Call for expression of interest - Multiannual programme for scientific and technical assistance in the field of information on the environment

CALL FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST EEA/IAR/002/2000

Multiannual programme for scientific and technical assistance in the field of information on the environment

OJ 2000/S 14-007512 published on 21 January 2000

This notice replaces the notice published in 'Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Communities' No 3 of 6 January 2000

I. European Environment Agency, Kongens Nytorv 6, DK-1050 Copenhagen K

II. Notice of calls for expressions of interest for collaborating in the implementation of the EEA multiannual work programme 1999-2003 in the fields described in point 3. The objective of the work programme is to support sustainable development and to help achieve significant and measurable improvement in Europe's environment through the provision of timely, targeted, relevant and reliable information to policy making agents and the public.

Legal or natural persons wishing to apply for inclusion on the list are invited to do so in accordance with the provisions of this notice

.The awarding authority will include on this list applicants satisfying the administrative provisions andselection criteria in point VI.

For each specific contract relating to the fields described in point III, the awarding authority will send the tender documents and the invitation to tender to all applicants in the list in question.

III. This notice covers the following types of collaboration: ·

• technical assistance and provision of services: short and mid-term assistance or service on a specific implementation task or project of a technical nature
• studies, advice and expertise: short-term analysis work to explore, appraise or examine a specific area related to the Agency's remit on information provision.

This notice does not cover work to be carried by the European Topic Centres of the Agency, for which different arrangements and procedures apply. This notice concerns the following headings and subfields:

Technical assistance, provision of services and expert work relating to Topic Databases and Reporting:

1.1 SOCIO-ECONOMIC DATA (ALL SECTORS): to help with the collection, handling and storage within the EEA system of socio-economic data required for the Agency's periodical and integrated reporting. In most cases, these data on Driving Forces will be collected from Eurostat and other bodies compiling relevant statistics and spatial data for the European level.

1.2 PRESSURES: to contribute to coordination and/or cross-linking of projects to describe the link between socio-economic activities and pressures and to deliver a range of technical reports, including reviews of monitoring and reporting requirements and practice, and databases of source oriented data, as well as topic reports. The work executed here is also the basis for the development of indicators for the topics and related issues and to also support the definition of environmental reporting requirements in new legislation. The topics dealt with are:

• 1.2.1 Atmospheric emissions
• 1.2.2 Waste
• 1.2.3 Chemicals
• 1.2.4 Water discharges
• 1.2.5 Releases to land and soil

1.3 STATE AND QUALITY: to contribute to coordination and/or cross-linking of projects which aim to deliver the topic databases and a range of topic and technical reports on various aspects of water, air and soil quality and the state of land cover, nature and biodiversity as well as environmental noise. Several of these reports are required under specific legislation. Other work will help provide information for the development and implementation of policy, for example on EU noise mapping, the Framework Water Policy Directive, support to monitoring for the Birds Directive and to Natura 2000 under the Habitats Directive.

The topic dealt with by the Agency are:

• 1.3.1 Air quality
• 1.3.2 Water quality and resources
• 1.3.3 State of flora, fauna and biotopes
• 1.3.4 State of soil ·
• 1.3.5 Land cover and use
• 1.3.6 Coastal and marine environment
• 1.3.7 Urban and rural environment
• 1.3.7 Noise (e.g. EU outdoor machinery environmental noise data base)

Technical assistance, studies, advice and expert work relating to Integrated Assessments:

2.1 ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES: to contribute to integrated assessments of individual environmental issues, i.e. situations where human activities influence or exacerbate environmental processes causing significant environmental, human or economic impacts. A priority of this project area and the aim of "integrated assessment" is to assess the cross-links between environmental issues to improve the policy relevance of sound scientific-based analysis in the assessments and to provide strategic support to policy makers developing and implementing policies to tackle the issues (including work on prospective analysis and indicators):

• 2.1.1 Air quality and ozone (stratospheric & tropospheric)
• 2.1.2 Climate change
• 2.1.3 Water stress
• 2.1.4 Eutrophication
• 2.1.5 Acidification
• 2.1.6 Biodiversity and landscapes
• 2.1.7 Exposure to chemicals
• 2.1.8 Health and environment
• 2.1.9 Land and soil degradation
• 2.1.10 Waste management

2.2 REGIONAL ASSESSMENTS: to help analyse the regional and territorial dimensions of environmental issues, particularly for strategic environmental impact analyses. To contribute to the building of expertise and capacities for regional assessments, including hot-spot and sensitive areas analysis.

• 2.2.1 Mediterranean area, Arctic region, mountain areas
• 2.2.2 Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM)
• 2.2.3 Strategic environmental assessment, with specific reference to trans-European network, Alpine traffic
• .2.4 Landscapes
• 2.2.5 Urban environment

2.3 SECTORS: to contribute to the compilation of assessments (e.g. the making of sectoral indicator-based reports) concerning progress towards the integration of environment into economic sectoral policies. ·

• 2.3.1 Transport
• 2.3.2 Agriculture
• 2.3.3 Energy
• 2.3.4 Tourism
• 2.3.5 Industry
• 2.3.6 Households

2.4. INSTRUMENTS: to support activities to regularly evaluate the use and effectiveness of all types of instruments (such as legislative, economic and information and other management tools) in that process (including the framing and characterisation of the instruments and alternative scenario development).

• 2.4.1 Measures and policy instruments
• 2.4.2 Effectiveness of public information provision and access to justice
• 2.4.3 Environmental management tools

2.5. RESEARCH DISSEMINATION AND EMERGING ISSUES: to contribute to the setting up of a corresponding network and the development of criteria for the interpretation of signals coming out of science and society against which appropriate and feasible information on the present and expected situation can be determined. Support to the EEA and the network in scanning for emerging issues, initiating and performing scoping activities.

• 2.5.1 Research and environmental information
• 2.5.2 Emerging environmental issues

Technical assistance, studies, advice and expert work relating PERIODICAL REPORTING (STATE and Outlook on Europe's Environment & REGULAR INDICATOR-BASED REPORT)

3.1. Support to the organisation:

• · support to the development of outlines and contents of periodical reports including sets of indicators, the analysis of data and information required;
• · co-ordination of the compilation process - to assist in the daily contacts with the European Topic Centres and consultants responsible for the delivery of data and drafts of chapters;
• · support to the evaluation process of the reports by summarising comments received, elaborating proposals for alternative set-ups of reports, and reporting on discussions with stakeholders;
• · organisation of reviews of different reporting processes - to provide support in the organisation of reviews of the results in the member countries and other parts of the EEA network.

3.2. Data support: preparation of "indicator fact sheets" - compilation, documentation and interpretation of specific socio-economic and environmental indicators required for the reports, not covered by existing activities or by the European Topic Centres;

3.3. Chapter writing: drafting and writing of specific chapters under the supervision and steering of EEA project managers;

3.4. Editorial support: assistance to the editing of final versions of reports before printing, including consistency and presentation issues as well as linguistic copy-editing (English language).

Technical assistance, studies, advice and expert work relating to REPORTING SYSTEM SUPPORT

4. SCENARIOS, METHODOLOGIES, GUIDELINES: to contribute to the compilation, analysis and implementation of the evolving methodologies and tools related to the following areas.

• 4.1. Integrated Environmental Assessment
• 4.2. Scenarios and prospective analysis
• 4.3. Guidelines for environmental reporting
• 4.4. Support for Reporting Requirements (EU Legislation and multilateral agreements)

The activities also include the setting-up, maintenance of and/or co-operation with corresponding networks, as well as the preparation and evaluation of workshops.

5. DATA AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT: TO contribute to this project area which covers the organisational aspects of "data flows" and "data flow modelling", i.e. the analysis and management of the transfers of data and information into, out of, and within the EEA system, and how data is processed and stored. The data models in this project focus on organisational aspects, in particular the rules to ensure consistent data sets and tools for efficient transfer and exchange of information between partners according to requirements for analysis and assessment.

• 5.1. Data flow
• 5.2. Geographic Information System support
• 5.3. Data warehouse management support

IV. The compiled list will remain valid for three years from the date of publication. Applications may be received until 30.6.2001

V. Responses must be sent in triplicate (1 original and 2 copies), indicating the exact notice reference, to the following address: European Environment Agency, Kongens Nytorv 6, DK-1050 Copenhagen K

VI.1. Administrative provisions and selection criteria.

Responses must be in the following order and include:

Sheet a) concerning status of the applicant:

• name and corporate name, legal status, address, name and position of contact person, VAT number, national insurance number if the applicant is a natural person,
• proof of enrolment on a professional or trade register under the conditions stipulated by the legislation of the country in which applicant is established,
• a list of the European Union States and, where applicable, third countries covered by the applicant's proposals/engagements.

Sheet b) concerning the applicant's economic and financial capacity:

• for companies, the presentation of balance sheets or extracts from balance sheets for the past 3 financial years;
• for individual consultants, the budget for study, advisory works finalised in the past 3 years;
• for academic institutions, a financial balance of activities relevant to the application for the past 3 years.

Sheet c) concerning the technical and professional capacity by indicating priority fields of expertise (up to three).

The selection criteria for being placed on the list of potential contractors refer to the technical and professional capacity, especially proven know-how, efficiency, experience and reliability in the selected fields. To this end, applicants are invited to provide precise details of the type of collaboration chosen, the heading indicated in point III and to present one sheet per sub-field (e.g. bullet 2.3.1), indicating:

• the principal actions carried out over the past 3 years in the field chosen (value, dates and recipients),
• a statement on the company's average manpower over the past 3 years,
• the academic and professional qualifications of the company's managerial staff and/or of the persons responsible for providing the service.

Applicant(s ) unable to supply the information required in this point will be excluded.

VI.2. Response may be submitted in any official European Union language; a summary of the proposal in English would be appreciated (not compulsory).

VI.3. Applicants responding to this notice will be notified of the outcome of their dossiers.

VII. Date of dispatch of the notice: 12.1.2000

VIII. Date of receipt by the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities: 12.1.2000

IX. This notice is open to European Economic Area member countries and is covered by the GATT Agreements.