TENDER SPECIFICATIONS

Interinstitutional framework service contract for the delivery of training on financial

IT systems specific to the European Commission, the Executive Agencies, Union

Agencies and the other Institutions

BUDG15/PO/02

Lead contracting authority: European Commission

Other contracting authorities: see draft framework contract

1 CONTEXT OF THE CONTRACT

2 DESCRIPTION OF THE SERVICES COVERED BY THE CALL FOR TENDER

2.1 Classroom courses

2.2 Customised classroom courses

2.3 Design of new classroom courses and new user documentation

2.4 Update of classroom courses and user documentation

2.5 Development and delivery of forms of learning other than classroom training

2.6 E-learning

3 CONDITIONS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONTRACT

3.1 Preparatory phase

3.2 Performance throughout the contract

3.3 General rules and confidentiality

3.4 IT environment

3.5 Intellectual property rights

4 DURATION AND TIMETABLE

5 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

6 INDICATIVE VOLUME

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7 GENERAL CONTRACT TERMS AND PROVISIONS CONCERNING ORDERS, ACTIVITY

REPORTS, METHODS OF PAYMENT AND PERFORMANCE PROBLEMS

7.1 General contract terms

7.2 Orders

7.3 Activity reports

7.4 Methods of payment

7.5 Performance problems

8 PROVISIONS CONCERNING THE TENDERS

8.1.1 Participation

8.1.2 Identification of tenderer

8.1.3 Joint tenders and subcontracting

8.2 Prices

8.3 Procedure for evaluating tenderers and tenders

8.3.1 Identification of the tenderer

8.3.2 Exclusion criteria

8.3.3 Selection criteria

8.3.4 Award criteria

8.3.5 Ranking formula

9 SUBMISSION OF TENDERS

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ANNEXES:

1. INFORMATION ON THE FINANCIAL IT SYSTEMS

2. INFORMATION ON EXISTING TRAININGS (CATALOGUES, USER DOCUMENTATION, E-

LEARNING MODULES)

3. PRICE LIST AND FINANCIAL COMPARISON OF OFFERS (ANNEXES 3A & 3B)

4. EVALUATION GRID FOR ACCREDITATION OF TRAINERS

5. REPORTING MODEL

6. DECLARATION ON HONOUR CONCERNING THE ABSENCE OF CONFLICTS OF

INTEREST

7. PROOF OF QUALIFICATIONS OF STAFF

7.1 Confirmation of qualified trainers

7.2 Model CV

7.3 Europass reference for languages

8. CASE STUDY: 8.1 – FINANCIAL REGULATION AND RULES OF APPLICATION

8.2 – ACCOUNTING RULE N° 3

8.3 – ACCOUNTING RULE N° 5

9. CHECK-LIST OF DOCUMENTS TO BE PROVIDED BY TENDERERS

OTHER TENDER DOCUMENTS:

DRAFT FRAMEWORK CONTRACT AND ANNEXES

INVITATION TO TENDER LETTER

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1. CONTEXT OF THE CONTRACT

The European Union has an annual budget of € 141 billion1 managed by the

European Institutions, bodies and agencies, hereinafter "the contracting

authorities"2. To this effect, the contracting authorities developed dedicated financial

IT systems.

The contracting authorities’ objective is to develop and maintain effective financial

management procedures supported by appropriate financial IT systems used by

trained staff. The aim of financial training is to ensure that the staff of the

contracting authorities has the knowledge and skills required to use the financial IT

systems effectively.

Annex 1 includes a more detailed description of the financial IT systems falling

under the scope of this call for tender (summarised in the diagram below).

ABAC Architecture

ABAC ("Accrual-Based Accounting") is the general name for these financial IT

systems. It includes the ABAC workflow system, the Assets SAM system for the

management of fixed assets (mainly used by the European Commission’s Office for

Infrastructure and Logistics in Brussels, OIB), the ABAC Assets system

(management of fixed assets), the Datawarehouse (Business Objects reporting tool

using ABAC data), the Badgebud system (for preparing the budget) and the ABAC

accounting system (developed on the basis of the SAP software package).

The contracting authorities have, since 2004, concluded successive framework

contracts for the provision of training in financial IT systems. The current

framework contract will terminate on 7 March 2016.

1 Payment appropriations of the 2015 budget

2 See list of participating entities in the draft framework contract

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2. NATURE OF THE CONTRACT AND DESCRIPTION OF THE SERVICES

The overall objective of the framework contract to be concluded under this tender is

to provide training on the financial IT systems when required by the contracting

authorities.

These financial IT systems exist only in English language. However, training and

documentation is to be provided in English or French. At present, 65% of the

courses are given in English and 35% in French.

The services foreseen under the contract are as follows:

2.1 Classroom courses

This activity consists in delivering classroom courses on financial IT systems to the

end users, who are staff of the contracting authorities. The courses will be delivered

by trainers (instructor-led training) in classrooms, and will be focused on the use of

the financial IT systems, illustrated with practical examples of the treatment of

several types of financial transactions (contracts, invoices, payments, etc.) in those

systems. In their explanations, trainers should demonstrate familiarity with the use

of the financial IT systems. The courses are offered at beginner and specialised

levels, i.e. both for staff new in their job with limited knowledge of the financial

transactions and/or of the financial IT systems, and for more experienced staff

aiming to explore certain functionalities in more detail.

Annex 2.1 contains the catalogues of classroom courses on financial IT systems

currently on offer. There are currently three catalogues, containing training on offer

to staff: the European Commission’s catalogue (used by all Directorates General of

the Commission and staff from other institutions/bodies), the Agencies’ catalogue

(used by agencies) and the European External Action Service’s (EEAS) catalogue

(used by staff of this institution in delegations).

The purpose of having three different catalogues is to better respond to the

specificities of the use of the financial IT systems by the different types of

contracting authorities. The courses in the first two catalogues are maintained by

the Budget Directorate General of the European Commission, and the latter by the

EEAS. The number of catalogues, and the list of trainings within each of them, may

evolve in the future, in function of the contracting authorities’ needs.

The courses are to be delivered by one (1) trainer only. They are attended by up to

12 participants, each with a PC. Normally courses are organised from 9:00 to 17:00

with a lunch break of 1 hour.

In a classroom course, the trainer must:

- use the teaching aids foreseen for that course (usually slide-shows and the related

print-outs, exercise sheets and quick reference cards). Detailed information on the

teaching aids for the current classroom courses is available upon request by e-mail

to the mailbox BUDG-15-PO-02@ec.europa.eu

Teaching aids used in the classroom courses must be printed by the contractor and

be made available to the participants before the start of each course in the language

of the course (English or French).

- use a dedicated IT training environment, which is a copy of the financial IT

systems in production (ABAC/SAP/SAM).

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This training environment, which is provided by the contracting authorities, is

normally refreshed twice a year (usually in summer and during Christmas) to

reflect the modifications made in the production environment. For this refresh to

be carried out, there is an interruption of the classroom courses of three weeks.

The contractor will be responsible for the timely preparation of the training

environment (loading up the profiles for the trainers and the participants into the

IT training environment together with the data needed to carry out the exercises).

Indicatively, in the past, the preparation of the training environment took on

average 25 working days per year (see details under 8.2 Prices below).

Classroom training courses can be recorded electronically by the contracting

authorities who have the possibility to use them for streaming purposes. The

diffusion of recorded training can happen e.g. in the case of EU Delegations and

Agencies, where staff does not have the possibility to come to Brussels or

Luxembourg, which are the main training places. However, classroom training

courses can also be delivered in other locations at the request of the contracting

authorities (see details under 8.2 Prices below).

2.2 Customised classroom courses

The contracting authorities may request the contractor to prepare and deliver

customised classroom courses (in English or in French).

2.2.1 Creation

Customised classroom courses are prepared on the basis of the existing catalogues

of financial IT systems’ training courses i.e. the exercises are replaced by

exercises developed specifically to reflect the business environment of a particular

contracting authority. Customisation is to be understood as the adaptation of a

standard training course from the catalogue to only one specific contracting

authority/service to which this training will be delivered3. Customisation is

currently most frequently requested by contracting authorities other than the

European Commission and the EEAS, which mostly order classroom courses

from their respective catalogues.

The customisation of a course of the catalogue should therefore not be confused

with the production of a new course or with the modification/update of a course of

a catalogue. These activities are described separately in points 2.3 and 2.4 below.

The creation of a customised classroom course in the catalogue will be carried out

in collaboration with an accredited trainer. The corresponding teaching aids and

user documentation will be sent to the contracting authority concerned in

electronic format. They should be produced in English first and, after approval by

the contracting authority, to be provided also in French language.

3 The work done under the framework contract by the service provider for the European Commission

departments must, as far as possible, be re-used for the agencies or the other institutions in order to

achieve economies of scale.

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2.2.2 Delivery

The conditions described in point 2.1 for the delivery of classroom courses from a

catalogue also apply to the delivery of customised courses: delivery of the course

by an accredited trainer; prior preparation of the trainer and of the IT training

environment; production and distribution to the participants of the teaching aids.

The teaching aids used in the customised courses must be printed by the

contractor and be made available to the participants before the start of each

course. Teaching aids must be made available in the language of the course

(English or French).

2.3 Design of new classroom courses and new user documentation

2.3.1 Design of new classroom courses

It may become necessary to create new catalogues, create new classroom courses

to be added or to replace classroom courses in the catalogues, or to meet specific

ad-hoc needs in certain cases such as the launching of new components in the

financial IT systems, recasting of rules and procedures, the emergence of specific

needs of certain target groups, or any other event with a significant impact on the

use of the financial IT systems.

For the design of new classroom courses, the contracting authority concerned will

set out:

a description of specific learning objectives for the new classroom

course;

the proposed appropriate learning method;

the classroom course programme and the envisaged teaching aids.

After signature of the specific contract (see details of the ordering procedure

under point 7.2) the contractor will:

develop the course programme and corresponding teaching aids;

2.3.2 New user documentation

User documentation is understood to mean manuals and step-by-step guides or

any other aid that may be needed to help users of the financial IT systems.

For the production of new user documentation, the contracting authority

concerned will set out:

a description of specific objectives;

the kind of documentation envisaged (e.g. manual, step by step guide,

quick reference card);

the indicative structure / table of content;

The work under this activity will be performed in collaboration with an accredited

trainer.

Detailed information on the existing teaching aids and user documentation (=

examples illustrating the nature and scope of these documents) is available upon

request by e-mail to the mailbox BUDG-15-PO-02@ec.europa.eu.

8

The new teaching aids (under 2.3.1) and the new user documentation (under

2.3.2) will be sent to the contracting authority concerned in electronic format.

New teaching aids and user documentation are to be produced in English first and,

after approval by the contracting authority, to be provided also in French

language. After the approval of the new classroom courses, these will become part

of the catalogue and will be delivered in accordance with the terms described for

the delivery of classroom courses described as in point 2.1.

2.4 Update of the classroom courses and of user documentation

The contractor may be requested by the contracting authorities to carry out

updates to the content of all or part of the classroom courses in their catalogues

(update of teaching aids, update of exercises etc.) as these documents may evolve

in function of the contracting authorities’ needs.

The contractor may also be requested to update the existing user documentation.

User documentation exists in English, and most often also in French. In case that

a missing linguistic version is requested, an extra pricing formula is foreseen (see

point 8.2).

Updates to the courses in the catalogue and of the user documentation become

necessary as a result of revisions of the rules (e.g. accounting rules or rules of the

Financial Regulation4) and/or developments in the financial IT systems (new

releases, implementation of new modules, new functionalities etc.). The

developments may be either minor or in-depth (major changes) requiring revision

and/or at least partial restructuring of the course content and user documentation.

Updates may also be requested to improve the quality of the training delivered or

in response to punctual needs to remedy shortcomings detected when delivering

the classroom courses. In the past few years, there have been updates to the

classroom courses and user documentation on average twice per year, in spring

and in autumn, but this may change in function of the contracting authorities’

needs.

This activity is to be performed in collaboration with accredited trainers. The

updates to the user documentation or to the teaching aids for the classroom

courses should be sent to the contracting authority which ordered them in

electronic format, indicating the changes made.

4 The Financial Regulation lays down the budgetary principles and financial rules governing the

establishment and implementation of the general budget of the Union (the "budget"), ensuring sound and

effective management, control and protection of the Union's financial interests and increasing

transparency that are to be respected in all legal acts and by all institutions. http://bookshop.europa.eu/en/financial-regulation-applicable-to-the-general-budget-of-the-union-and-its-rules-of-application-

pbKV0113881/downloads/KV-01-13-881-EN-

C/KV0113881ENC_002.pdf?FileName=KV0113881ENC_002.pdf&SKU=KV0113881ENC_PDF&CatalogueNumber=KV-01-13-

881-EN-C

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2.5 Development and delivery of forms of learning other than classroom

training

This activity consists in the development and delivery of other training techniques

such as tele-training5, video-conference sessions/webinars

6, individual or group

coaching and helpdesk services in relation to the financial IT systems.

Contractors may be called upon to assist the contracting authorities in the following

areas:

Facilitating workshops: organising and running reflection days or targeted

workshops for certain categories of staff;

Organising information sessions aimed at informing staff about developments

and evolution of financial IT systems;

Providing coaching or punctual helpdesk function (e.g. for year-end accounting

closure support).

Most of the above services include drawing up an agenda (together with the

contracting authority) and the production of support material (hand-outs) for

participants. The support material may comprise documentation such as

presentations, (short) manuals and or step by step guidance and similar.

2.5.1: The approach for the development of these forms of learning is the same as

explained under point 2.3 (New classroom courses).

2.5.2: The conditions for the delivery are the same as described under point 2.1 for

the delivery of classroom courses from a catalogue: delivery of the course by

accredited trainers; prior preparation of the trainers and of the IT training

environment; production and distribution to the participants of the teaching

aids/training material, if applicable.

5 Tele-training is training that

- usually conveys live instruction via telecommunications facilities,

- may be accomplished on a point-to-point basis or on a point-to-multipoint basis, and

- may assume forms including teleseminars, a teleconference, or an electronic classroom, usually

including both audio and video. 6 Web conferencing refers to a service that allows conferencing events to be shared with remote locations.

These are sometimes referred to as webinars or, for interactive conferences, online workshops. In

general, the service is made possible by Internet technologies, particularly on TCP/IP connections. The

service allows real-time point-to-point communications as well as multicast communications from one

sender to many receivers. It offers data streams of text-based messages, voice and video chat to be shared

simultaneously, across geographically dispersed locations. Applications for web conferencing include

meetings, training events, lectures, or short presentations from any computer.

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2.6 E-learning

Since 2009 financial IT systems' trainings have been developed in the form of e-

learning modules. At this stage, the existing modules are designed:

- to cover specific aspects which cannot be covered in depth in the classroom courses

because of the small number of participants interested in these aspects and/or the lack of

time;

- to offer participants tools to refresh the knowledge acquired in the classroom courses,

for example by developing sets of exercises;

- as an alternative to the classroom courses in case of staff located outside Brussels and

Luxembourg (e.g. for staff in delegations).

The European Commission and the EEAS have developed a series of around 70 e-

learning modules in English and French (= 140 in total).

Annex 2.2 contains a list of the existing modules available.

The duration of the modules is about 15 minutes on average. An interactive simulation

of the ABAC environment takes the users step-by-step through the process of specific

cases (financial transactions) and situations as it would be the case in the real

accounting environment in the respective IT systems of the institutions. For

unexperienced users information/explanations and help functions are provided to enable

them to successfully finish the module.

Other modules along these lines may be offered in the future in order to respond to

users' needs. The success of e-learning (currently under evaluation concerning user take

up and satisfaction) will determine the extent to which e-learning modules will be

developed in the future.

At present, the European Commission uses an internal course management tool called

SYSLOG FORMATION. This information system is interfaced with a standard Virtual

Learning Environment (VLE) system called "Blackboard" in the European Commission

which is used for managing and storing e-learning courses. Currently most e-learning

modules (on the financial IT systems) are run on an intranet site managed by the Budget

Directorate General of the European Commission. In order to run the modules on any of

the European Commission's and other EU Institutions' VLEs they need to be produced

by respecting standards such as IMS Common Cartridge or SCORM 2004 version

(Sharable Content Object Reference Model). The web content accessibility guidelines

should also be respected7.

Any software for the production of e-learning modules needs to be approved by the

contracting authorities. See more information under point 3.4 "IT environment" below.

The scope of the current e-learning modules is considered to be rather "basic" compared

to enhanced modules or advanced e-learning which would include features such as

voice-over, audio, video or animations.

7 http://ec.europa.eu/ipg/standards/accessibility/index_en.htm

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The type/level/required scope for the expected training modules is the following:

2.6.1 New e-learning modules (of about 15 minutes duration) which

- provide general context and objective of the module;

- provide information/explanations via print screens, slides, texts, speech balloons,

mouse-over, pictures and symbols to guide the user through the process;

- include questions and interactive exercises corresponding to the real process in the

financial IT system. The relation of information/learning content to interactive ABAC

simulation is about 65:35 in the learning modules;

- provide summary/recapitulative at the end.

The interface has to be intuitive so that each user must be able to follow the lessons at

his/her rhythm and according to his/her capacities and timetable.

An exemplary e-learning module ("Creation of an invoice with a link to ABAC assets")

to illustrate these minimum requirements is available upon request by e-mail to the

mailbox BUDG-15-PO-02@ec.europa.eu

2.6.2 New exercises/test modules (of about 15 to 20 minutes' duration)

In the exercises/test modules the relation of information to interactive ABAC simulation

is about 35:65. Aside from the requirements as specified under 2.6.1 the following

elements have to be elaborated to a larger extent:

- Simulation exercises should reflect the reality of the financial IT system e.g. direct

input of data or via search function, navigation in the IT application (save, validate,

back, scroll bar, drop down menus etc.);

- Help function (what next? where to find? next step?), precedent & skip the question

possibility;

- Inclusion of an evaluation system to test the knowledge and competences acquired by

the users (feed-back e.g. in form of a "score/overall mark" or in %-age of correct

answers/data input at the end).

An exemplary test module ("Exercise: Creation of an invoice linked with ABAC

Assets") to illustrate these minimum requirements is available upon request by e-mail to

the mailbox BUDG-15-PO-02@ec.europa.eu

2.6.3 Modification/update of existing modules

Following new developments in the financial IT systems as explained under "2.4

Update of the classroom courses and of user documentation" the contracting authority

may also require updates to the existing e-learning modules.

The e-learning modules currently available have been developed with TTKF software8

of which the contracting authority will acquire licences. Therefore the licence fees are

borne by the contracting authority. The requirement on the future contractor will thus be

to process and work with this software for requested updates and modifications of the

existing modules, independently of the possible choice of another technical solution in

the future.

8 http://www.fern.be/tts.html

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3. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONTRACT

3.1 Preparatory phase

Although efforts will be made to ensure that the groups of participants in classroom

courses are structured and uniform, some groups may be made up of staff with

diverse levels of financial knowledge and/or general knowledge of financial IT

systems. The trainers should display patience and understanding for this situation.

Any problem going beyond the scope of their role should be passed on to the

contracting authorities.

Before the contractor starts the activities under this contract, a preparatory phase

will take place to ensure that the contractor is ready at first priority for the delivery

of effective and well-organised classroom training courses. It should be emphasised

that the contracting authorities expect the trainings to be of very high quality which

is constantly measured through evaluations from participants of the courses (see

point 3.2 below).

To this end, the contractor will make sure that the trainers to be proposed have all

the necessary current and historical information for understanding and carrying out

their tasks e.g. by getting familiar with the existing material and information which

is provided by the contracting authority in the context of this call for tender.

The trainers proposed by the contractor will need to be accredited by the services of

the Budget Directorate General of the European Commission before the delivery of

their first training. If the timing allows for it, proposed trainers are invited to attend

up to 5 working days of European Commission financial IT systems classroom

courses delivered by the current contractor. The Budget Directorate General of the

European Commission will require the trainers to demonstrate their knowledge

through the delivery of an accreditation training session of about 1-2 hours. During

these accreditation sessions, the trainer will present before representatives of the

Budget Directorate General of the European Commission a part of a catalogue

classroom course specified in advance.

The representatives will then give their opinion on the readiness of the trainer based

on the evaluation grid in Annex 4.

The duration of this preparatory phase must not exceed 6 weeks after the contract

has been signed. The contractor shall bear the costs of all the work and time relating

to this preparatory phase as well as costs for accreditation of new trainers during the

implementation period of the contract.

3.2 Performance throughout the contract

The tenderer is requested to ensure a smooth implementation and delivery of the

services. This covers the following aspects:

– Management of human resources;

– Contract and financial management;

– Logistical support of the trainers;

– Activity reports;

– Quality management;

– Communication within the contractor's team and with the contracting

authorities;

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The contractor will be required to appoint a project leader for the contract. This

project leader will be the point of contact for the contracting authorities and will

meet on a regular basis with the staff responsible throughout the duration of the

framework contract. The Budget Directorate General of the European Commission

will establish the timetable for these meetings, which in principle will be held

monthly and will last on average for 2 hours.

These meetings also serve for a quality review of the services performed e.g. for

discussing the activity reports (see point 7.3) or the evaluation from participants of

training courses9. The project leader must provide answers and propose

improvements, solutions and mitigating measures to issues arising, regarding both

the subject of the contract and organisational or administrative matters (including

problems related to invoicing and payment) and he/she must implement them once

the contracting authorities have given their approval.

The contracting authorities will assess the overall achievement of the learning

objectives and carry out a continuous assessment of the quality of the trainings

delivered by the contractor throughout the duration of the contract. The European

Commission and the EEAS make use of SYSLOG, an IT training application for the

management of subscriptions to trainings and for the evaluation of the trainings by

the participants which are systematically invited to provide anonymous feed-back

after each training session. In 2014, the participants of the European Commission's

financial IT systems courses assessed the classroom courses with a satisfaction rate

close to 90%. The contractor will be expected to maintain (or improve) this rate.

The evaluation results for the classroom courses are thus made available to the

contractor for further analysis. If the average evaluation rating by the participants for

a given course is lower than 60% based on a monthly report, the contractor has to

draw up an action plan for corrective measures.

In case of issues with the quality of the performance of an individual trainer, the

contractor will be notified (by e-mail with delivery receipt) and requested by the

Budget Directorate General of the European Commission to take appropriate

corrective measures. The accreditation of a trainer may be withdrawn in case of

repeated issues (more than 2 evaluations within 6 months below 60% satisfaction

rate with the quality of his/her delivery).

New classroom trainers starting activities during the period of implementation of the

contract will have to go through an accreditation session as described in point 3.1

above at the cost of the contractor.

Any problem going beyond the scope of responsibility of the contractor (e.g.

criticism on the functionalities of the financial IT systems or on the IT architecture)

should be communicated to the Budget Directorate General of the European

Commission at mailbox BUDG-ABAC-Training-Support@ec.europa.eu.

9 The current evaluation template (which may evolve over time) sent to the participants comprises criteria

on the performance of the trainer such as "trainer was a good communicator, trainer was attentive to the

needs of participants, trainer has a good knowledge of the topic, trainer was well prepared, trainer has a

good knowledge of the institution, the pace of the training was appropriate".

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3.3 Confidentiality

Given the nature of the activities of the contract, it is likely that the contractor may

encounter sensitive issues directly relating to the work of the contracting authorities.

The contracting authority and the contractor shall treat with confidentiality any

information and documents, in any form, disclosed in writing or orally in relation to

the performance of the contract and identified in writing as confidential (see more

details in article II.5 of the draft framework contract).

3.4 IT environment

The contracting authorities have full ownership of the IT environments and software

specifically designed for and used by them.

When working in the premises of the contracting authorities (in office space

equipped with computers of the contracting authority), the staff of the contractor

will use only the standard software packages used by the contracting authority

concerned. No other software may be installed or used without the written

agreement of the contracting authorities. It is not allowed to connect external

computers/equipment to the network of the contracting authority (= for security

reasons no internet connection for external hardware like a contractor's laptop).

The contractor will provide all deliverables in a format compatible with the IT

environment of the contracting authorities10

.

3.5 Intellectual property rights

The ownership of the results, of all training material and deliverables for the

activities under points 2.1 to 2.6 (teaching aids, user documentation, E-learning etc.)

is of the contracting authorities. Further details on the exploitation of the results of

the framework contract and ownership of the results and intellectual and industrial

property rights are provided in articles I.8 and II.10 of the draft framework contract.

4. Duration and timetable

The framework contract will have an initial duration of 2 years and shall be renewed

automatically once under the same conditions for another 2 years. More details can

be found in the draft framework contract under article I.2.

The framework contract is expected to be awarded in the course of the first quarter

of 2016. In this case, its implementation could start as from 8 March 2016 after the

expiry of the current contract on 7 March 2016. This timetable is provisional and

does not represent a commitment on the part of the contracting authorities.

10 E.g. MS-Office Professional Plus 2010, Windows Internet Explorer 9, Mozilla Firefox, Windows XP

15

5. Place of performance

Classroom courses for the staff of the contracting authorities whose main sites are in

Brussels or Luxembourg will be organised chiefly in these cities (about 75% of

classroom courses). If the need arises and if there are specific requests from entities

located at a distance, orders (and meetings, if required) may be made for classroom

courses to be delivered at other sites of the contracting authorities (about 25%).

The costs of travel and subsistence incurred by the contractor will be reimbursed (as

explained in point 8.2 Prices below) only for training activities outside of the

territory of the European Union.

Orders for classroom courses11

(of the regular training catalogue and of customised

courses) and for services under point 2.5 (other training techniques) must indicate

the place in which the work must be performed. Project, follow-up or monitoring

meetings will be held in the premises of the contracting authorities.

Preparation, updating and modification of teaching aids and user documentation or

other forms of training or e-learning will be carried out if necessary for technical

reasons (access to the IT training environment required) in the offices of the

European Commission in Brussels. A suitable working place will be made available

to the contractor for this purpose.

11 The process for training delivery orders is explained in detail under point 7.2

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6. Indicative volume of work

The figures below are indicative and do not represent a commitment on the part of

the contracting authorities.

In the period between March 2012 and January 2015, the following work was

performed under the framework contract currently in force in the European

institutions:

N° of days

Commission and

executive agencies

Other

institutions

(EEAS)

European

Union

Agencies

TOTAL days

Place of

performance

Mainly Brussels Mainly

Brussels In the 28

Member States

Classroom courses 1 063 469 104 1 636

Customising work 21 57 160 238

Customised

courses 11 288 74 373

Coaching12

4 86 90

Video conferences

(EEAS) 199 199

New courses &

user

documentation

30 30

Updates of courses

and user

documentation

248 236 0 484

Preparation of

database13

89 89

E-learning 76 76

Travel days 8 8

Totals 1 538 1 253 432 3 223

This represents a total of 3 223 working days14

of service.

12 E.g. end of year accounting closure

13 Not applicable for the new contract, as these costs have to be included in fixed prices for training

delivery

14 The prices of the ongoing contract are based on working days per type of service

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For the maximum period covered by the future framework contract from 2016 to

2020, it is estimated that the overall quantity of services to be ordered by the

contracting authorities will be similar to the current period.

The maximum amount for this framework contract shall be EUR 6 000 000. The

contracting authority reserves the possibility to increase the ceiling based on article

134(1)(f) and (3) of the Rules of Application to the Financial Regulation.

The distribution of this volume among classroom courses, customisation of courses,

new classroom courses and new user documentation, modifications and updating

work, e-learning and other forms of learning etc. or the distribution amongst the

contracting authorities cannot be precisely determined, but it is expected that the

proportion of this volume to be ordered by the agencies and the other institutions

will be similar to the past.

Classroom training courses represent about 65% of all training activities. The vast

majority of the courses delivered relate to ABAC workflow. The courses on ABAC

Assets, SAM and SAP target relatively small audiences. Given the fact that the

standard training catalogues already contain numerous training opportunities, it is

expected that less new training designs will be ordered and that more updates,

modifications and customisations might be required in the future.

Both the current/historical use of the existing framework contract and this possible

trend are reflected in the scenario for the financial comparison of offers (see Annex

3B – Financial offer scenario).

7. General contract terms and provisions concerning orders, activity reports,

payment methods and performance problems

7.1 General contract terms

Tenderers should take particular note of the provisions of the draft framework

contract, especially those on prices (Article I.3), payments (Article I.4),

performance of the contract (Article II.1), conflict of interests (Article II.4),

confidentiality (Article II.5), intellectual property rights (Articles I.8 and II.10),

liquidated damages (Articles II.1.9 and II.12) and checks and audits (Article

II.18).

7.2 Orders

For each type of services to be performed, the main phases of the procedure are as

follows:

- Specific contract for services is drawn up by the contracting authority, signature

of specific contract by the contractor, delivery of the services by the contractor,

approval of deliverables15

and of invoice by the contracting authority and payment

according to articles I.3 and I.4 of the draft framework contract.

15As specified under the description of services under points 2.1 to 2.6 i.e. delivery of training, design of

new user documentation (manuals, step by step guide), production of e-learning modules etc.

The required quality level of the deliverables must correspond at least to the quality level of the currently

existing material listed in Annexes 2.1 and 2.2 (e.g. manuals, step by step guides, quick reference cards,

teaching aids (presentations), e-learning and test modules) and evaluations as specified under point 3.2 for

training delivery.

18

For more details on the time periods of the ordering procedure see article I.4 of

the draft framework contract.

All services under point 2) will be ordered by the contracting authorities

concerned in function of their training needs.

Orders for all types of services (delivery of courses, design of new courses,

updates of teaching aids, updates of user documentation, development and

delivery of other training techniques, e-learning etc.) must be formalised by

signing a specific contract indicating in detail the services required, the location

and the deadline for delivery.

During the period of implementation of the framework contract electronic

ordering systems combined with electronic invoicing (see point 7.4) could be

envisaged. E-ordering would then replace the paper workflow.

Details for ordering of services under points 2.1, 2.2.2 and 2.5.2:

The orders will specify the course to be provided: its duration, the dates and

where it will take place (see details on the place of performance under point 5).

The ordering process for classroom catalogue courses will be as follows for the

European Commission and the EEAS:

The contracting authority draws up a training programme for 6 months.

The contractor will be informed in writing of the requests for training courses per

location and per date. Training venues will be reserved by the contracting

authority. This will take place at the latest 6 (six) weeks in advance to the

foreseen date of start of the training programme.

The contractor confirms the availability of the trainers to respond to the needs of

the contracting authorities.

The contracting authority will prepare the specific contract corresponding to the

training programme. This specific contract will be implemented progressively.

Other contracting authorities usually place their orders as training needs arise

throughout the year.

The provisions concerning the timing and the procedure for the ordering of

training services are presented in article I.4.1 of the draft framework contract.

On the training day, the trainers will have to be present thirty (30) minutes before

time of the beginning of the training course. If the planning is disrupted by one of

the parties, that party will endeavour to find an equivalent solution.

o The contracting authorities reserve the right to cancel a course with prior

notice. See article I.11.2 of the draft framework contract.

o In case of a cancellation of a training course/session due to the unavailability

of a trainer or to another impediment of the contractor, article I.11.1 of the

draft framework contract will be applied. See also point 7.5 below.

19

7.3 Activity reports

Each month, and at latest by the 15th of the following month, the contractor will

submit a report on all the activities in progress ordered under this contract (see draft

reporting model in Annex 5). In particular, for each contracting authority

concerned, the contractor should report on the state of play of current specific

contracts signed by the contracting authorities.

7.4 Methods of payment

Performance of the contract will not involve pre-financing or interim payments, but

only payment of the balance after service delivery as specified in articles I.3.3 and

I.4 of the draft framework contract.

Electronic invoicing could be envisaged upon request of either party of the contract

by making use of the platform e-PRIOR.

Open e-PRIOR is an open-source e-procurement platform that allows practical

implementation of interoperable electronic services within any public

administration. It plays the role of intermediary between the back-office

applications of the public administration and the Pan-European Public Procurement

OnLine (PEPPOL) interoperability initiative. It has been designed to interoperate

with a large number of applications of heterogeneous nature. The platform is

connected to PEPPOL via its own access point, facilitating the cross-border

exchange of e-procurement documents between, for example, a public

administration in country A with suppliers in country B.

Open e-PRIOR currently covers post-award e-procurement, i. e. documents

exchanged between the public administration and its contractors after the award of

a contract, such as catalogues of goods or services, orders and invoices. The Open

e-PRIOR package includes also a web portal allowing suppliers, such as SME and

individuals, to manually encode their invoices via a web form. Further information

can be found here:

https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/software/openeprior/description

7.5 Performance problems

Should the contractor fail to perform its obligations under the framework contract

or specific contract, the contracting authority may reduce or recover payments in

proportion to the scale of the unperformed obligations (see article II.1.9 of the draft

framework contract).

In addition, the contracting authority may claim compensation or impose liquidated

damages in accordance with article II.12.

Should a trainer have to be replaced because he/she is unable to attend or owing to

another event for which the contractor is responsible, the contractor must ensure

his/her replacement by another accredited trainer. In case of a cancellation of a

training course/event due to the unavailability of accredited trainers or to another

impediment of the contractor, liquidated damages will be applied as set out in

article I.11 of the special conditions in the draft framework contract.

20

8. Provisions concerning the tenders

8.1.1 Participation

Participation in this tender procedure is open on equal terms to all natural and legal

persons coming within the scope of the Treaties and to all natural and legal persons

in a third country which has a special agreement with the Union in the field of

public procurement on the conditions laid down in that agreement.

8.1.2 Identification of the tender

The tender must include a cover letter presenting the name of the tenderer

(including all entities in case of joint offer) and identified subcontractors if

applicable, and the name of the single contact person in relation to this tender.

In case of joint tender, the cover letter must be signed by a duly authorised

representative for each tenderer, or by a single tenderer duly authorised by other

tenderers (with power of attorney).

Subcontractors must provide a letter of intent stating their willingness to provide

the service foreseen in the offer and in line with the present tender specifications.

In order to prove their legal capacity and their status, all tenderers and the

subcontractors with a share above 10% of the maximum ceiling of the framework

contract must provide a signed Legal Entity Form with its supporting evidence16

.

The form is available on:

http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/legal_entities/legal_entities_en.cfm

The tenderer (or the single point of contact in case of joint tender) must provide a

Financial Identification Form and supporting documents. Only one form per offer

should be submitted (by the lead tenderer, no form is needed for subcontractors and

other joint tenderers). The form is available on:

http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/financial_id/financial_id_en.cfm

Tenderers must provide the following information if it has not been submitted with

the Legal Entity Form:

- For legal persons, a legible copy of the notice of appointment of the persons

authorised to represent the tenderer in dealings with third parties and in legal

proceedings, or a copy of the publication of such appointment if the legislation

which applies to the legal entity concerned requires such publication. Any

delegation of this authorisation to another representative not indicated in the

official appointment must be evidenced.

- For natural persons, where applicable, a proof of registration on a professional

or trade register or any other official document (as required in the country in

which the tenderer is established) showing the registration number.

16Tenderers that are already registered in the Contracting Authority’s accounting system (i.e. they have

already been direct contractors) must provide the form but are not obliged to provide the supporting

evidence.

21

8.1.3 Joint tenders and subcontracting

A joint tender is a situation where a tender is submitted by a group of economic

operators (consortium). Joint tenders may include subcontractors in addition to the

joint tenderers.

In case of joint tender, all economic operators in a joint tender assume joint and

several liability towards the Contracting Authority for the performance of the contract

as a whole. Nevertheless, tenderers must designate a single point of contact for the

contracting authority in the cover letter of the tender.

After the award, the Contracting Authority will sign the contract either with all

members of the group, or with the member duly authorised by the other members via

a power of attorney. The person that will legally represent the joint tender to the ends

of signature and implementation of the framework contract has to be indicated.

NB: If a joint tender is submitted, the documents relating to the exclusion

and selection criteria referred to in points 8.3.2 and 8.3.3 below must be

provided by each of the economic operators (including subcontractors with

a share above 10%) participating in it.

Subcontracting is permitted in the tender but the contractor will retain full liability

towards the Contracting Authority for performance of the contract as a whole.

Tenderers are required to identify the subcontractors whose share of the contract is

above 10% of the maximum ceiling of the framework contract.

During contract execution, the change of any subcontractor identified in the tender

will be subject to prior written approval of the Contracting Authority.

8.2 Prices

Prices must be quoted in EUR.

Prices should be quoted free of all duties and taxes, as the European Union is exempt

from customs duties, indirect taxes and other charges under Articles 3 and 4 of the

Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Communities.

Each tender must cover all the services that are the subject of the tender

specifications (see description of services under point 2). Bidding for only some of

the services is not allowed and will lead to the rejection of the tender.

Tenderers must provide fixed unit prices per day, fixed prices and fixed rates as

described below in detail. They should be presented in the form provided in Annex

3A (Price list) and will constitute the future contractual basis for the pricing of

specific orders.

For each of the services, the prices are fixed and include all costs relating to project

management, quality control, meetings between the contracting authority and the

contractor's staff (which will be held in the premises of the contracting authorities),

training of the contractor's staff including costs for accreditation of trainers,

preparation of the IT training environment, support resources, administrative costs

etc. incurred directly and indirectly by the contractor in performance of the tasks

entrusted to him.

22

It has to be kept in mind that for services provided on the contracting authorities'

premises in Brussels and Luxembourg (representing around 75% of the services) and

on the territory of the European Union, travel and accommodation costs must be

included in the prices (see "a1" and "a2" below).

Price indexation will conform to the provisions of Article I.3.2 of the draft

framework contract.

Prices for services under point 2:

The rates in the examples below are provided to facilitate the understanding of the

calculation and thus should not be understood as the expected level of price offers.

2.1 Delivery of Classroom training

The contractor will be paid on the basis of a fixed daily rate "a1" offered per day of

classroom training delivery in Brussels and Luxembourg. This daily rate will be

applied proportionally to shorter and longer trainings, i.e. for half-day training

delivery, the price will be 50 % of the fixed daily rate (= 0.5 * a1) or 300 % for a 3-

days training (= 3 * a1).

The contractor will be paid on the basis of a fixed daily rate "a2" offered per day of

classroom training delivery in one of the 28 Member States outside Brussels and

Luxembourg (with a distance > 100 km from Brussels and Luxembourg). This daily

rate will be applied proportionally to shorter and longer trainings, i.e. for half-day

training delivery, the price will be 50 % of the fixed daily rate (= 0.5 * a2) or 300 %

for a 3-days training (= 3 * a2).

For trainings outside of the European Union (28 Member States territory), the

contractor will be paid on the basis of the fixed rate "a1" plus travel and subsistence

costs as described in articles I.3.3 and II.16 of the draft framework contract.

The fixed daily rates "a1" and "a2" will constitute the price for the classroom courses

including all tasks required from the contractor as described under point 2.1:

preparation of the trainers before the delivery; delivery by one trainer per course;

preparation of the IT training environment; production and distribution of the

teaching aids to the classroom participants. No additional price will be paid for these

services or for the diffusion of recorded training sessions.

Therefore the contractor has to take into account all the included tasks for the

calculation of the price of the fixed daily rate for the delivery of classroom courses.

It is estimated that 70% of the trainings will take place in Brussels and a small

proportion of 5% in Luxembourg. Some training courses (25%) will take place in the

contracting authorities’ premises in any of the European Union's Member States and

occasionally in other countries. The fixed daily rates a1 and a2 include travel time

and costs for courses delivered in Brussels and Luxembourg (a1 for the two main

sites of the contracting authorities) and in the 28 Member States (a2) in distances of

more than 100 km from these two locations. Travel and subsistence allowances will

only be paid for courses delivered in other destinations (outside the territory of the

European Union of 28 Member States).

23

2.2 Customised classroom courses

2.2.1 Creation of a course

The contractor will be paid for the creation of customised course on the basis of a

fixed rate "b" (to be applied on daily rate "a1") for the creation of a one-day

customised training course. This rate will be applied proportionally to shorter and

longer courses.

It will comprise any time spent by the contractor with the staff of the contracting

authorities (meetings, information gathering, preparation of the IT training

environment and of the teaching aids etc.) and it will be paid only once per

customisation of the training in question.

Example:

If the contractor proposes a rate b = 0.75 for the creation of a customised

one-day training course, this means that for the creation of a customised

course of one day, the contractor will be paid 75% the price quoted under

point 2.1 (= b * a1);

2.2.2 Delivery of customised courses

The contractor will be paid on the basis of the same fixed daily rates as for the

delivery of the classroom courses of the catalogues as described in point 2.1 (= fixed

daily rate "a1" for courses in Brussels and Luxembourg or "a2" for courses in the

territory of the 28 Member States with a distance > 100 km from Brussels and

Luxembourg).

2.3 New classroom courses and new user documentation

2.3.1 Design of new classroom courses (including teaching aids)

The contractor will be paid on the basis of a fixed rate "c" (to be applied on the daily

rate "a1") for the preparation/design of a new one-day classroom course.

Example:

If the contractor proposes a rate c = 2 for the design of a new one-day

training course, this means that the contractor will be paid twice the price

quoted under point 2.1 for that work (= c * a1).

This rate will be applied proportionally to shorter and longer courses i.e. for a new

half-day training, if the contractor proposes a rate of “c = 2”, he will be paid 1 daily

rate offered under 2.1; for a new 3-days' training, the price will be 6 daily rates of

classroom training delivery under 2.1.

2.3.2 New user documentation (manual, step-by-step guide etc.)

The contractor will be paid on the basis of a fixed price "d" per tranche of 20 pages

of new user documentation. Price "d" will be multiplied by two for 21 to 40 pages,

by 3 for 41 to 60 pages etc.

24

2.4 Update of classroom courses and of user documentation

2.4.1 Update of classroom courses

The contractor will be paid on the basis of a fixed rate "e" to be applied on the price

under point 2.3.1. (= e * c * a1). This rate will be applied proportionally to shorter

and longer courses.

Example: If the offered rate "e" is 0.3, the price for an updated 2-days classroom

course will therefore be 0.3 * (c * a1 * 2).

2.4.2 Updates of user documentation

The contractor will be paid on the basis of a fixed rate "f" to be applied on the price

"d" offered under point 2.3.2 per tranche of 20 pages.

Example: If "f = 0.2" is offered, an update of 55 pages of user documentation will be

paid 0.2 * d * 3.

2.4.3 Additional linguistic version

In the punctual cases where one linguistic version (either French or English) does not

yet exist, the contractor will be paid for the production of the missing version on the

basis of a fixed rate "df" to be applied on the price under 2.3.2.

Example: If "df = 0.1" is offered, the cost for translation of 55 pages user

documentation will be 0.1 * d * 3.

2.5 Forms of learning other than classroom training

2.5.1 Development

The contractor will be paid on the basis of a fixed rate "g" to be applied on the fixed

daily rate under point 2.1 per day of delivery of such services. This rate will be

applied proportionally to shorter and longer courses / activities.

Example:

For a 1-day workshop, if the contractor offered a rate of "g = 1.5", the price will be

1.5 times the daily rate of delivery of classroom courses under point 2.1 (= g * a1)

for the creation of a one-day workshop. In case of a 2-days workshop, the price for

the work of creation/design of the event will be 3 times the daily rate offered under

point 2.1.

The price for the development of the learning event (under 2.5.1) and, if requested

the user documentation (under 2.5.2), can only be invoiced once whereas the delivery

(under 2.5.3 i.e. the workshop itself) may be requested recurrently.

2.5.2 User documentation for these services

In case that new user documentation for these services is requested, the contractor

will be paid as described under point 2.3.2

2.5.3 Delivery of these services

The contractor will be paid the same price as under point 2.1 (= a1 or a2)

25

2.6 E-learning

The contractor will be paid on the basis of fixed prices for 2.6.1, 2.6.2 and fixed

rates for modifications/updates under 2.6.3.

2.6.1 New e-learning module

a fixed price "h" per production of a new e-learning module in English

language with a scope similar to the example of the existing e-learning module

in terms of number and volume of slides, information provided and

interaction/simulation of the IT system;

2.6.2 New exercises/test module

a fixed price "i" per production of a new exercise/test module in

English language with a scope similar to the example of the existing test module

in terms of number and volume of slides, information provided and

interaction/simulation of the IT system;

2.6.3 Modification/update of existing modules

a fixed rate for 3 categories of modifications of an existing module in

English language:

o category "minor modifications/updates" of up to 25% of content to be

changed = price "j"

o category "important modifications/updates" of up to 50% of content to be

changed = price "k"

o category "major updates" > 50% of content changes = price "l"

Example: If the contractor offers a rate of "k = 0.3" for important updates of an e-

learning module, he will be paid 0.3 times the price under 2.6.1 for updating an

existing e-learning module (= 0.3 * h) or 0.3 times the price offered under 2.6.2 for

updating an existing exercise/test module (= 0.3 * i).

The tenderer is also asked to provide fixed prices and rates for the following

additional enhanced features:

The contractor will be paid on the basis of

a fixed rate "m" for voice over (audio) to be applied on price offers for

new modules (under 2.6.1 and 2.6.2) and for the modification/update of existing

modules (under 2.6.3);

a fixed rate "n" to be applied to the prices under 2.6.1 to 2.6.3 for

translations into French, if required;

Example: If the contractor offers a rate of "n = 0.1", he will be paid for the delivery

of the French version of a new e-learning module the price of 0.1 * h.

a fixed price "o" for video per minute;

26

8.3 Procedure for evaluating tenderers and tenders

The evaluation is based on the information provided in the submitted tender. It takes

place in four steps/stages:

8.3.1 Identification of the tenderer as described in points 8.1.1 to 8.1.3 above

8.3.2 Exclusion of tenderers

8.3.3 Selection of tenderers

8.3.4 Technical and financial evaluation of the tenders

NB: Tenders must pass each stage in order to be admitted to the next stage

of the evaluation procedure.

8.3.2 Exclusion

All tenderers shall provide a declaration on their honour (see Annex 6), duly signed

and dated by an authorised representative, stating that they are not in one of the

situations of exclusion listed in the Annex 6.

The declaration on honour is also required for identified subcontractors whose

intended share of the contract is above 10% of the maximum ceiling of the framework

contract.

The successful tenderer shall provide the documents mentioned as supporting

evidence in Annex 6 before signature of the contract and within a deadline given by

the contracting authority. This requirement applies to all members of the consortium in

case of joint tender and to the identified subcontractors whose intended share of the

contract is above 10%.

8.3.3 Selection of tenderers

Tenderers must prove their economic, financial, technical and professional capacity to

carry out the work subject to this call for tender.

The evidence requested should be provided by each member of the group in case of

joint tender and identified subcontractors whose intended share of the maximum

ceiling of the framework contract is above 10%. However, a consolidated assessment

will be made to verify compliance with the minimum capacity levels.

The tenderer may 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.

27

8.3.3.1 Technical and professional capacity criteria and evidence:

Tenderers (in case of a joint tender the combined capacity of all tenderers and

identified subcontractors) must comply with the following criteria, minimum

requirements and submit the following evidence:

(1) The tenderer must prove to have experience in the field of training in

financial IT systems by providing as evidence a list of the main services

delivered over the last three years. For the tenderer to be considered to

have the required experience that list should include:

i) at least a minimum of 400 days of training delivery (of the type

described under points 2.1 to 2.2)

and

ii) other training services delivered covering at least 3 different types of

training on financial IT systems as described under points 2.3 to 2.6.

The list should state the amounts invoiced, the dates/periods of service

delivery, the subject/course content, the course duration, the clients

(whether public or private), the course languages and teaching aids used

for the training services provided.

In order to allow for possible verifications with the clients, the tenderer

has to provide also one contact point per client (with e-mail and phone

number).

(2) Qualification of staff:

The minimum requirements for the "project leader" are:

- Minimum 5 years of professional experience and proven track record

in the specific areas concerned (management of financial/accounting

trainings, management of learning and development projects,

knowledge of financial IT systems) including overseeing project

delivery and quality control of delivered services;

- Proven educational background and qualifications: higher education

degree or 5 years' professional experience in the field of training or on

financial IT systems;

- Experience of 3 years in management of a team of at least 7 people;

- Thorough command of English and French (minimum requirement of

B217

level for both English and French – see Annex 7.3).

For the "project leader" profile, the tenderer must provide as evidence

o the CV of at least one person who meets all the above requirements by

using the model CV in Annex 7.2;

17 Common European Framework of Reference for Languages - Self-assessment grid – see Annex 7.3 or

Europass website: http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/en/resources/european-language-levels-cefr

28

o any other appropriate document(s) as proof of the above mentioned

minimum requirements in case that the requirements cannot be assessed

on the basis of the CV.

The minimum requirements for the "trainers' profile" are:

- language skills at the level C1 for English or French (see Annex 7.3)

- have at least 2 years proven experience in delivering financial / accounting

IT training or

o 2 years' experience as a trainer and

o 2 years' professional experience in the field of finance and

accounting;

Requested supporting document for the trainers:

The tenderer shall sign a statement ("Confirmation of qualified trainers" in Annex 7.1)

confirming that he can make available at least 7 trainers fulfilling the minimum

requirements mentioned here above18

.

8.3.3.2 Economic and financial capacity criteria and evidence:

Tenderers (in case of a joint tender the combined capacity of all tenderers and

identified subcontractors) must comply with the following criteria, minimum

requirements and submit the following evidence:

- Annual minimum turnover of EUR 1 500 000 for each of the last two years for

which accounts have been closed to be evidenced by

(3) Copies of economic outturn (profit & loss account) and balance sheets or

extracts from balance sheets for the last two years for which accounts have been

closed, where publication of them is required under the company law of the

country in which the economic operator is established; these documents must

have been produced and/or certified by certified auditors or similar operators or

as required by the law of the country where the economic operator is established.

18 The tenderer shall during contract implementation, when proposing new trainers for accreditation,

present the CVs of the trainers and their proven track records as evidence.

29

- Required financial capacity:

3 out of 4 ratios calculated along the formulas in the table below should be favourable.

If this is not the case, the Commission reserves the right to exclude the tender or to

request additional security guarantees e.g. through a bank guarantee.

Name formula Unfavourable, if ratio is: comment

General liquidity current assets/short-

term debts

Below 1

Reduced capacity to

deal with short-term

debts

Financial

independence

own funds/total

liabilities

Below 0.20

The company

virtually belongs to

its creditors

Indebtedness own funds/medium

and long-term debts

(MLT)

Below 0.30

Substantial

indebtedness in

relation to own funds

Profitability Gross operating

surplus/turnover

Below 0.10

The profitability of

the business activity

is not proven

Economic operators may rely on the capacity of other entities. If the tenderer uses this

possibility, the contracting authority may request the legal entity that provides

financial backing to be jointly liable for the execution of the contract, e.g. by

requesting it to sign the contract or to provide a joint and several first-call guarantee.

If, for some exceptional reason which the contracting authority considers justified, a

tenderer is unable to provide the above documents, he may prove his economic and

financial capacity by any other document which the contracting authority considers

appropriate. In any case, the contracting authority must at least be notified of the

exceptional reason and its justification in the tender. The Commission reserves the

right to request any other document enabling it to verify the tenderer's economic and

financial capacity.

8.3.4 Technical and financial evaluation of the tenders (Award criteria)

The tender will be awarded according to the best-value-for-money procedure. The

quality of the tender will be evaluated based on the following criteria. The maximum

total quality score is 100 points.

8.3.4.1 Technical evaluation

Tenders will be evaluated on the basis of the following award criteria:

the quality of a practical case (consisting of 5 tasks a.1 to a.5) which

has to be elaborated based under case a) below and

the quality for the criteria under b, c and d.

a) Practical case: The European Commission (EC) signed a contract for the

purchase of a study for an estimated cost of € 50 000. A pre-financing has been

made for € 10 000 against a commercial invoice after signature of the contract.

30

Now the EC receives the study (in the same financial year) with a commercial

invoice for the final payment amounting to € 40 000. The Commission considers

the study has been carried out in accordance with the conditions of the contract.

Please describe and explain the accounting postings. The explanations should be

proposed for a target public which does not have accounting background.

For the purpose of preparing this case, relevant information concerning the

Commission's Financial Regulation (legal provisions/background) and on the

accounting rule n° 3 (expenses and payables) and accounting rule n°5 (pre-

financing) can be found in Annexes 8.1, 8.2 and 8.3.

a.1) Create a short "user manual" of maximum 5 pages to explain the context,

objectives, procedures and practical steps to process the financial transaction of this

case in any financial IT system of the tenderer's choice; 15 points

a.2) Make a short power point presentation on the same case with a maximum of

10 slides containing the essential information / points to highlight on this case;

10 points

a.3) Present a descriptive proposal of maximum 3 pages for the presentation of the

same case as part of a new classroom course in any financial IT system including

the proposed methodology, concept, context, background, learning objectives,

teaching aids, user documentation, duration; 10 points

a.4) Produce an e-learning module (in a software of the tenderer's choice) of about

1 minute on the same case covering a part of the accounting transaction. To be

delivered on CD-ROM (in .html format). 10 points

a.5) Produce a vision for other training techniques of maximum 3 pages (see

point 2.5 such as tele-training, video-conference sessions, workshop, individual or

group coaching and helpdesk services in relation to financial IT services) for this

case including advantages and disadvantages of such techniques for the topic in

question. 10 points

For all services to be delivered under this framework contract:

b) Training concept:

Describe the methodology, approach and methods to provide training services, to

create and update training material and user documentation, to ensure maximum

effectiveness in view of the learning objectives of the various target audiences of

the different institutions (in particular of agencies and other institutions), different

knowledge levels, multilingual and -cultural environment etc. 15 points

c) Implementation:

Planning, organisation of works for the provision of the services: Describe the

organisation of the team and types/measures for back-up (selecting the trainers and

project leader and ensuring an appropriate hand-over of knowledge in the event of

changes of trainers or project leader), communication within the training team,

measures to ensure timely delivery, to acquire and maintain the necessary

competences/expertise throughout the contract duration, organisational

arrangements with the competent contracting authorities 15 points

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d) Contract management - Monitoring and supervision of quality

Describe the reliability and efficiency of the tools, procedures and the quality plan

proposed for effective monitoring and supervision of services throughout the period

of execution of the contract

o to ensure high quality in the delivery of the services

o for effective monitoring and reporting of the services,

o for active management of complaints,

o for evaluation/feed-back methods and corrective measures; 15 points

The numbers of points indicate the maximum score that can be attributed to each

individual criterion.

Tenders which do not obtain at least 50% of the maximum score for each award

criterion and at least 65% of the overall score (= 65 points) for all the criteria will

not be admitted to the next stage of the evaluation procedure.

8.3.4.2 Financial comparison of offers

The total price of the financial offer scenario in Annex 3B will be used for the

financial comparison of tenders.

The price list in Annex 3A is based on fixed unit prices and fixed rates and it serves

for the financial offer scenario in Annex 3B. The scenario takes into account the

estimated workload repartition over four years which is based on past experience; it

takes into account current trends for more modifications/updates compared to new

creation of services and the estimated needs of the participating institutions. This

scenario is purely indicative (see also point 6).

Annexe 3A must be completed in full and signed by a person able to engage

the tenderer financially. Any incomplete tender can be excluded from the

evaluation procedure.

All references to prices for additional costs of co-ordination, general administration

etc. will be ignored - such costs must be included as part of the price offer.

Tenderers must leave the presentation of the price schedule unchanged. If the table

is reproduced using word-processing facilities, one must ensure that all the fields

from the original schedule are included in this reproduction. Omissions or changes

to the original table may lead to elimination.

Tenderers' attention is drawn to the fact that the sole objective of the financial

evaluation scenario is to provide a fair, non-discriminatory basis for comparing the

financial offers. In no case can it be considered to represent a commitment on the part

of the contracting authorities to make orders for the services and quantities indicated.

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They can therefore give rise to no expectation or legitimate right on the part of the

contractor.

8.3.5 Ranking formula

The contract shall be awarded to the tender offering the best quality/price ratio,

with a 50:50 weighting between technical quality and financial value.

All tenders passing minimum quality thresholds are ranked. The tender with the

highest mark wins. The formula used to rank tenders will be as follows:

Score

for

tender

X

=

cheapest

price

* 100 *

price

weighting

0.5

+

total quality score (out

of 100) for all award

criteria of tender X

*

quality

criteria

weighting

0.5 price of

tender X

The contract will be awarded to the tender obtaining the highest score at the end of

this process.

9. Submission of tenders

Details on the submission modalities are provided in the "Invitation for tender

letter".

Administrative requirement:

The Budget Directorate General of the European Commission must be provided by

each tenderer with a single access point via a functional mailbox BUDG-15-PO-

02@ec.europa.eu. This is also valid for groups of providers.

Tenderers must include in their replies:

All the information and documents required in these specifications to permit

verification of the identification of the tenderer, of possible grounds for

exclusion, of the tenderers' capacity on the basis of the selection criteria and to

allow for an evaluation on the basis of the technical and financial award criteria;

To help tenderers to prepare their tender, summarised information can be found in

the "checklist documents" in Annex 9.

Variants are not permitted.

DRAFT FRAMEWORK CONTRACT

Draft framework contract and annexes:

Annex I: Specific contract implementing the framework contract

Annex II: Tender specifications

Annex III: Contractor's specific tender

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Annex IV: Daily subsistence allowances