Open call for tenders - Reference No EACEA/2008/05

Study on the contribution of culture to local and regional economic development as part of European regional policy

Please find hereunder some additional information regarding the tender in reference.

Question

Point 3.3.2 Specific activities: the last bullet point mentions” upon request by the Commission, make a number of presentations (a maximum of 10) of the results of the study to the representatives of Member States and/or to other stakeholders.”
Do the tenderers have to foresee in their budget a number of days and travel + per diems expenses for these presentations?

Answer: Yes.

Question
One task of the contractor is to organize a fact finding seminar. What has been the intention of EACEA in setting up this task – is this event envisaged as the basis for finding these at least 45 project examples or should most of the examples be selected before that seminar which thereby only helps to give further input to the study?

Answer

By the end of the 3d month the tenderer will have to organise “a fact-finding seminar to identify good practices and how the cultural dimension is integrated into the regional development strategies. In accordance with section 3.2.2 of the tendering specifications, this fact-finding seminar should permit to: “Identify a series of good culture projects financed by the structural fund during the period 2000-2006 and as far as possible also such projects or selected projects for the period 2007-2013. As an indication, it is estimated that a minimum of 45 projects will be necessary for the sake of representativeness.”
In order to help the tenderer, the technical specifications provide him/her with the definition of what is considered to be a good project for the purpose of this study, namely "projects with a high cultural dimension/value and fully corresponding to the objectives of the current programming of the structural funds "competitiveness", "cohesion" or "cooperation")."

Question
If we consider 150 participants and the aim of at least 45 projects then one seminar can be very ambitious plan even if organized in parallel sessions. Is it considered to be a 1-day, 2-days or 3-days seminar or is it up to the tenderer to suggest?

Answer

As clearly stated in Point 3.2.2:
“In their bid, the tenderer will have to present and justify the methodology they plan to use in order to identify the good practices as well as the sample of regions selected and show that the number and relevance of the suggested case studies are appropriate to provide a strong basis in support of their analysis. The tenderer will also have to present how he intends to organize and to hold the seminar.”
It is therefore up to the tenderer to explain in his bid what he considers to be the best methodology and actions to be carried out.

Question
It is also said that “The tenderer can decide if he/she wants to refund travel and living expenses for the participants. Furthermore, the tenderer will have to decide if he/she wants to organise lunches outside the European Commission's premises during the Fact Finding Seminar.” How is this fact considered in evaluating the tenders (as one criterion is the most economically advantageous tender)? Considering the number of participants from all over the Europe one can envisage the price for one participant (e.g. accommodation, travel, lunch) around 1000 EUR (depending also on the duration of the seminar) in general which in total makes already half of the budget of the contract. There is a big difference in the budget of the contract even when only partially covering the expenses of the participants. When some tenderers include the price and others not then how is guaranteed the equal treatment of these tenders in the evaluation process (e.g. in case of technically equal tenders)?

Answer

In order to garantee equal treatment in the financial evaluation of the tenders, tenderers who wish to include travel and subsistence costs as well as luncheons during the seminar are requested to fill in annex 5. This will allow the comparison of comparable services offered; i.e. prices for the main tasks and unit costs for travel, subsistence and luncheon related to the seminar.

Question
How precise methodology for the study is expected at the tendering documents phase? How much room for modifications has been left in the further contract phase?

Answer

All the issues are addressed in the technical specifications. It is therefore up to the tenderer to draft his bid accordingly. Please note that the content of the technical offer is binding and will be part of the services contract signed between the agency and the selected contractor.

Question
Further, is it expected that tenderers have already all key experts at place or is it acceptable that some of these persons will be found during the contract (e.g. the methodology sets the nr of country correspondent positions which will be fulfilled during the contract as stated in pp 12 in tender specification documentation)?

Answer

In accordance with section 3.4.1 of the tendering specifications, key experts must be identified in the tender.

Question
How precise should be the selection of regions in the tendering documents? The proper selection of regions already requires a certain amount of resources for work as first of all there should be a certain methodology in place for selecting the regions and secondly, selecting the regions requires already communication with stakeholders which is actually a work envisaged in the contract. Is it acceptable if the tendering documents suggest certain methodology for selecting the regions and the likely selection of those subject to modification at the actual work phase?

Answer

All the issues are addressed in the technical specifications. It is therefore up to the tenderer to draft his bid accordingly. Please note that the content of the technical offer is binding and will be part of the services contract signed between the agency and the selected contractor.

Question
How and according to what criteria will it be evaluated if the number and relevance of the selected regions and suggested case studies are appropriate?

Answer

In accordance with the tasks described section 3 of the tendering specifications, these elements of the offer will be evaluated under the following criteria:
- Method
- Quality of geographical coverage

Question:

According to section 3.4.1 of the technical specifications, "one role may be divided between two or more experts”. Would this in practice mean that we have to assign two project managers in order two tick off the two skills requirements? Or is it sufficient to appoint one project manager with significant project management and local/regional development policy expertise and illustrate how many of the other experts working on the project (senior advisors, consultants, etc.) have significant cultural and creative industries expertise.

Answer

On one hand, as specified in the tender technical specifications EACEA 2008-05, the project manager should have the following skills:
"Thorough theoretical and practical knowledge of the cultural sector and of the cultural and creative industries in Europe and, in particular, their local and regional aspects. Excellent knowledge of structural funds and regional/local development mechanisms. Extensive experience of conducting similar studies in an international setting."
and "The tenderer is required to propose in his bid a team comprising key experts, one of whom will be the project manager."

On the other hand and taking into consideration the following recommendation:
It is recommended that the key expert/experts proposed by the tenderer have all the skills and experience described below. However, it is not necessary that each of the skills and experience described below correspond to a single individual. One expert may have the skills and experience required to cover more than one role in the project. Equally, one role may be divided between two or more experts if the tenderer believes that this will be the most effective way to achieve the desired results.
it is up to the tenderer to propose a team of key experts (as well as a project management) who will be up to the tasks and requirements identified in the above mentioned technical specifications.

Question

The Agency has been quite prescriptive in the way that it envisages the objectives of the above study being met. Is it possible to suggest variations in the organisation of the work, for instance, in the timing of the seminar ?

Answer

As such it is up to the tenderer to build a tender which will, according to him, best match these conditions, requirements and activities/tasks to be performed. Please note that the schedule of events described under section 3.5.2 of the specifications must be respected.