TENDER RULES

This document, which is not contractually binding, sets out the main elements of the procedure: the tender procedure, the documents provided by the Council of Europe, the criteria for selecting one or more providers and the constituent elements of the offers.

It is strongly recommended that you read this document first, before starting working on your offer.

Appendix 1 provides general information on Council of Europe calls for tenders and contracts.

Object of the procurement procedure and / or project ►	This consultation concerns a project to develop a new online system for managing the grants of the European Youth Foundation
Execution place / building ►	Click here to enter text
Contract(s) number(s) ►	DIRECTORATE-23-
Buying entity ►	Council of Europe Directorate-General for Democracy and Human Dignity European Youth Foundation
Type of contract (see Appendix 1) ►	Mixed contract
Purchase typology ►	IT
Deadline for sending questions (if applicable) ►	24/01/2024
Deadline for tendering ►	31/01/2024 Click here to enter text

CONTACTS* (contacts are strictly limited during the tender period)
Questions relating to the consultation or the project	[email protected]
Tendering	By e-mail to: [email protected] (the offer must be sent to this e-mail only: no cc or any other e-mails)
Your e-mail subject must include the contract number* reference mentioned here above.

Identification of the contracting authority

THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE

Avenue de l’Europe

67075 STRASBOURG Cedex

The Council of Europe is an international Organisation with 46 member States. The activities of the Organisation are governed by its Statute. Council of Europe procurements are governed by the Financial Regulations of the Organisation and by Rule 1395 of 20 June 2019 on the procurement procedures of the Council of Europe.

The Organisation enjoys privileges and immunities provided for in the General Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the Council of Europe and the Special Agreement relating to the Seat of the Council of Europe (link).

In accordance with the Special Agreement relating to the Seat of the Council of Europe, French laws are, in principle, applicable within the premises, buildings and perimeters of the Seat of the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe has the right to issue regulations intended to facilitate, within its buildings and premises, the full exercise of its responsibilities.

1- Project description

The Council of Europe is looking for a provider to develop a new online system for the management of the grants of the European Youth Foundation. This project requires:

1- STEP 1: assistance with the review and finalisation of the business requirements,

2- STEP 2: development, implementation, testing and maintenance of the new system.

Both steps shall be covered by the same Provider.

2- Procedure

This tender procedure is an international public call for tender, in accordance with Rule 1395 of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on the Council of Europe's procurement procedures.

The purpose of this specific tender procedure is to conclude a mixed contract for the supply of the deliverables described in the technical specifications. Tenderers will be selected on the basis of the criteria set out below. All tenderers will be informed in writing of the outcome of the procedure.

The procedure may include clarification and / or negotiation rounds. This will allow technical exchanges between the parties to ensure that the bidders have a good understanding of the Organisation's needs and to better clarify the existing solutions for the Council. Any negotiation which takes place will have the following objectives:

- provide bidders with a better understanding of the Council's requirements (and thus provide more accurate cost estimates);

- provide an opportunity for both parties to clarify areas of uncertainty;

- enable the Council to better understand the bidders' offers;

- to allow bidders to further analyse and refine their bids in order to submit a proposal that is as competitive as possible and more in line with the Organisation's expectations.

This approach should enable the Council to obtain the best possible bids through an accurate and comprehensive process and expression of requirements. It will also ensure that the most appropriate technical and commercial proposals for the Organisation are selected, thereby reducing risk and delivering better value to the Council.

The Council will ensure that information is shared fairly and transparently between bidders so that all bids are evaluated and compared equally. Bidders will be assessed on their ability to meet the needs of the Organisation, their expected delivery schedule, their compliance with quality standards and overall costs. They will also be assessed on their experience in delivering similar solutions to the public and private sectors (visits to or audits of relevant reference sites are envisaged).

3- Selection criteria

The criteria are fully part of the tender process and cannot be changed after publication.

Exclusion criteria

By signing the Act of Engagement, the provider declares on its honor not being in any of the below situations[1]:

Tenderers shall be excluded from participating in the tender procedure if they:

a. have been sentenced by final judgment on one or more of the following charges: participation in a criminal organisation, corruption, fraud, money laundering, terrorist financing, terrorist offences or offences linked to terrorist activities, child labour or trafficking in human beings;

b. are in a situation of bankruptcy, liquidation, termination of activity, insolvency or arrangement with creditors or any like situation arising from a procedure of the same kind, or are subject to a procedure of the same kind;

c. have received a judgment with res judicata force, finding an offence that affects their professional integrity or serious professional misconduct;

d. do not comply with their obligations as regards payment of social security contributions, taxes and dues, according to the statutory provisions of their country of incorporation, establishment or residence;

e. are an entity created to circumvent tax, social or other legal obligations (empty shell company), have ever created or are in the process of creation of such an entity;

f. have been involved in mismanagement of the Council of Europe funds or public funds;

g. are or appear to be in a situation of conflict of interest;

h. are - or their owner(s) or senior manager(s) -, in the case of legal entities, included in the lists of persons or entities subject to the restrictive measures applied by the European Union (in the case of calls for tenders financed by European funds only);

i. are retired Council of Europe staff members or are staff members having benefitted from an early departure scheme;

j. are currently employed or were employed on the date of the launch of the procurement procedure, by the Council of Europe.

Eligibility criteria

Tenderers shall demonstrate that they fulfil the following criteria (to be assessed on the basis of all supporting documents listed below):

Eligibility criteria	Supporting document to be provided
More than 5 years of activity in relation to the services expected under the contract.	Document describing your 5 years of services similar to those expected under this contract
Supply of 3 references and services rendered to Organizations similar to the Council of Europe (more than 2000 employees)	Presentation of 3 similar references and a description of the services offered

Award criteria

Only complete eligible tenders will be assessed by the Council of Europe, taking into account the following criteria:

STEP 1 (30% of the final total score): Assisting with the Consolidation of the business requirements document.

Award criteria	Weight in points (out of 100 in total)
Financial :	40
Technical: Functional aspects: understanding the need, functional coverage, relevance of the proposed solution, ability of the supplier to propose a viable solution, particularly in terms of User Interface and ergonomics (examples of screens, contact form, dashboard). Technical aspects: architecture and technical solution proposed, integration and migration strategy proposed, compliance with norms and standards, warranty period. Methodological aspects: development methodologies in agile mode, organization, planning, references to similar projects, team profiles.	40 20
Total	100

STEP 2 (70% of the final total score): Development of the solution and corrective and maintenance application after the expiration of the warranty period.

Award criteria	Weight in points (out of 100 in total)
Financial :	50
Technical: experience, expertise, quality of the provider (submit the CVs of employees corresponding to the profiles needed.)	50
Total	100

The Council of Europe will assess both STEP 1 (30% of the final total score) and STEP 2 (70% of the final total score) based on above award criteria. The candidate with the highest score (STEP 1 + STEP 2) will be selected for this contract.

4- Specific information on this call for tenders

	SITE VISIT
	Is a site visit mandatory?	☐	YES	☒	NO
☐	A common visit is foreseen on: dd/mm/yyyy
☐	Individual visits are organised: please contact DGA.AO@coe.int. Deadline for visits: dd/mm/yyyy
☒	If there is no mandatory visit, can the provider request an individual visit?	☐	YES	☒	NO
	If yes, the Provider contacts [email protected] to arrange a date.

CONTENT OF THE CALL FOR TENDERS* (would a Tenderer disagree with contractual clauses, its offer must include a detailed explanatory document – the Council of Europe reserves the right to reject the request).
☒	Act of Engagement (AE)
☒	Specific Contractual Conditions (SCC)
☒	Business requirements
☒	Supplementary General Conditions (SGC)
☒	General Conditions (GC)
☐	Financial Appendix(es) (All-inclusive prices, Price per units, …)
☐	Other :
☒	Tender Rules (TR)

* By submitting its offer, the provider fully accepts the conditions governing this call for tenders.

5- Composition of the offer

The Tenderer undertakes that its offer includes all the documents selected below, as well as any other documents it deems necessary for the understanding and analysis of its tender.

If any of the documents listed below are missing, the Council of Europe reserves the right to reject the tender.

DOCUMENTS TO BE PROVIDED
☒	Completed and signed copy of the Act of Engagement (AE)[2]
☐	Completed and signed Financial Appendix(es) (All-inclusive price, Price per unit, …)
☒	The CV(s) of the key personnel that will be involved/lead in the project (submit the CVs of employees corresponding to the profiles needed.)*
☒	Document(s) required to meet the eligibility criteria
☒	Any document helping the assessment of the award criteria by the Council of Europe Submit a technical proposal in connection with Step 1
☒	Any document helping the understanding of the tender by the Council of Europe

By signing the Act of Engagement, the tenderer declares that he is fully acquainted with and accepts all the information and administrative and technical documents relating to the contract and to providing the services and works.

Appendix 1 – General information

Typical composition, in order of prevalence, of a Council of Europe call for tenders (each tender being different, the documents may vary from one procedure to another)

Document	Description	Contractual ?
Act of Engagement (AE)	The future contract, completed by the provider for submitting and committing to its offer.	Yes
Specific Contractual Conditions (SCC)	Regroups the special conditions of the contract: additional penalties, price revision, duration, etc.	Yes
Technical specifications (TS)	Detailed description of what is expected during the execution of the contract. Without TS (for less complex contracts), the requirement is described directly in the Act of Engagement (Section 1). In this case, the provider might be invited to submit a detailed offer in its tender.	Yes
Supplementary General Conditions (SGC)	Details all the contractual conditions according to the type of contract (IT, works, etc.). The SCC complete and detail these Conditions.	Yes
General Conditions (GC)	The Council of Europe's procurement general conditions that apply to all contracts (link).	Yes
Financial Appendixes	Refer to the expected needs of the Council of Europe (TS, …) to collect financial offers from bidders.	Yes
Other	Planning, plans, diagrams, photos... any document provided by the Council to better specify its needs.	Yes
Tender Rules (TR)	The present document providing details of the procedure (deadlines, visits, questions/answers, submission of bids), the Council's expectations regarding bidders and the selection criteria.	No

The different forms of contracts at the Council of Europe and how they work

Form of the contract (with or without lots)	Description	Number of steps
One-off contract	A contract covering the needs of a specific activity or project, all of which is ordered in full at the time of the signature. Regarding lots, each lot is subject of a single separate contract.	1
Framework contract with Purchase Orders	At the end of the call for tenders, a framework contract lists the prices offered by selected provider(s) for a set of services (Price per units). The Council issues, at a 2^nd step, Purchase Orders according to its needs.	2
Mixed contract	It’s a contract that includes both All-inclusive prices and Price per units for on-demand services (with Purchase Orders).	1 or 2
Framework agreement with subsequent contracts	At the end of the call for tenders, a group of providers is selected for a specific sector. In a 2^nd step, and depending on its needs, the Council organises competitive procedures (also known as call-off) with the selected providers only.	2

Framework contracts: additional information

Particularity	Description	Where ?
Multiple or Single provider(s)	The Council of Europe informs candidates whether the future contract will be awarded to one or more providers.	SCC
Pooling or Ranking :	If the Framework Contract is a Multiple Framework Contract, the Council of Europe will indicate to the candidates how future Purchase Orders will be awarded.	SCC
Pooling	Based on the criteria (eligibility, award), the Council of Europe contracts with a given number of providers (a maximum is indicated in the call for tenders) and awards its Purchase Orders to the one offering the best value for money for each need.
Ranking	Based on the criteria (eligibility, award), the Council of Europe ranks the bids and contracts with a given number of providers (a maximum is indicated in the call for tenders). Purchase Orders are awarded to the highest-ranked bidder. In the event of a its incapacity to deliver, the Purchase Order is transferred to the next ranked bidder.

A typical tender procedure

Steps		Description	Who ?
1	Publication	The call for tenders is published on the Council's website.	Council of Europe
2	Questions / Answers	Candidates can send their questions in case of doubts, to the e-mail (and before the deadline) indicated on page 1 of this Tender Rules.	Candidate, then Council of Europe
3	Mandatory visits (or not)	The Council of Europe can arrange visits to provide additional information to providers. Providers shall confirm their wish to visit the site by e-mail according to Article 4. In the event of a mandatory visit, offers from candidates who haven’t done the visit will be excluded.	Candidate
4	Submission of offers	All the required documents must be sent to the e-mail specified on page 1 of this Tender Rules, before the deadline.	Candidate
5	Opening and analysis of tenders	Tenders are assessed and classified according to eligibility and award criteria.	Council of Europe
6	Clarification and/or negotiation phase(s)	Optional: one or more discussion phases may be requested by the Council of Europe. Depending on its needs, the Council of Europe may request a clarification and/or negotiation phase, regardless the type of call for tenders (according to Article 20 of Rule 1395).	Council of Europe
7	Award	All tenderers are informed of the Council of Europe's award decision.	Council of Europe

How to submit an offer?

Steps	Description	Where ?
1	Read all the documents provided with the call for tenders.	Tender documents
2	Take into consideration the eligibility and award criteria: they will be used to assess your offer.	TR
3	Complete the Act of Engagement and the Financial Appendix (if any). Unless otherwise specified, variants are authorised. However, it is mandatory to respond to the basic offer.	AE+ Financial Appendix
4	Add all the documents requested by the Council of Europe	TR
5	Send your offer only to the e-mail address specified on page 1 of this Tender Rules, before the deadline. Tenders submitted to another e-mail account as well as tenders submitted after the deadline will be excluded.	TR

[1]Council of Europe reserves the right to ask tenderers, at a later stage, to supply the following supporting documents:

- An extract from the record of convictions or failing that an equivalent document issued by the competent judicial or administrative authority of the country of incorporation, indicating that the first three and sixth requirements listed above under “exclusion criteria” are met;

- A certificate issued by the competent authority of the country of incorporation indicating that the fourth requirement is met.

[2] The Act of Engagement must be completed, signed manually and scanned in its entirety (i.e. including all the pages) or signed electronically (certified signature).