European Topic Centre on inland, coastal and marine waters, EEA/NSV/10/002

1. The European Environment Agency is planning to award the agreement referred to above.

2. If you are interested in this agreement, you should submit a proposal in five copies (one unbound) in one of the EEA member countries’ languages, preferably in English.

3. Interested candidates (consortia) may choose:

• to submit proposals either by post or by courier not later than 20 April 2010, in which case the evidence of the date of dispatch shall be constituted by the postmark or the date of the deposit slip, to the following address:

European Environment Agency
Kongens Nytorv 6
DK-1050 Copenhagen K
Denmark
For the attention of: Mr Olivier Cornu, Project Officer - Procurement

• or to deliver proposals by hand to the above-mentioned address not later than 16:00 on 20 April 2010. In this case, a receipt must be obtained as proof of submission, signed and dated by the receptionist of the Agency who accepts delivery. The Agency is open from 09.00 to 17.00 Monday to Friday. It is closed on Saturdays, Sundays and official holidays.

4. Proposals must be placed inside two sealed envelopes. The inner envelope should be marked as follows:

"Reply to OPEN CALL FOR PROPOSALS – ETC Inland, coastal and marine waters: EEA/NSV/10/002 – not to be opened by the internal mail department".

If self-adhesive envelopes are used, they must be sealed with adhesive tape and the sender must sign across this tape.

5. The Terms of Reference (ToR), its Annexes and the standard Framework Partnership Agreement (FPA) as well as its Annexes are attached to this invitation. The ToR list all documents that must be produced in order to submit a proposal, including supporting evidence of economic, financial, technical and professional capacity.

6. Proposals must be:

• signed by all consortium partners/the duly authorised representative (coordinator) of the consortium;
• perfectly legible so that there can be no doubt as to words and figures.

Every consortium submitting a proposal shall nominate a coordinator who will alone interface with the Agency.

7. Period of validity of the proposal, during which the terms of the proposal must not be amended in any respect: 6 (six) months from the deadline for the submission of proposals.

8. Submission of a proposal implies acceptance of all the terms and conditions set out in this
call, the ToR and its Annexes as well as the FPA and its Annexes and, where appropriate, waiver of the own general or specific terms and conditions of the consortium and its partners.

9. An information briefing will be held at the EEA on 3 February 2010 in Copenhagen. Interested Candidates are invited to register by sending an e-mail to olivier.cornu@eea.europa.eu and will in turn receive confirmation. The EEA will not provide expenses for participation in this information meeting.

10. Apart from 9., any other contacts between the contracting authority and interested candidates (consortia/partners) are prohibited throughout the procedure save in exceptional circumstances and under the following conditions only:

• Before the final date for submission of proposals:

* At the request of an interested candidate, the contracting authority may provide additional information solely for the purpose of clarifying the nature of the agreement. Any requests for additional information must be made in writing only to procurement@eea.europa.eu. Requests for additional information received less than five working days before the closing date for submission of proposals will not be processed.
* The Agency may also, on its own initiative, provide additional information regarding any error, inaccuracy, omission or any other clerical error in the text of the call for proposals.
* Interested candidates are invited to check the following URL address regularly, as any additional information, including that referred to above, will be available for download from this site: open calls for proposals

• After the opening of proposals

* If clarification is required or if obvious clerical errors in the proposal need to be corrected, the contracting authority may contact a candidate provided the terms of the proposal are not modified as a result.

11. This call is in no way binding on the Agency. The Agency's contractual obligation commences only upon conclusion of an agreement with the successful consortium and subject to the agreement’s terms and conditions.
Up to the point of signature, the contracting authority may either abandon or cancel the procedure, without applicants being entitled to claim any compensation. This decision must be substantiated and the applicants notified.

12. You will be informed whether or not your proposal has been accepted.

13. If your proposal includes subcontracting, it is recommended that contractual arrangements with subcontractors include mediation as a method of dispute resolution.

14. Processing your reply to this call will involve the recording and processing of personal data (such as your name, address and CV). Such data will be processed pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data. Unless indicated otherwise, your replies to the questions and any personal data requested are required to evaluate your proposal in accordance with the ToR of this call and will be processed solely for that purpose by the Agency. Under the data protection Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 you are entitled to obtain access to your personal data on request and to rectify any such data that is inaccurate or incomplete. If you have any queries concerning the processing of your personal data, you may address them to the Agency. You have the right of recourse at any time to the European Data Protection Supervisor for matters relating to the processing of your personal data.

15. You are informed that for the purposes of safeguarding the financial interest of the Communities, your personal data may be transferred to internal audit services, to the European Court of Auditors, to the Financial Irregularities Panel and/or to the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF).
Data of economic operators which are in one of the situations referred to in Articles 93, 94, 96(1)(b) and 96(2)(a) of the Financial Regulation² may be included in a central database and communicated to the designated persons of the Commission, other institutions, agencies, authorities and bodies mentioned in Article 95(1) and (2) of the Financial Regulation. This refers as well to the persons with powers of representation, decision making or control over the said economic operators. Any party entered into the database has the right to be informed of the data concerning it, up on request to the accounting officer of the Commission.

1. The successful consortium will be proposed Framework Partnership Agreement (FPA) covering the period from 2011 to 2013 (the remaining period of the current EEA Strategy 2009-2013) with a possible renewal for one year under the next EEA Strategy subject to management board approval.

2. Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) N° 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 (OJEU L 248 of 16.09.2002), as amended by Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) N° 1995/2006 of 13.12.2006 (OJEU L 390 of 30.12.2006).