EEA/BSS/07/005 - Call for expressions of interest in activities on Environmental Tax Reform (ETR) in Europe

Call For Interest Published 03 Jul 2007

DK-Copenhagen: call for expressions of interest in activities on environmental tax reform (ETR) in Europe

2007/S 133-162691

No EEA/BSS/07/005

Notice to be published in the Official Journal, S series

1.		Contracting authority: European Environment Agency, Kongens Nytorv 6, DK-1050 Copenhagen K. Tel. (45) 33 36 71 00. Fax (45) 33 36 71 99. E-mail: procurement@eea.europa.eu.
2.		Type: Notice of a call for expressions of interest (CEI) in: 'Activities on Environmental Tax Reform (ETR) in Europe' with the following objectives: (a) to contribute to the ongoing debate by providing deeper European-level analyses of ETR and ETR scenarios by looking at the implications for tax policy of a substantial ETR; (b) to use the outcome for the 2010 version of the report 'The European Environment — State and Outlook' (SOER2010) and for an updated version of the European Environment Agency's (EEA) report on market-based instruments; (c) to improve coordination, exchange of information, and collaboration on the topic of ETR among different actors in Europe. Projects carried out under the auspices of this CEI will have a medium/long-term perspective (some decades), at European level (minimum the current EU) and with substantial ETR scenarios compared to the current role (6–7 %) of environmental taxation in the EU (i.e. shifting the environmental tax revenue share in the EU to substantially higher levels than currently in the next decades). Natural or legal persons interested are invited to submit an application in accordance with the provisions stated in this notice. The contracting authority will draw up a list of candidates meeting the criteria in point 7 below. This list will comprise sub-lists corresponding to each of the 6 fields described in point 4. Each time the contracting authority intends to conclude a specific contract relating to the field described in point 4, a selection, based on objective and non-discriminatory criteria, of all or some of the candidates on the relevant sub-list(s) will be made, followed by an invitation to the selected candidates to submit a tender in accordance with the tender documentation. Should the contracting department have to set a maximum number of candidates who will be invited to submit a tender for a given contract, the number is 20. Inclusion on the list entails no obligation on the part of the contracting authority to send an invitation to tender to candidates on the sub-list(s), or to award them a contract.
3.		The list resulting from this notice will be used exclusively for public contracts of the following types: Service contracts under Annex II A to Directive 2004/18/EC, except for research and development contracts in category 8 in that Annex, worth less than an estimated EUR 137 000. Research and development service contracts in category 8 of Annex IIA to Directive 2004/18/EC worth less than an estimated EUR 211 000.
4.		Description of fields covered by this CEI: The latest 5-yearly EEA report on the European environment, the State and Outlook Report 2005 (SOER2005), synthesises the messages on ETR that the EEA has been carrying out during the last years, concluding that: 'Tax reform can contribute to a more sustainable healthy environment. A gradual shift of the tax base away from taxing 'good' resources such as investment and labour, towards taxing 'bad' resources such as pollution and inefficient use, would also help to internalise external costs into service and product prices. This would in turn create more realistic market price signals.' The topic of ETR is rising up the agenda in both Member States and in the EU institutions. The Commission's Green paper on market-based instruments for environment and related policy purposes (COM(2007) 140 final) says: 'An environmental tax reform (ETR) shifting the tax burden from welfare-negative taxes, (e.g. on labour), to welfare-positive taxes, (e.g. on environmentally damaging activities, such as resource use or pollution) can be a win-win option to address both environmental and employment issues'. A strong signal came also from the recent Brussels Tax Forum, organised by DG TAXUD of the European Commission, devoted for this first edition to taxation for sustainable development. Moreover, a particular future target is the ETR objective in the renewed EU Sustainable Development Strategy 2006. Aiming at the improvement of the evidence base for several aspects of ETR, the EEA would like to establish the following 6 sub-lists: (a) ETR and eco-innovation in Europe — sub-list 1: the aim is to explore at a European level the implications of ETR for the development of environmental industries, through the continuous incentive of raised environmental taxes or technological innovation that saves resources and pollutes less. 'Environmental industries' is taken to mean those which produce goods and services to measure, prevent, limit, minimise or correct environmental damage to water, air and soil or problems related to waste, noise and eco-systems. (b) Household distributional implications of ETR — sub-list 2: the aim is to evaluate at a European level the distributional implications of ETR for households, through the assessment of both direct and indirect consequences for the different income groups in terms of expenditure. The consequences of recycling revenues from environmental taxes and the environmental effects of ETR on different income groups would also be included. (c) Border tax adjustments (BTA) in the European Union — sub-list 3: the aim is to evaluate at a European level the introduction of a BTA for environmental reasons. The impact on trade flows of the EU should be assessed. The research would also try to evaluate any effect induced by the implementation of BTA in the EU on environmental policies of countries exporting to the EU. (d) ETR and the EU internal market — sub-list 4: the aim is to evaluate within the EU the impact of a substantial ETR in the next decades on internal trade flows (i.e. between Member States) due to the internalisation of the environmental impact of transport. (e) ETR and the ageing European society — sub-list 5: as of today, labour is the most taxed factor in Europe. But the labour tax base will shrink, as projections for 2050 indicate that there will then be 2 workers per pensioner compared to 4 workers now. The implications for public finances for the next decades, when a falling labour tax coincides with increased health and pensions expenditures, are evident. The aim is to evaluate the role of ETR in shifting part of the tax base from the shrinking working population onto the expanding tax base of lifetime (85+ years) consumption. (f) An ETR (EFR) in each European country — sub-list 6: starting from the taxation system currently in place in each of the countries of the EU, the aim is to determine the actions/interventions for each Member State to implement a substantial ETR i.e. how to achieve a shift from taxing positive economic factors (such as labour) to taxing non-priced use of the environment and natural resources, under scenario assumptions. An extended version would be with the reform of subsidies, through elimination of those harmful to the environment, by putting in place in each country an environmental fiscal reform.
5.		Validity: The compiled list/sub-lists will remain valid for 3 years from the date of dispatch of this CEI to the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities (see point 10). Applications may be submitted at any time during this period with the exception of the last 3 months (as per post mark, courier and hand deliveries at 16:00). Applications received after this date will not be considered. Applications must be sent by post or hand delivery, applications sent by fax or e-mail will not be accepted. Please note that it is the responsibility of the potential contractor to inform the European Environment Agency (EEA) immediately of any changes to their administrative, technical or financial details which would result in a change to their original application.
6.		Legal form for groups of economic operators/consortia: Applications may also be submitted by groups of economic operators/consortia which, if included in the list/sub lists and invited to tender, may tender as a group/consortium (following the award of a contract and if necessary for its proper performance, a group may be required to assume a particular legal form). Such a group is required to designate a member which will exclusively interface with the EEA. In order for a group to be included in the list/sub-lists, each group member needs to fulfil the criteria under 7.
7.		Criteria
7.1.		Exclusion criteria (see application form for further details): Candidates shall be excluded from participation in a procurement procedure if: (a) they are bankrupt or being wound up, are having their affairs administered by the courts, have entered into an arrangement with creditors, have suspended business activities, are the subject of proceedings concerning those matters, or are in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations; (b) they have been convicted of an offence concerning their professional conduct by a judgment which has the force of 'res judicata'; (c) they have been guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means which the contracting authority can justify; (d) they have not fulfilled obligations relating to the payment of social security contributions or the payment of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of the country in which they are established or with those of the country of the contracting authority or those of the country where the contract is to be performed; (e) they have been the subject of a judgment which has the force of 'res judicata' for fraud, corruption, involvement in a criminal organisation or any other illegal activity detrimental to the Communities' financial interests; (f) following another procurement procedure or grant award procedure financed by the Community budget, they have been declared to be in serious breach of contract for failure to comply with their contractual obligations. Candidates or tenderers must certify that they are not in any of the situations listed above. Contracts may not be awarded to candidates who, during the procurement procedure are: — subject to a conflict of interest, — guilty of misrepresentation in supplying the information required by the contracting authority as a condition of participation in the contract procedure or fail to supply this information.
7.2.		Selection criteria: Legal status: any candidate is asked to prove that he is authorised to perform the contract under the national law as evidenced by inclusion in a trade or professional register, or a sworn declaration or certificate, membership of a specific organisation, express authorisation, or entry in the VAT register. Economic and financial capacity: any candidate is requested to provide proof of economic and financial capacity by 1 or more of the following documents: — appropriate statements from banks or evidence of professional risk indemnity insurance, — the presentation of balance sheets or extracts from balance sheets for at least the last 2 years for which accounts have been closed, where publication of the balance sheet is required under the company law of the country in which the candidate is established, — a statement of overall turnover during the last 3 financial years. Technical and professional capacity: evidence of the technical and professional capacity of applicants shall be furnished on the basis of the following documents: — the educational and professional qualifications of the service provider relevant for the fields described under 4 and, in particular, those of the person or persons responsible for providing the services (CVs must be provided), — a list of services provided in the past 3 years relevant to the fields described under 4, with the sums, dates and recipients, public or private, — an indication of the languages covered by the applicant, — a description of the candidate's environmental management measures/system.
8.		Further information: The full list of information, formalities and documents to be supplied by persons interested can be found in the application form which can be downloaded from our web site: http://org.eea.europa.eu/tenders.
9.		Submission of applications: (a) address: the applications should be sent to European Environment Agency Kongens Nytorv 6, DK-1050 Copenhagen K. Envelopes must be clearly marked: 'Call for Expression of Interest (CEI): Activities on Environmental Tax Reform (ETR) in Europe — EEA/BSS/07/005'; (b) the original and 2 copies of the application must be placed together inside a sealed envelope, which is to be marked 'Not to be opened by EEA's internal mail service'. This sealed envelope is then to be placed inside another sealed envelope and to be sent to the address mentioned above; (c) the candidates must specify the sub-list(s) they are interested in.
10.		Date of dispatch of notice: 3.7.2007.
11.		Date of receipt of notice by the Publications Office: 3.7.2007.