REQUEST FOR TENDERS
20 January 2014
Programmes promoting cross border co-operation (CBC) are being implemented at the external
borders of the EU as part of the implementation of the European Neighbourhood and Partnership
Instrument (ENPI). There are a total of 15 such programmes in Europe. This request for tenders
applies the Kolarctic ENPI CBC 2007-2013 programme. The working language of the programme
is English.
The Kolarctic ENPI CBC (2007-2013) programme area comprises the northern regions of four
countries. Included in the programme area are Lapland in Finland, Norrbotten in Sweden, the
Murmansk and Arkhangelsk regions and the Nenets autonomous district in Russia, and the
Finnmark, Troms and Finnmark counties in Norway. Adjoining regions are Northern Ostrobothnia
in Finland, Västerbotten in Sweden, and the Karelia Republic, City of St. Petersburg and the
Leningrad district in Russia. The original overall funding of the programme is EUR 70 million, in
addition to which the Russian Federation has granted additional funding for the programme to an
amount of some EUR 22.35 million; correspondingly, the additional funding granted by the EU
amounts to EUR 2.23 million. The Regional Council of Lapland acts as managing authority for the
programme.
Procurement agreement for the external evaluation of the Kolarctic ENPI CBC programme
The Kolarctic ENPI CBC programme / the Regional Council of Lapland invite you to
tender for carrying out an external evaluation of the programme in 2014-2015 in the
manner described below:
DESCRIPTION OF THE TASK
The external evaluation of the Kolarctic ENPI CBC programme will be carried out in
two stages:
A. Evaluation of the functionality of the programme's management, control and
monitoring systems
B. Evaluation of the results and impact of the projects carried out with funding from
the programme
For a more detailed description of the assignment, see Annex 3. Terms of
Reference, Kolarctic ENPI CBC 2007-2013 Programme Evaluation.
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REQUEST FOR TENDERS
20 January 2014
CONTENTS OF THE TENDER
Price
The evaluation basis for the price is the overall price, given with VAT excluded. The
tender must also include the daily price. The price of one evaluation day must be the
same in Finland, Russia, Norway and Sweden. Travel days shall not be included in
the daily price. The daily price must include all expenses, such as payroll, social and
administrative costs. Any travel costs shall not be included in the daily price. Travel
expences are compensated in accordance with the criteria laid down in national laws.
The compensation principle for evaluation trips in Finland, Russia, Sweden and
Norway shall be the actual, reasonable expenses incurred by the travel. Travel
expenses are approved according to the most economic alternative. Invoicing or
delivery surcharges, etc., shall not be approved.
The prices specified in the tender must remain valid throughout the entire agreement
period, i.e., until 30 June 2015.
The customer reserves the option of extending the validity of the agreement by one
year. The tender must take this option into consideration, so that all of the offered
terms and conditions must also cover the agreement period possibly extended based
on the option.
The terms of payment shall be agreed in the commission agreement.
Use of subcontractors
The tenderer may use subcontractors in Finland, Russia, Sweden and Norway. The
tenderer shall be responsible for the activities of the subcontractors as if they were its
own activities.
The tenderer shall be responsible for the subcontractor taking care of its statutory
obligations.
Submitting the tender in Finnish or English
The tenderer may submit the tender either in Finnish or English.
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REQUEST FOR TENDERS
20 January 2014
DECIDING THE WINNER OF THE COMPETITIVE TENDERING
The Kolarctic ENPI CBC programme / the Regional Council of Lapland shall make an
agreement on carrying out an external evaluation of the programme for between 1
April 2014 and 30 June 2015 with the tenderer who won the competitive tendering.
Best value for money shall be the selection criterion used. When assessing the best
value for money, the following factors shall be taken into consideration:
o
o
Price (weighting 40 %)
Quality (weighting 60 %)
Comparison of best value for money
Price
The overall price of evaluations A and B in total (VAT
0%)
Maximum scores
40
Quality
The competence and evaluation experience of the
responsible evaluator 1.
Evaluation plan of evaluation subjects A and B 2.
Maximum price and quality scores in total
Maximum scores
40
20
100
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Annex 1. The competence and evaluation experience of the responsible evaluator will be assessed in accordance to
Annex 1. Qualification, education and work experience, Section: 7. Experience in Evaluation of
development/cooperation interventions in branch of EU programme, EU-project and EU-administration (a description of
the experience in previous evaluations and other relevant studies).
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Annex 3. Terms of Reference, Kolarctic ENPI CBC 2007 – 2013 Programme Evaluation.
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REQUEST FOR TENDERS
20 January 2014
Quality assessment criteria
Quality criteria
Quality criteria scores
Max
40
The competence and experience in 40 points
evaluation
activities
of
the
the candidate has strong
responsible evaluator:
evaluation
experience
and
evaluation
competence
(1
–
3)
and
1. EU programmes
2. EU projects
3. Administration of EU
Programme(s).
the experience and competence
required by the evaluation task
(Annex 3 Terms of Reference).
25 points
the candidate has experience in
all areas of the evaluation task
(1–3) and the competence required
by the evaluation task.
15 points
the candidate has experience
and competence in evaluation,
but is missing evaluation
experience in one area (1–3).
5 points
the candidate has experience
and competence in evaluation,
but is missing evaluation
experience in two areas (1–3).
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Quality of the evaluation plan:
1. Evaluation plan A and B,
implementation and methodology
of the evaluation:
7 points
the candidate has presented a clear
and realistic plan on carrying out
the evaluation task and its
methodology. The evaluation plan
and the evaluation task correspond
with each other (Annex 3 Terms of
Reference).
4 points
the candidate has presented a
general-level plan on carrying out
the evaluation task and its
methodology, but some area
related to the evaluation task is
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REQUEST FOR TENDERS
20 January 2014
missing, and the evaluation plan
does not fully correspond with the
assignment. (Annex 3 Terms of
Reference).
2 points
the candidate has presented a
general-level evaluation plan, but
some important area is missing,
and the evaluation plan and the
assignment do not correspond with
each other (Annex 3 Terms of
Reference).
2. Scheduling
and
related resourcing
personnel-
5 points
the candidate has presented a
realistic schedule on completing the
evaluation task and specified the
required human resources.
2 points
the candidate has presented a
general-level schedule and human
resources for the evaluation task.
Maximum quality criteria scores in
total
60
The price is scored based on the total price (VAT 0%) presented in the tender. The
lowest total price receives 40 points, and the competing price offers will be
proportioned to the lowest total price offer using the following formula:
Lowest total price / competing total price x maximum score 40.
Quality is assessed based on two different quality areas:
The responsible evaluator's competence and evaluation experience and the
evaluation plan.
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REQUEST FOR TENDERS
20 January 2014
If the assessment scores (maximum price and quality criteria scores in total) are
equal, the tenderer receiving the highest score in experience shall be selected as the
service provider. If these scores are equal as well, the service provider shall be
decided by casting lots.
The approval and rejection criteria of the tender
The tender may not be conditional. The tender that offers the best value for money,
taking the requirements set forth in this request for tender into consideration, shall be
approved.
The customer shall be entitled to decide on moving to the negotiating procedure, or
reserve the right to not approve any of the tenders. Tenderers shall have no right to
compensation as a result. Tenders that are incomplete, deviate from the request for
tenders or are late shall be disregarded. A tenderer who cannot be considered to
have the technical, financial or other prerequisites for carrying out the assignment, or
who has neglected the payment of taxes or statutory social security contributions, can
be excluded from the competitive tendering.
Partial tenders shall be disregarded.
The parties shall commit to notifying the parties to the agreement of any essential
changes taking place during the agreement period (for example, reorganisations).
SUBMITTING THE TENDER
The written tenders must be delivered by 21 February 2014 at 4.00 p.m. to the
following address:
Kolarctic ENPI CBC Programme
Regional Council of Lapland
Hallituskatu 20 B
FIN-96100 Rovaniemi
FINLAND
or by e-mail to the following address:
[email protected]
The tender envelope/e-mail subject must include the following identifier:
”TENDER: Evaluation of the Kolarctic ENPI CBC Programme”
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REQUEST FOR TENDERS
20 January 2014
PUBLICITY AND VALIDITY OF THE TENDER DOCUMENTS
Insofar as they are not confidential according to the law, the tender documents shall
become public after the agreement has been made. Should the tenderer consider
some part of the tender to be confidential due to its business or professional secret
nature, this must be specifically noted in the tender, and the confidential information
presented in a separate appendix. However, the price information shall be public.
The tender must remain valid for a period of three months from the last submitting
date.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Requests for additional information must be delivered at the latest by 3 p.m. on
31 January 2014 via e-mail to the following address [email protected].
Responses concerning additional information shall be published on the programme's
website at www.kolarcticenpi.info on 7 February 2014 at the latest. Only additional
information provided in writing shall be binding to the customer.
Contact information for questions regarding the contents of the Kolarctic ENPI CBC
programme:
Development Director Päivi Ekdahl, GSM +358 (0)400 383 578
Head of Programme Katja Sukuvaara, GSM +358 (0)40 178 6650.
ANNEXES
Annex 1 Qualifications, education and experience
Annex 2 List of the subcontractors
Annex 3 Terms of Reference, Kolarctic ENPI CBC 2007-2013 Programme Evaluation
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