EEA/RNC/04/001 - Support to assessment of progress of halting biodiversity loss with respect to the marine environment for the EEA 2005 State of the Environment and Outlook Report

2004/S 17-013597

Contract notice

Services

Is this contract covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)? Yes

Section I: Contracting authority
I. 1) Official name and address of the contracting authority: European Environment Agency, Att: Mr Tor-Björn Larsson, Kongens Nytorv 6, DK-1050 Copenhagen K. Tel.: (45) 33 36 71 20. Fax: (45) 33 36 71 51. E-mail: Tor-bjorn.larsson@eea.eu.int. URL: http://org.eu.int/tenders.
2) Address from which further information can be obtained: As in I.1.
3) Address from which documentation may be obtained: See Annex A.
4) Address to which tenders/requests to participate must be sent: As in I.1.
5) Type of contracting authority: Other (EU Body).

Section II: Object of the contract
II. 1) Description
1.1) Type of works contract (in case of works contract)
1.2) Type of supplies contract (in case of supplies contract)
1.3) Type of service contract: Service.
1.4) Is it a framework agreement? No.
1.5) Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority: Support to assessment of progress of halting biodiversity loss with respect to the marine environment for the EEA 2005 State of the Environment and Outlook Report.
1.6) Description/object of the contract: Description of the project.
Background.
The EU 6th Environment action programme (6EAP) sets the target of halting the loss of biodiversity in Europe by 2010 ('The 2010 biodiversity target'). The 6EAP identifies the major environmental pressures and problems to biodiversity:
- Pollution from transport, industry and agriculture;
- Changes in land-use and over-exploitation of natural resources;
- Non-native species, incl. GMOs.
- Climate change and expected effects on biodiversity.
Additionally a number of specific biodiversity elements are under threat and pressures in need of attention, such as 'Species in threat of extinction', 'Threats to fish population by over-fishing and by-catches', 'Changes to species and habitats by hunting and fishing', 'Changes to natural genetic resources by land and sea use', 'Tourism in fragile areas (islands, coastal, mountain)', etc.Purpose of the contract
The purpose of the contract is to support a planned EEA report 'Halting biodiversity loss' with respect to the following problem area:
- Marine environment and sustainable fishery.
The objective of the study is to assess progress towards reducing the loss of biodiversity by highlighting the main pressures, the biodiversity state/impact and specific responses in relation to these pressures, cf. the 'D-P-S-I-R' assessment scheme. As far as possible the assessment should be based upon indicators but case studies etc. could be included to support the story-line.
EEA staff will work actively with the elaboration of the report 'Halting biodiversity loss' and the contractor needs to perform the study in good contact with the project coordinator/and or other EEA staff and e.g. experts from the European Topic Centres (ETCs) responsible for other sections of the report. The contractor shall, e.g. as regards indicator development, closely cooperate with the ETCs supporting the EEA, in particular the ETC Water (Lot 1) and/or the ETC Nature Protection and Biodiversity & the ETC Terrestrial Environment (Lot 2).Tasks
Marine environment and sustainable fishery
Biodiversity in seas and oceans suffers from a number of pressures of varying intensity. It is suggested that the discussion on the pressures and resulting impacts on biodiversity is structured under the following headings (may be merged):
1. nature protection (incl. threatened species);
2. fishing;
3. mariculture;
4. alien species;
5. eutrophication;
6. contaminants (pollution);
7. offshore activities and shipping;
8. construction (incl. land reclamation, dredging & dumping);
9. recreational and tourist infrastructure;
10. climate change.
The results should primarily be given with respect to the Large Marine Ecosystems connected to Europe: the Arctic ocean, the North-east Atlantic ocean, the North sea, the Baltic sea, the Mediterranean sea, the Black sea and the Caspian sea.
Substantial background information on the relevant Large Marine Ecosystems is recently published by EEA.
1.7) Site or location of works, place of delivery or performance: European Environment Agency.
1.8) Nomenclature
1.8.1) Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)
1.8.2) Other relevant nomenclature (CPA/NACE/CPC)
1.9) Division into lots (for details about lots use Annex B as many times as needed): No.
1.10) Will variants be accepted: Yes.
2) Quantity or scope of the contract
2.1) Total quantity or scope (including all lots and options, if applicable): 80-100 working days required.
2.2) Options (if applicable). Description and time when they may be exercised (if possible)
3) Duration of the contract or time-limit for completion: Period in month/s: 9 (from the award of the contract).

Section III: Legal, economic, financial and technical information
III. 1) Conditions relating to the contract
1.1) Deposits and guarantees required (if applicable)
1.2) Main terms of financing and payment and/or reference to the relevant provisions: General terms and conditions applicable to contracts awarded by the European Environment Agency.
1.3) Legal form to be taken by the grouping of suppliers, contractors or service providers to whom the contract is awarded (if applicable)
2) Conditions for participation
2.1) Information concerning the personal situation of the contractor, supplier or service provider and information and formalities necessary for the evaluation of the minimum economic, financial and technical capacity required
2.1.1) Legal position - means of proof required
2.1.2) Economic and financial capacity - means of proof required: Grounds for exclusion
Irrespective of the award procedure used, any contractor may be excluded from participating in a contract if:
- they are bankrupt, being wound up or has suspended business activities, his affairs are being administered by the court, he has entered into an arrangement with creditors or similar measures or is the subject of any proceedings of that nature;
- they have been convicted of an offence concerning his professional conduct by a judgement which is not open to appeal;
- they have been guilty of grave professional misconduct;
- they have not fulfilled obligations relating to the payment of social security contributions or taxes;
- they are guilty of serious misrepresentation in supplying the information required by the authorising department.
Potential contractors must certify that they are not in one of the situations listed.
Financial and economic standing
Evidence of financial and economic standing may be furnished by one or more of the following references:
- statements from bankers;
- balance sheets or extracts from balance sheets;
- a statement of overall turnover and turnover relating to the relevant supplies, works or services.
2.1.3) Technical capacity - means of proof required: Evidence of technical and professional competence must be furnished by the following references:
- the educational and professional qualifications of the proposed consultants;
- a list of relevant contracts provided in the last three years;
- a statement of the service provider's average annual manpower and the number of managerial staff for the last three years;
- a description of the service measures for ensuring quality;
- an indication of the proportion of the contract, which the service provider may intend to subcontract.
3) Conditions specific to services contracts
3.1) Is provision of the service reserved to a specific profession? No.
3.2) Will legal entities be required to state the names and professional qualifications of the personnel responsible for execution of the contract? Yes.

Section IV: Procedure
IV. 1) Type of procedure: Open.
1.1) Have candidates already been selected? (for negotiated procedure only and if applicable)
1.2) Justification for the choice of accelerated procedure (if applicable)
1.3) Previous publication concerning the same contract (if applicable)
1.3.1) Prior information notice concerning the same contract (if applicable)
1.3.2) Other previous publications
1.4) Envisaged number of suppliers which will be invited to tender (when applicable)
2) Award criteria: The most economically advantageous tender in terms of criteria as stated below:
Award criteria.
The contract will be awarded to the most advantageous offer taking into account:
- Expertise - the consultants' knowledge of European marine ecosystems and the relevant major pressures impacting on biodiversity, and knowledge of relevant European data sets as evident from their previous projects and publications/reports;
Understanding - the degree to which tenderers have taken into consideration the general objectives of report to which the study should contribute and in particular how well the study is in line with the approach taken in the chapter 3. 'Major pressures and impacts on Europe's biodiversity' such as they appear above, as well as the contents of the deliverables;
Methodology - the degree to which the methodology and detail of the consultants' work plan shows the capacity to provide the required deliverables;
Project management - based on the quality of the team organisation and project management procedures, which should be clearly outlined in the tender; and
Value for money - total price and number of working days offered in comparison to overall project output.
A points system is used to choose the best tender. The distribution of maximum points to each criterion is as follows:
20 points to 'Expertise';
30 points to 'Understanding';
25 points to 'Methodology';
15 points to 'Project Management';
10 points to 'Value for money'.
In descending order of priority: no.
3) Administrative information
3.1) Reference number attributed to the file by the contracting authority: Ref. No EEA/RNC/04/001.
3.2) Conditions for obtaining contract document and additional documents: Obtainable until: 37 days from the date of publication in OJ.
3.3) Time-limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate (depending whether it is an open, restricted or negotiated procedure): 52 days from dispatch of notice.
3.4) Dispatch of invitations to tender to selected candidates (in restricted and negotiated procedure)
3.5) Language or languages in which tenders or requests to participate can be drawn up: Spanish, Danish, German, Greek, English, French, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Finnish, Swedish.
3.6) Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain its tender (in case of an open procedure): 6 months from the deadline stated for receipt of tenders.
3.7) Conditions for opening tenders
3.7.1) Persons authorized to be present at the opening of tenders: Officials from the Agency and financial controller.
3.7.2) Date, time and place

Section VI: Other information
VI. 1) Is this notice a non-mandatory one? No.
2) If applicable, indicate whether this procurement is a recurrent one and the estimated timing for further notices to be published
3) Does the contract relate to a project/programme financed by EU funds? No.
4) Additional information (if applicable)
5) Date of dispatch of this notice: 14.1.2004.

Annex A
I. 1) Address from which further information can be obtained
2) Address from which documentation may be obtained: European Environment Agency, for the attention of Mr Jimmy Flindt, Kongens Nytorv 6, DK-1050 Copenhagen K. Tel.: +45 33 36 71 50. Fax: +45 33 36 71 51. E-mail: Jimmy.flindt@eea.eu.int, URL: http://org.eea.eu.int/tenders.
3) Address to which tenders/requests to participate must be sent

Technical Specifications and all Annexes

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