqualified from this restricted procedure unless prior approval from the contracting authority has been obtained (see section 2.6.3 of the Practical Guide). Candidates invited to tender may not form alliances or subcontract to each other for the contract in question.15.Grounds for exclusionAs 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 described in section 2.6.10.1 of the Practical Guide.Candidates included in the lists of EU restrictive measures (see Section 2.4. of the PRAG) at the moment of the award decision cannot be awarded the contract.16.Sub-contractingSubcontracting is allowed.17.Number of candidates invited to tenderOn the basis of the applications received, at least 4 and at most 8 candidates will be invited to submit detailed tenders for this contract. Should the number of eligible candidates meeting the selection criteria be less than the minimum of 4, the contracting authority may invite the candidates which satisfy the criteria to submit a tender.
Provisional schedule for activities18.Scheduled date for dispatch of invitations to tender10.10.2019.19Commencement date of the contract15.2.2020 (on an indicative basis).20.Implementation period for the tasks36 months.
Selection and award criteria21.Selection criteriaThe following selection criteria will apply to candidates. Where applications are submitted by a consortium, the selection criteria will apply to the consortium as a whole, unless specifically stipulated otherwise. The selection criteria will not apply to natural persons and single-member companies working as subcontractors.1) Candidate’s economic and financial capacity (details to be given in section 3 of the application form). Should the candidate be a public body, equivalent information must be provided. The reference period taken into account will correspond to the last 3 financial years for which accounts have been closed.The average annual turnover or equivalent of the candidate must exceed 1 300 000,00 EUR;2) Candidate’s professional capacity (details to be given in sections 4 and 5 of the application form). The reference period will cover the 3 financial years prior to the submission deadline:— the candidate must have at least 15 permanent members of staff during the current year and the previous 3 years (2016, 2017 and 2018); at least 8 of the candidate’s permanent employees must be currently working in fields related to this contract: management of EU/EDF projects; implementation of a programme involving the mobilisation of long- and short-term expertise in the peace and security sectors (inter alia, conflict prevention, early warning, mediation, crisis and conflict management, and in particular maritime security); design and implementation of monitoring and evaluation facilities tailored to regional planning situations, and; communication and visibility;3) Candidate’s technical capacity (details to be given in sections 5 and 6 of the application form). The reference period will cover the 3 financial years prior to the submission deadline:— the tenderer has provided services during the last three years under at least two contracts with a budget at least equivalent to that of this contract, and in the following field:—— maritime security— as well as in one of the following fields:—— support for sector-based policy dialogue in the context of regional integration,—— expertise in the peace and security sectors (inter alia, conflict prevention, early warning, mediation, and crisis and conflict management).This means that the project the candidate refers to could have been started or completed at any time during the period given. However, it need not necessarily have been completed during this period, or have been undertaken during the whole of said period. Candidates or tenderers may refer either to a project completed during the reference period (although started before this period) or to part of a contract that has not yet been fully performed. In the 1st scenario, the project will be considered as a whole, subject to proof of satisfactory performance (statement from the entity that awarded the contract, proof of final payment, etc.); in the case of ongoing projects, only the part which has been successfully carried out by the candidate may be used as a reference. The candidate must be able to provide documentary proof of satisfactory performance of this part (declaration from the entity that awarded the contract, proof of final payment, etc.) and the corresponding amount. If the project referred to was implemented by a consortium, in the event that a selection criterion relating to the relevance of the experience is used, the supporting documents must clearly show the proportion completed by the candidate, as well as a description of the nature of the services provided.Any previous experience involving a breach of contract and termination by a contracting authority cannot be used as a reference.An economic operator may, if it considers appropriate and for a specific contract, make use of the capacities of other entities irrespective of the legal nature of the connection between itself and said entities. If the tenderer relies on the capacities of other entities, it must in this case provide the contracting authority with proof that it will have the resources needed to perform the contract by producing a written commitment undertaken by said entities to place such resources at its disposal. Such entities, e.g. the economic operator’s parent company, must observe the same eligibility rules — notably regardingnationality – and must meet the pertinent selection criteria for which the economic operator makes use of its capacities. Furthermore, the information relating to this third party entity/these third party entities for the relevant selection criteria must be included in a separate document. Proof of the capacity of this entity must also be furnished when requested by the contracting authority.With regard to technical and professional criteria, an economic operator may only rely on the capacities of other entities where the latter will perform the services for which these capacities are required.With regard to the economic and financial criteria, the entities whose capacities the tenderer uses will become jointly and severally liable for the performance of the contract.If more than 8 eligible candidates fulfil the selection criteria listed above, their strengths and weaknesses will be re-examined in order to rank their applications, and identify the 8 best candidates in accordance with point 17 of this contract notice. The only additional comparative criteria which will be considered in this re-examination are as follows: comparative criterion 1: the largest number of projects meeting criterion 3 (‘technical capacity of the candidate’), carried out at any time during the reference period.22.Award criteriaThe best price-quality ratio.
Application23.Final date for submission of applicationsThe deadline for receiving applications is 12.00 (local time) on 23.9.2019.Applications submitted to the contracting authority after the deadline will not be considered.24.Format of the application and details to be providedThe standard application form must be used for applications. The instructions and format of this form must be strictly adhered to.The application form can be found at the following web address: application must be accompanied by a sworn declaration of honour on exclusion and selection criteria using the template available from the following web address: additional documentation (brochure, letter, etc.) sent with the application will not be taken into consideration.25.Application submission proceduresApplications must be submitted in French only and sent to the contracting authority:— by bearer,— by express courier service directly submitting the application to the contracting authority, against a signed and dated acknowledgment of receipt, to the following address: délégation de l’Union européenne au Gabon, pour la Guinée Equatoriale, Sao Tomé-et-Principe et la CEEAC, 473 rue de l’Union européenne, le Gué Gué, Libreville, GABON, email: delegation-gabon-tenders@eeas.europa.euIn this case, the acknowledgement of receipt will attest to compliance with the final date for receipt of tenders.The contract title and the contract notice number (see point 1 above) must be clearly marked on the envelope containing the application, and must be quoted in all subsequent correspondence with the contracting authority.Applications submitted in any other way will not be considered.When submitting their proposals, candidates agree to receive notification of the result of the procedure by electronic means. The notification will be deemed to have been received on the day the contracting authority sends it to the email address stated in the application.26.Alteration or withdrawal of applicationsCandidates may amend or withdraw their application by giving written notification before the deadline for submission of applications. Applications cannot be amended once this deadline has passed.Notice of amendment or withdrawal must be submitted and sent as per the instructions given in point 25. The word ‘Modification’ (amendment) or ‘Retrait’ (withdrawal), as applicable, must be written on the outside envelope (and on the inner envelope, where applicable).27Working languageAll correspondence concerning this invitation to tender procedure and contract must be in French.28.Date of publication of prior information notice8.4.2019.29.Legal basis (1)Annex IV to the Partnership Agreement between the members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part, signed in Cotonou on 23.6.2000 as amended in Luxembourg on 25.6.2005 and in Ouagadougou on 22.6.2010. Reference is made to Annex IV as revised by Decision No 1/2014 of the ACP-EU Council of Ministers of 20.6.2014.(1) Please indicate any specification that may have an impact on the rules of participation (e. g. geographical specificity, short-term or long-term thematic specificity).30.Additional informationNone.
