Brussels, 29 June 2010
INVITATION TO TENDER
Open call for tenders ref. SJU/LC/0046-CFT
Provision of agency staff
Dear Sir/Madam,
1. The Sesar Joint Undertaking (hereinafter “SJU”) is planning to award a framework contract for the provision on request of agency staff.
2. The present contract is being awarded in accordance with the open call for tenders procedure.
3. If you are interested in this contract, please submit your tender either by post, registered letter or courier or deliver it by hand no later than 2 August 2010 at 1200 midday (GMT +1:00), the date of acknowledgement of receipt being authoritative, to the following address:
SESAR Joint Undertaking
100, Avenue de Cortenbergh
B-1000 Brussels
Belgium.
Tenders must be sent in a double envelope. The two (2) envelopes will be sealed and the inner envelope will be marked as follows:
Appel d'offres Réf. SJU/LC/0046-CFT - A ne pas ouvrir par le service ducourrier
Invitation to tender Ref. SJU/LC/0046-CFT - Not to be opened by the internal
mail department
If self-adhesive envelopes are used, they will be sealed with adhesive tape and the sender will sign across this tape.
Failure to observe these instructions may result in the tenderer being excluded.
4. The competitive tender invitation file consists of the following documents:
- the present invitation to tender letter, to which are attached:
- the technical specifications relating to the present contract, which specify all the documents to be drawn up for the tender submission, including supporting evidence of economic, financial, technical and professional capacity, and
- the draft framework contract containing all the contractual conditions governing implementation of the contract.
Each of the aforementioned documents shall form an integral part of the call for tenders.
5. Throughout the procurement procedure, contacts between the SJU and the tenderers can take place only under the conditions described in Section 2.5 of the attached tender specifications.
6. This invitation to tender is in no way binding on the SJU. Until a contract is signed,the SJU may decide not to award a contract or to cancel the tendering procedure, without the tenderers being entitled to claim any compensation. Any such decision will be substantiated and brought to the attention of the tenderers.
7. Tenderers will be informed at the earliest opportunity of the outcome of their tender.
Yours etc.
(signed)
Patrick KY
Executive Director
29 June 2010
Edition 00.10.00
Tender specifications
Open call for tenders ref. SJU/LC/0046-CFT
Provision of agency staff
Open call for tenders ref. SJU/LC/0046-CFT
Provision of agency staff
Table of contents
1. INTRODUCTION – SUBJECT OF THE CONTRACT 3
2. GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE CALL FOR TENDERS 4
2.1 Subject of the contract 4
2.2 Contract award conditions 4
2.3 Provisional timetable 4
2.4 Sub-contracting 4
2.5 Contacts between the SJU and the tenderers 4
2.5.1 Before the limit date for receiving tenders 4
2.5.2 After the opening of tenders 4
2.6 Period of validity of the tender 4
2.7 Contractual conditions 5
2.8 Confidentiality, processing of personal data and public access to documents 5
2.9 Variants 5
3. TERMS of REFERENCE – CONTRACT DESCRIPTION 6
3.1 General conditions 6
3.2 Special conditions 6
3.3 Post specifications 7
3.4 Period of provision 7
3.5 Public holidays 7
3.6 Working hours 8
3.7 Procedures for placing specific orders 8
3.7.1. Sending of purchase orders 8
3.7.2. Service proposal 8
3.7.3. Issuing of specific orders 8
3.7.4. Service implementation 9
3.8 Invoicing procedures 9
2.5.1 General 9
2.5.2 Constraints 9
4. FORM AND CONTENT OF THE TENDER 10
4.1 General 10
4.2 Drafting language of tenders 10
4.3 Structure of the tender 10
4.3.1 Covering letter 10
4.3.2 Administrative proposal 10
4.3.3 Technical proposal 11
4.3.4 Financial proposal 11
5. TENDER ASSESSMENT AND CONTRACT AWARD 15
5.1 General 15
5.2 Stage 1 : assessment in terms of the exclusion criteria 15
5.3 Stage 2: assessment in terms of the selection criteria 15
5.3.1 Legal capacity 16
5.3.2 Tenderer’s economic and financial capacity 16
5.3.3 Tenderer’s technical and professional capacity 16
5.4 Stage 3: assessment in terms of the award criteria 16
ANNEX 1 – Declaration on honour with respect to the exclusion criteria 19
Declaration on honour regarding the exclusion criteria 20
ANNEX 2 – Table for submitting the financial proposal .21
ANNEX 3 – Draft framework contract ...... 22
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Open call for tenders ref. SJU/LC/0046-CFT
Provision of agency staff
1. INTRODUCTION – SUBJECT OF THE CONTRACT
In response to the steady increase in air traffic, the European Commission and EUROCONTROL have created a joint undertaking with the aim of combining research and development efforts to improve air traffic control systems within the European Union: the SESAR Joint Undertaking (hereinafter “SJU”).
Apart from its two founding members, the SJU also counts among its members 15 major stakeholders in air traffic control in Europe (manufacturers, air traffic service providers, airports, etc.).
The SJU wishes to use agency staff to perform temporary or occasional tasks in Brussels at employee level resulting from an extraordinary surplus of work and/or the need to carry out exceptional work and make temporary replacements (pending the resumption of duties of persons on maternity or annual leave, etc.), under the conditions laid down by the existing laws and regulations in Belgium.
For this purpose, the SJU plans to award a framework contract to a service provider for the provision of agency staff, in accordance with the specifications and implementation procedures described in the present tender specifications and in the clauses of the attached draft framework contract (Annex 3).
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Open call for tenders ref. SJU/LC/0046-CFT
Provision of agency staff
2. GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE CALL FOR TENDERS
2.1 Subject of the contract
The subject of the present call for tenders is the provision of agency staff (M/F) to the SESAR Joint Undertaking established in Brussels (100, Avenue de Cortenbergh, 1000-Brussels).
2.2 Contract award conditions
The present contract is being awarded in accordance with an open call for tenders procedure.
2.3 Provisional timetable
Stages / DeadlineSending the contract notice for publication in the Official Journal of the European Union / 29 June 2010
Limit date for receiving tenders / 2 August
Contract award notification / August 2010
Signing of the contract / September 2010
2.4 Sub-contracting
Sub-contracting is not authorised in respect of this call for tenders.
2.5 Contacts between the SJU and the tenderers
Contacts between the SJU and the tenderers are prohibited throughout the procedure save in exceptional circumstances and under the following conditions:
2.5.1 Before the final date for submission of tenders
Requests for clarification concerning this contract award procedure or concerning the nature of the contract may be sent by E-Mail to the following address: .
The deadline for such requests is stated in the provisional timetable (see paragraph 2.3 above). All requests for clarification sent to the SJU must state the title and reference number of this call for tenders.
If the SJU discovers any error, inaccuracy, omission or any other substantive error in the text of the contract notice, tender specifications or draft contract, it will so inform the candidates on its own initiatve.
2.5.2 After the opening of tenders
If, after the opening of the tenders, clarification is required, the SJU may take the initiative of contacting the tenderer in order to clarify the content of its tender whilst ensuring the equal treatment of candidates and the transparency of the procedure.
2.6 Period of validity of the tender
The period of validity of the tenders is fixed at 90 days from the date of receipt of the tenders.
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Open call for tenders ref. SJU/LC/0046-CFT
Provision of agency staff
2.7 Contractual conditions
When the tender is being drawn up, tenderers are asked to take into account the draft contract provisions (see Annex 3 attached), which state in particular the implementation procedures and the means and conditions of payment of the contractor.
It should be noted that the draft contract attached to the present tender specifications was specially developed to take account of the SJU’s status as a European Union institution within the meaning of Article 187 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. It is also designed to cover the specific nature of the SESAR Programme, and, in particular, its Development Phase.
The SJU therefore reserves the right to reject tenders from tenderers who state that they can accept the provisions of the draft contract only with reservations.
The contract will be for an initial period of one (1) year, with the possibility of three (3) annual extensions, amounting to a maximum total duration of four (4) years. The contract is expected to enter into force on 1 September 2010.
2.8 Confidentiality, processing of personal data and public access to documents
When carrying out its activities and, in particular, when monitoring the procedures for awarding public contracts, the SJU observes the rules contained in the following instruments:
- Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 and Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data,
- Council Regulation regarding access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents
2.9 Variants
Variants are not authorised under this call for tenders.
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Open call for tenders ref. SJU/LC/0046-CFT
Provision of agency staff
3. TERMS OF REFERENCE – CONTRACT DESCRIPTION
3.1 General conditions
The subject of the present call for tenders is the provision of agency staff (M/F) to the SESAR Joint Undertaking established in Brussels.
The undertaking providing the agency staff is hereinafter referred to as “the contractor”. The agency staff is hereinafter referred to as “the agency staff”.
The contractor must apply the provisions of the employment legislation in force to the agency staff, it being understood that the provision of such staff to the SESAR Joint Undertaking cannot in any way result in an employment relationship between them and the SESAR Joint Undertaking.
The contractor is and shall remain the employer of its staff throughout the duration of the contract. The contractor undertakes to apply all the laws and regulations in force regarding social security and employment and tax legislation.
The contractor shall, in general, provide agency staff only with the level of training and professional qualifications required, and shall take all necessary measures and precautions to recruit only agency staff that are trustworthy and whose conduct and attire is compatible with the performance of their duties
For this purpose, the contractor shall ensure that staff made available to the SESAR Joint Untertaking have a clean certificate of good conduct (or its equivalent in respect of the other countries of the European Union). A 3-day trial period shall be applicable to each new agency staff member provided and to every agency staff member provided after an interruption of at least one month.
The agency staff provided by the contractor shall be subject to the rules and practices in force in the buildings of the SESAR Joint Undertaking, especially those concerning safety and hygiene in the workplace.
The agency staff may be called upon to perform tasks falling within the "employee" category, for example, as an : administrative assistant, financial assistant, multilingual secretary, office clerk or encoder.
By way of guidance, the annual volume of staff provision is estimated to be between 2 and 3 full time equivalent (FTE) agency workers.
This information does not commit the SESAR Joint Undertaking in respect of the volume of staff to be requested, as it reserves the right to adjust the volume of staff provided according to its needs. In any event, tenderers cannot require a minimum volume of staff to be provided.
3.2 Special conditions
Recruitment of agency staff in Belgium is governed by the Law of 24 July 1987 (Moniteur Belge of 20.08.1987, p. 12905).
As the staff are to be provided in Brussels, the agency staff provider must, upon the entry into force of the contract, have obtained approval from the Brussels Regional Council. Article 21 of the Belgian framework law of 28 June 1976 states the conditions for approval.
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Open call for tenders ref. SJU/LC/0046-CFT
Provision of agency staff
3.3 Post specifications
The generic descriptions below correspond to the various categories of task. The profiles and skills required, in particular, linguistic and IT skills, will, where appropriate, be notified in more detail with each specific request.
Agency worker level III = “assistant” responsible for complex tasks (drafting, correction, accounting or technical work) in the following fields : legal, financial, administrative, programme support, IT and document management. Minimum level of training: post-graduate diploma or secondary education diploma affording access to higher education and three years’ appropriate professional experience. Ability to work in a multilingual and multicultural environment.
Agency worker level II = experienced “executive secretary” responsible for carrying out office work. Minimum level of training: secondary education diploma affording access to higher education and three years’ appropriate professional experience. The secondary education diploma affording access to higher education may be replaced by an appropriate vocational training certificate for a minimum period of 3 years if there was no similar form of vocational training affording access to higher education at the time when it was issued. Ability to work in a multilingual and multicultural environment.
Agency worker level I = “office worker” or “secretary” responsible for carrying out floor and reception work, sorting mail, encoding or basic secretarial work. Completion of school education compulsory. Ability to work in a multilingual and multicultural environment.
3.4 Period of provision
Continuous engagement of the same person as an agency worker may be between one day and six months; new agency workers may be authorised provided that the new engagement is requested only after an interval of at least one month.