TENDER FILE / TERMS OF REFERENCE

(Competitive bidding procedure / Framework Contract)

Purchase of consultancy services in relation to the project “Combating discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes in the Republic of Moldova”

Contract N° DAD - ADD/BH 4962/2023/13

The Council of Europe is currently implementing, and will implement until 28 February 2026 a Project on “Combating discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes in the Republic of Moldova”. In that context, it is looking for Providers for the provision of specialized consultancy services on combating discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes to be requested by the Council on an as needed basis.

A.    TENDER RULES

This tender procedure is a competitive bidding procedure. In accordance with Rule 1395 of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on the procurement procedures of the Council of Europe[1], the Organisation shall invite to tender at least three potential providers for any purchase between €2,000 (or €6,000 for intellectual services) and €55,000 tax exclusive.

This specific tender procedure aims at concluding a framework contract for the provision of deliverables described in the Act of Engagement (See attached). A tender is considered valid for 120 calendar days as from the closing date for submission. The selection of tenderers will be made in the light of the criteria indicated below. All tenderers will be informed in writing of the outcome of the procedure.

The tenderer must be either a natural person, a legal person or consortia of legal and/or natural persons.

Tenders shall be submitted by email only (with attachments) to the email address indicated in the table below, with the following reference in subject: Tender – Republic of Moldova consultancy on combating discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes - 2023. Tenders addressed to another email address will be rejected.

The general information and contact details for this procedure are indicated on this page. You are invited to use the CoE contact details indicated below for any question you may have. All questions shall be submitted at least five (5) working days before the deadline for submission of the tenders and shall be exclusively addressed to the email address indicated below with the following reference in subject: Questions – Republic of Moldova consultancy on combating discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes – 2023.

Type of contract ►	Framework contract
Duration ►	Until 28 February 2026
Deadline for submission of tenders/offers ►	15 September 2023
Email for submission of tenders/offers ►	[email protected]
Email for questions ►	[email protected]
Expected starting date of execution ►	16 October 2023

B.    EXPECTED DELIVERABLES

Background of the Project

The project “Combating discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes in the Republic of Moldova” is currently implemented by the Council of Europe and is funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe in the framework of their Partnership for Good Governance phase III.

The project seeks in specific to continue to support all stakeholders and partners from PGGII phase, providing more in-depth knowledge to all relevant actors and also stimulating their cooperation and networking towards better responses to discrimination and hatred. As a result of the Project implementation, it is anticipated that:

• The legislative framework to combat discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes in the Republic of Moldova is improved in line with European standards.
• Relevant institutions and non-state stakeholders in the Republic of Moldova are better equipped for fighting against discrimination and hatred and for a better protection of vulnerable groups.
• State institutions and law enforcement bodies have strengthened capacities to react to discrimination and hatred in line with ECRI standards/recommendations and with other European standards.
• The general public in the Republic of Moldova has an increased awareness on the danger of discrimination and on the importance of taking a stand against hatred and discrimination.

The Council of Europe is looking for a maximum of 10  Providers (provided enough tenders meet the criteria indicated below) in order to support the implementation of the project with a particular expertise on combating discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes in the Republic of Moldova.

This Contract is currently estimated to cover up to35 activities, to be held by 28 February 2026.This estimate is for information only and shall not constitute any sort of contractual commitment on the part of the Council of Europe. The Contract may potentially represent a higher or lower number of activities, depending on the evolving needs of the Organisation.

For information purposes only, the total budget of the project amounts 560.000 Euros and the total amount of the object of present tender shall not exceed 55,000 Euros tax exclusive for the whole duration of the Framework Contract. This information does not constitute any sort of contractual commitment or obligation on the part of the Council of Europe.

Scope of the Framework Contract

Throughout the duration of the Framework Contract, pre-selected Providers may be asked to contribute to various activites related to combating discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes, in line with European standards:

-       Draft analytical reports (assessments, gap analysis, proposed modifications, awareness raising materials) and studies on combating discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes (including civil, administrative, criminal law provision; development of the mandates of the Equality Council and People’s Advocate; reinforcing the capacity of legal professionals and law enforcement; improved systems of disaggregated data collection; measures to combat hate speech, hate crimes and discrimination; supporting the role of civil society to offer victim support and advocate for improved practice on discrimination; awareness raising among the general population and specific groups on discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes in the Republic of Moldova).

-       Participate in working and consultation meetings, expert discussions, round tables, workshops, seminars, conferences with national authorities and stakeholders; facilitate and report on the meetings.

-       Prepare training modules (both online and offline) or training materials on the mentioned topics or adapt training materials to the needs of the specific groups of professionals.

-       Conduct specialised workshops on these topics.

The above list is not considered exhaustive. The Council reserves the right to request deliverables not explicitly mentioned in the above list of expected services, but related to the field of expertise object of the present Framework Contract.

In terms of quality requirements, the pre-selected Service Providers must ensure, inter alia, that:

·         The services are provided to the highest professional/academic standard;

·         Any specific instructions given by the Council – whenever this is the case – are followed.

In addition to the orders requested on an as needed basis, the Provider shall keep regular communication with the Council to ensure continuing exchange of information relevant to the project implementation. This involves, among others, to inform the Council as soon as it becomes aware, during the execution of the Contract, of any initiatives and/or adopted laws and regulations, policies, strategies or action plans or any other development related to the object of the Contract (see more on general obligations of the Provider in Article 3.1.2 of the Legal Conditions in the Act of Engagement).

Unless otherwise agreed with the Council, written documents produced by the Provider shall be in English (see more on requirements for written documents in Articles 3.2.2 and 3.2.3 of the Legal Conditions in the Act of Engagement).]

C.    FEES

Tenderers are invited to indicate their fees, by completing and sending the table of fees, as attached in Section A to the Act of Engagement. These fees are final and not subject to review. Tenders proposing fees above the exclusion level indicated in the Table of fees will be entirely and automatically excluded from the tender procedure.

The Council will indicate on each Order Form (see Section D below) the global fee corresponding to each deliverable, calculated on the basis of the unit fees, as agreed by this Contract.

D.    HOW WILL THIS FRAMEWORK CONTRACT WORK? (Ordering PROCEDURE)

Once the selection procedure is completed, you will be informed accordingly. Deliverables will then be delivered on the basis of Order Forms submitted by the Council to the selected Provider (s), by post or electronically, on an as needed basis (there is therefore no obligation to order on the part of the Council).

Pooling

For each Order, the Council will choose from the pool of pre-selected tenderers the Provider who demonstrably offers best value for money for its requirement when assessed – for the Order concerned – against the criteria of: 

-          quality (including as appropriate: capability, expertise, past performance, availability of resources and proposed methods of undertaking the work);

-          availability (including, without limitation, capacity to meet required deadlines and, where relevant, geographical location); and

-          price.

Each time an Order Form is sent, the selected Provider undertakes to take all the necessary measures to send it signed to the Council within 2 (two) working days after its reception. If a Provider is unable to take an Order or if no reply is given on his behalf within that deadline, the Council may call on another Provider using the same criteria, and so on until a suitable Provider is contracted.]

Providers subject to VAT

The Provider, if subject to VAT, shall also send, together with each signed Form, a quote[2] (Pro Forma invoice) in line with the indications specified on each Order Form, and including:

-     the Service Provider’s name and address;

-     its VAT number;

-     the full list of services;

-     the fee per type of deliverables (in the currency indicated on the Act of Engagement, tax exclusive);

-     the total amount per type of deliverables (in the currency indicated on the Act of Engagement, tax exclusive);

-     the total amount (in the currency indicated on the Act of Engagement), tax exclusive, the applicable VAT rate, the amount of VAT and the amount VAT inclusive .

Signature of orders

An Order Form is considered to be legally binding when the Order, signed by the Provider, is approved by the Council, by displaying a Council’s Purchase Order number on the Order, as well as by signing and stamping the Order concerned. Copy of each approved Order Form shall be sent to the Provider, to the extent possible on the day of its signature.

E.     ASSESSMENT

Exclusion criteria and absence of conflict of interests

(by signing the Act of Engagement, you declare on your honour not being in any of the below situations)^[3]

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

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

·         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;

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

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

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

·         are or if their owner(s) or executive officer(s), in the case of legal persons, are included in the lists of persons or entities subject to restrictive measures applied by the European Union (available at www.sanctionsmap.eu).

Eligibility criteria

For natural persons:

• Master’s degree in the field of human rights, law, political/social sciences, public relations or other relevant fields;
• At least 5 years of expertise in the field of human rights/anti-discrimination, combating hate speech or hate crimes;
• At least 5 years of experience at the national level in the Republic of Moldova;
• Very good knowledge of the Republic of Moldova local context, legislative framework and implementation in the field of human rights, anti-discrimination, hate speech, hate crimes;
• Knowledge of Romanian language (mother tongue level);
• Excellent written and oral English (minimum C1 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).

For legal persons:

• At least 5 years of expertise in the field of human rights/anti-discrimination, combating hate speech or hate crimes;

·         Capacity to make available for the purposes of the contract, one or several consultants who meet the following criteria:

Award criteria for both natural and legal persons:

• Quality of the offer (70%), including:

-          Specialised expertise in the field of combating discrimination, hate speech or hate crimes (40%);

-          Relevance of previous expert work to the topics and type of engagement expected (30%).

• Financial offer (30%).

Multiple tendering is not authorised.

F.     NEGOTIATIONS

The Council reserves the right to hold negotiations with the bidders in accordance with Article 20 of Rule 1395.

G.    DOCUMENTS TO BE PROVIDED

·         A completed and signed copy of the Act of Engagement[4](See attached);

·         A detailed CV, preferably in Europass Format, demonstrating clearly that the tenderer fulfils the eligibility criteria;

·         A motivation letter;

·         A list of all owners and executive officers, for legal persons only;

·         A list of references to written work of the tenderer (with at least 2 titles), with links to the work or the work attached. Written work can be articles, studies, manuals, with relevance to the topics of this tendering.

All documents shall be submitted in English failure to do so will result in the exclusion of the tender. If any of the documents listed above are missing, the Council of Europe reserves the right to reject the tender.

The Council reserves the right to reject a tender if the scanned documents are of such a quality that the documents cannot be read once printed.

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