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EUROPEAN UNION DELEGATION TO THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION TENDER SPECIFICATIONS MEDIA MONITORING AND PRESS CLIPPING SERVICES FOR THE EUROPEAN UNION DELEGATION TO THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION Ref. ARES (2017)1618410 Negotiated procedure for low and middle-value contracts

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Page 1: TENDER SPECIFICATIONS MEDIA MONITORING AND PRESS … · monitoring/press clipping team as well as the quality and language check (proof-reading, factual accuracy, unbiased approach)

EUROPEAN UNION DELEGATION TO THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

TENDER SPECIFICATIONS

MEDIA MONITORING AND PRESS CLIPPING SERVICES FOR THE

EUROPEAN UNION DELEGATION TO THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Ref. ARES (2017)1618410

Negotiated procedure for low and middle-value contracts

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Table of Contents

1.INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 3

2. SUBJECT OF THE CONTRACT ................................................................................. 3

3. DESCRIPTION OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENT PROCEDURE .................................. 4

4. SUBCONTRACTING .................................................................................................... 4

5. ELIGIBILITY OF ECONOMIC OPERATORS ............................................................ 4

6. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS ................................................................................. 7

7. EVALUATION OF TENDERS ON THE BASIS OF THE AWARD CRITERIA ..... 11

8. CONTENT OF THE TENDER ................................................................................... 13

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1. INTRODUCTION

The Contracting Authority is the Delegation of the European Union to the Russian Federation

(hereinafter referred to as "Contracting Authority"), represented by the Head of the Delegation of

the European Union to the Russian Federation or its duly authorised representative.

The Contracting Authority plans to conclude a service contract for Media Monitoring and Press

Clipping services for the EU Delegation to Russia, in accordance with the specifications set out

below and the contract in annex.

When drawing up their tenders, tenderers shall take into account the provisions in these tender

specifications, in the letter of invitation to tender as well as in the draft contract, which specify the

rights and obligations of the contractor, particularly those on payments, performance of the contract,

confidentiality, checks and audits.

The model contract that will be used for this contract is attached to the letter of invitation to tender.

2. SUBJECT OF THE CONTRACT

The subject of the contract is to provide the Delegation of the European Union to RF (Contracting

Authority) with the current, timely and accurate reports in English from the media outlets (see art.

6.3.2.) on main political, economic and social developments in Russia, containing general news and

comments, particularly related to the EU and EU-Russia relations.

The tasks to be implemented by the Contractor in the framework of this contract include:

To monitor, collect and report in the form of a summary in English about news broadcasted

on Russian TV channels and radio-stations of selected news programmes (see art. 6.3.2.)

To collect and report in the form of a summary in English about news from selected online

information sources; (see art. 6.3.2.)

Press clipping service of the selected sources (see art. 6.3.)

In each summary the contractor should clearly prioritise elements from the selected TV and radio-

stations news programmes and online publications (see art. 6.3.2.) in the order from the most

important to the less important. If different media had a different reporting angle to the material,

this should be indicated in the summary.

2.1. Media monitoring

The media monitoring shall reflect how selected Russian media outlets report on general news,

domestic policy, and international affairs, particularly on the EU and EU-Russia relations, with a

view to follow the main media trends and also to enable the Contracting Authority when

appropriate to react to media coverage.

The narrative of Russian media also affects the millions of Russian speakers who live in the EU

Member States (e.g. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania Germany, Finland and other countries) and the

Eastern Partnership countries. Hence, the importance of monitoring Russian media is even greater.

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2.2. Press clipping (Electronic monitoring links)

Press clipping service (available in the Russian language) should provide the Delegation with the

links to specific TV/radio programmes and online publications which were monitored as outlined in

p.6.3. with a view to ensure an easy access to news reports in TV, radio stations and e-portals listed

in the table 6.3.2.

After monitoring the specific programme or publications as outlined in p.6.3.1. and 6.3.2., the

Contractor shall include/attach to the reports and reviews the link to this particular issue of this

programme or publication.

No translation is requested.

No separate report containing the links is requested.

3. DESCRIPTION OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENT PROCEDURE

Economic operators interested in this contract shall submit their complete tenders, including all

documents as described in point 8 by the deadline indicated in the letter of invitation to tender.

A valid and functional e-mail address of the tenderer shall be provided in the cover letter. It is the

responsibility of the tenderer to regularly consult its mailbox.

The evaluation of tenders will be made in the following order:

1. Exclusion criteria,

2. Selection criteria,

3. Award criteria.

If the tenderer does not pass any of these criteria, it will not be evaluated under the following

category/ies.

4. SUBCONTRACTING

Subcontracting is allowed but the Contractor will retain full liability towards the Contracting

Authority for performance of the contract as a whole.

Tenderers must give an indication of the proportion of the contract that they intend to subcontract

and are required to identify all subcontractors whose share of the contract is above 10%.

During contract execution, the change of any subcontractor identified in the tender will be subject to

prior written approval of the Contracting Authority (see art. II.10 of the Contract).

5. ELIGIBILITY OF ECONOMIC OPERATORS

5.1. Non-exclusion of economic operators

All tenderers shall provide a Declaration on exclusion criteria (Annex A) attached to the tender

specifications, dully filled in, signed and dated by the legally authorised representative.

The declaration on exclusion criteria shall also be provided by all identified subcontractors whose

share of the contract is above 10%.

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The successful tenderer to whom the contract is to be awarded shall provide, within a time limit

defined by the Contracting Authority and preceding the signature of the contract, the evidence

referred to in paragraph "Evidence upon request", confirming the declaration.

The Contracting Authority may waive the obligation for the successful tenderer to submit the

documentary evidence if it has already been submitted for another procurement procedure and

provided the documents were issued not more than one year earlier and are still valid at the date of

their request by the contracting authority. In such cases, the successful tenderer must declare on its

honour that the documentary evidence has already been provided in a previous procurement

procedure and confirm that that there has been no change in the situation.

5.2. Selection of economic operators

Tenderers must prove their legal, regulatory, economic, financial, technical and professional

capacity to perform the services subject to this call for tender by meeting the selection criteria and

minimum requirements listed under points 5.2.1. and 5.2.2. hereafter.

All tenderers must provide a Declaration on selection criteria (Annex A) attached to the tender

specifications, dully filled in, signed and dated by the legally authorised representative. The

selection criteria are to be met respecting the requirements of the summary table here below.

All tenderers must fill in the form in Annex B for Economic and Financial Capacity criteria and the

form in Annex C for Technical and Professional criteria.

The successful tenderer to whom the contract is to be awarded shall provide before the contract

signature, within a time limit defined by the Contracting Authority , the evidence of their Legal,

Economic, Financial, Technical and Professional capacity.

5.2.1. Economic and financial capacity criteria and evidence

Tenderers must meet the following financial and economic capacity criteria:

The average annual turnover of the tenderer concerning the services subject to this tender (see the

list under point 2) for the last three financial years for which accounts have been closed must be at

least EUR 60 000.

The exchange rate used to convert the turnover into EUR will be the rate of December of the year of

the financial statement as published at:

http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/inforeuro/index_en.cfm

Evidence:

a) All tenderers are requested to fill in the form in Annex B to these tender specifications: a

declaration of the annual overall turnover of the last three financial years for which accounts have

been closed and a declaration of the annual turnover concerning the services subject to this tender

(see the list under point 2). The amounts declared for the overall turnover, at least, must be

verifiable with the amounts in the financial statements submitted by successful tenderer under point

b) below.

b) The successful tenderer will be requested to provide financial statements for the last three

financial years for which accounts have been closed. The financial statements shall contain balance

sheet and the statement of income.

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5.2.2. Technical and professional capacity criteria and evidence

Tenderers must meet the following technical and professional capacity criteria:

a) At least 3 service contracts relevant to the services indicated under point 2 fulfilled by the

tenderer during the last three years.

Evidence:

All tenderers are requested to fill in the form in Annex C to these tender specifications and provide

a list of minimum 3 service contracts of the tenderer relevant to the services indicated under point

2, concerning at least one of the past three financial years for which financial statements have been

submitted (see point 5.2.1 a), with the annual contract value, the duration (start and end date) and

the client.

All tenderers must provide at least three clients' reference letters in the fields related to the service

contracts as described under point 2 during the last three financial years specifying whether the

services have been carried out in a professional manner in compliance with the contractual terms.

These reference letters must relate to any of the services included in the list under point a).

b) Expertise required:

Curriculum Vitae (CV) of the persons within the tenderer in charge of this contract, including the

managerial staff. Each CV shall indicate the educational qualifications as well as the professional

experience. For each person the intended function in the contract shall be indicated.

Minimum capacity level required:

The educational and professional qualifications of key experts in charge of this contract shall match

the following requirements:

The Contractor will have a dynamic team of key experts. The following expertise is required as a

minimum: Team Leader, three media monitors, supporting stuff.

Team Leader will have the overall responsibility for the smooth implementation of the project and

the delivery of the media monitoring/press clipping services; overall coordination of the media

monitoring/press clipping team as well as the quality and language check (proof-reading, factual

accuracy, unbiased approach) of the reports before sending to the Contracting Authority, as well as

administrative and logistical aspects of the project.

He/she should have the following qualifications:

University degree in management or business, social or political studies, journalism,

international relations, public relations , or related fields;

At least 5 years of management experience;

At least 3 years of experience in politics, media and international relations;

Proficiency in spoken and written English and Russian.

Media monitor (N1) shall be responsible for monitoring, summarising and reporting on specific

news programmes and online publications as defined (see art 6.3.2.)

He/she should have the following qualifications:

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University degree in journalism, social or political studies, public relations, or relevant

fields;

At least 3 years of experience in media monitoring;

Proficiency in spoken and written English and Russian.

Media monitor (N2) shall be responsible for monitoring, summarising and reporting on specific

news programmes and online publications (see art. 6.3.2.)

He/she should have the following qualifications:

University degree in journalism, social or political studies, public relations or relevant fields;

At least 3 years of experience in media monitoring;

Proficiency in spoken and written English and Russian.

Media monitor (N3) shall be responsible for monitoring, summarising and reporting on specific

news programmes and online publications (see art.6.3.2.)

He/she should have the following qualifications:

University degree in journalism, social or political studies, public relations or relevant fields;

At least 3 years of experience in media monitoring;

Proficiency in spoken and written English and Russian.

Evidence:

All tenderers are requested to provide a copy of University diploma and at least one reference

letter for each key expert.

c) Equipment: the Contractor shall have all necessary equipment needed for the implementation of

the project tasks.

d) Location: the Contractor will perform all the work required by this contract at its own premises.

6. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

6.1. COUNTRY BACKGROUND

For a number of years, the EU and Russia had assumed the existence of a strategic partnership,

based on the convergence of values, economic integration and increasingly open markets and a

modernisation agenda for society. Our agenda was positive and ambitious.

Breaking point on the path of building even closer relations was 2014. The events in Ukraine have

shaken the foundations of European security and created a European security crisis. From that

moment, differences and confrontations proliferated; trust decreased and for the EU side managing

the relationship with Russia currently represents a key strategic challenge. Today, Russia and the

EU seem to have embarked on different trajectories and are moving at different speeds.

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At the same time and despite the deterioration of the relations and imposition of sanctions by the

EU and Russia's countersanctions, the EU and Russia remain of strategic importance to each other

and have a number of overlapping interests. We are maintaining our links with Russia – and the

Russian people in particular - in areas of EU collective interest and on the basis of our values and

principles. Sailing through troubled waters these last three years, we have invested much effort in

maintaining bridges of cooperation between us and leaving channels of communication open in

areas of mutual interest.

We meet and talk - from the meeting of European Commission President Juncker with President

Putin in St. Petersburg at the Economic Forum last June, through the frequent contacts of the EU's

High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Mogherini with Russian

Foreign Minister Lavrov to the range of bilateral expert meetings including on migration, Middle

East and North Africa, Central Asia and the South Caucasus, Western Balkans, counterterrorism

and trade.

The EU and Russia continue to be key trade and energy partners. The EU remains the largest

trading partner for Russia, while in turn Russia is the fourth largest trading partner for the European

Union, notwithstanding the fact that Russia's share in EU trade fell from 10% in 2012 to 6% in

2015. Furthermore in the area of energy 40% of EU's gas imports and 30% of oil imports come

from Russia at a time when almost 50% of the Russian Federal budget relies on income from sales

of gas and oil.

Interaction between EU and Russian civil societies continues. The EU continues to undertake

substantial and significant policies and programmes that provide direct impetus to strengthening

people to people contacts between EU and Russian citizens and civil society, because it is this type

of cooperation which provides glue between our societies, and constitute bedrocks of our

relationship. Science and education, cross-border cooperation, cultural ties and climate change

cooperation are among areas of mutual interest that fulfil an important absorbing role in the times of

political tensions and differences. The EU Delegation weights in from its side - implements public

diplomacy activities, such as events in Russian regions to commemorate victims of World Wars, to

mark the European Day of Languages, EU Study Weeks for students and regional universities, EU

film festival in Kaliningrad, seminars for Russian and EU experts.

6.2. CURRENT SITUATION IN THE SECTOR

The Russian media plays an important role in shaping public opinion and influences the decision-

making process in Russia. The state-controlled media and government-loyal and subsidised by the

state, both at federal and regional level media, not only influence decision-making, but also serve as

a barometer, reflecting in a way in the policy of the Russian authorities.

The number of media outlets and news reports in Russia is extremely high. Television remains the

main source of information for many Russians, TV channels provide for a variety of political news

and talk shows, but it is evident via the public opinion polls that the consumption of traditional

media is declining. On the other side, the Internet, online media and social networks are

increasingly followed too and receive growing popularity.

Media represents a key tool for the EU and communication of its positions on the EU-Russia

relations, but also on the EU's role in global. However state-run and state-controlled media outlets

often depict the EU rather negatively and use increased anti-EU narrative. A study of the perception

of the EU and EU policies in non-EU countries revealed that the EU's visibility in Russia, is rather

high. TV, online media and social media are the main sources of information on the EU.

6.3. SCOPE OF THE WORK

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6.3.1. Services to be provided

The Contractor shall provide the Contracting Authority with the following reports, sent by e-mail

indicated in the Contract:

Combined daily report of at least 3 pages (font: Times New Roman, font size 12, line

spacing: single), containing summaries of selected news programmes (see art. 6.3.2.)

broadcasted on a daily basis or specific dates shall be submitted to the Contracting Authority

on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday by 10:00 AM (Moscow time).

Combined report of at least 5 pages (font: Times New Roman, font size 12, line spacing:

single), containing summaries of news programmes and online media publications (see art.

6.3.2.) broadcasted/published on Friday, Saturday and Sunday shall be submitted to the

Contracting Authority the next Monday by 10:00 AM (Moscow time).

Weekly review of at least 3 pages (font: Times New Roman, font size 12, line spacing:

single) of editorials and op-eds published on the online portals (see art. 6.3.2.) and blog

posts (see art. 6.3.2.) shall be included in the combined report and submitted to the

Contracting Authority on Friday by 3:00 PM (Moscow time).

The summary report shall indicate the name of the media outlet, the title of the programme/article,

author's name and the time of broadcast/publication.

The Contractor will be solely responsible for copyright clearance and management of copyright. For

intellectual property rights provisions please refer to the Contract.

The Contractor shall ensure that the media monitoring reports:

Treat controversial subjects with due accuracy, impartiality and with no factual mistakes;

Do not include anything which could offend good taste or decency, or is likely to encourage

crime, or incite hatred or racism, or contain insulting statement.

6.3.2. Table of media outlets and news programmes

FEDERAL TV NEWS TIME

Channel One Voskresnoe Vremya (Sunday)

Pervaya Studia

(Monday-Thursday)

21:00

18:00-20:00

Rossiya 1 Vesti news program

(Monday-Friday)

Vesti v Subbotu (Saturday)

Vesti Nedeli (Sunday)

'60 Minutes'

(Monday-Friday)

Voskresnyi Vecher with Vladimir

Solovyov (Sunday)

20:00

20:00

20:00

18:50-20:00

22:00

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Vecher with Vladimir Solovyov (ad hoc

in case of important events e.g. summits,

elections, crises etc.)

Spetsialny correspondent

23:00

At ad hoc basis

NTV Itogi Nedeli (Sunday)

Pravda Gurnova

(Friday)

19:00

20:00-21:00

Zvezda

News program

(Monday-Friday)

18:00

TV REGIONAL (Moscow,

Moscow region)

NEWS

TIME

TV-Tsentr Post scriptum (Saturday)

'Pravo znat' (Saturday) – ad hoc; with

participation of Russian high-ranking

officials (e.g. Minister for Foreign

Affairs, President's spokesperson)

'Pravo golosa'

(Monday-Friday)

21:00

22:00

20:00

RADIO (for news programs,

interviews, talk shows)

NEWS

TIME

Vesti FM Polnyi Kontakt (Tuesday, Wednesday,

Thursday)

Printsip deistvia

(Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)

07:00-11:00

19:00

Govorit Moskva Pod'em (Sergey Dorenko's program)

(Monday-Friday)

08:30-11:00

RADIO REGIONAL

to be proposed by Contractor (e.g. a

regional radio station in

Yekaterinburg or Vladivostok or St.

Petersburg)

E-PORTALS

www.gazeta.ru Weekly review of editorials/opinions and

other articles of interest for the

Contracting Authority

www.echo.msk.ru Weekly review of

1) blog posts;

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2) Osoboe mnenie (interviews with

experts: Monday-Friday: 17:08; 19:08)

3) Kod dostupa (Saturday: 19:08)

4) Chelovek iz televizora with Irina

Petrovskaya (Saturday; 11:08-12:00)

www.regnum.ru Weekly review of 'Analitika'

www.mk.ru Daily review of editorial lines/opinions

Snob.ru Weekly review of editorials/opinions and

other articles of interest for the

Contracting Authority

Republic.ru Weekly review of editorials/opinions and

other articles of interest for the

Contracting Authority

The Contracting Authority reserves the right to change this list according to developments in the

media sector. The changes shall be agreed with the Contractor and shall not affect the global price

of this contract.

6.4. CONFIDENTIALITY

The expected results are based on the assumptions that TV channels, radio-stations and online

media are one of the most important sources of information and have an impact on public opinion

and decision-making process. It is expected that the Contractor will treat all reports provided to the

Contracting Authority with absolute confidentiality.

The Contracting Authority shall be the sole owner of the results of the provided service (the media

monitoring reports). Any use of the reports by third parties is strictly prohibited.

7. EVALUATION OF TENDERS ON THE BASIS OF THE AWARD CRITERIA

The tenderers shall provide the "Statement of compliance with the tender documents"(Annex I)

duly dated and signed in order to be considered technically compliant.

The technically compliant tenderers are evaluated in order to award the contract to the tender

offering the best price-quality ratio.

For this purpose, the tender will be evaluated technically and financially.

7.1. Technical tender

The technical quality of the tenderers will be evaluated on the basis of documents provided by the

tenderers in the technical tender with regard to the award criteria. Each criterion is assigned a mark

by the Contracting Authority on the basis of the scale in the table here below.

Technical award criteria

Max.

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No Description number

points Criteria

1 Organisation and

methodology of the services

This criterion will enable to

assess the organisation and

methodology of the services

offered by the tender,

including the resort to

subcontractors; concrete

steps proposed in order to

implement the requested

services.

Tenderers will develop in

detail the methods and steps

they offer for each question

and activity.

Tenderers will provide 3

samples of similar media

monitoring reports recently

prepared by the key experts

who are expected to

implement the project.

60 points

(minimum

threshold

50%)

1. How the tenderer understands the

objectives of the contract and services

to be carried out. (10 points)

2. The methodology the tenderer offers to

implement the project, description of

concrete actions for implementation of

each type of activities. (30 points)

3. How the roles of the proposed team

(including subcontractors, if

applicable) are distributed for each

task. (10 points)

4. Attention to detail, understanding of the

current political and economic

situation, international affairs and

Russian media landscape, proficiency,

language, stylistics, accuracy, taste,

approach, etc. (10 points). (This

evaluation will be carried out on the

basis of the samples provided).

2 Quality control measures

This criterion will enable to

assess the quality control

system applied to the

services foreseen in these

tender specifications and

continuity of the service in

case of absence of the

members of the team.

40 points

(minimum

threshold

50%)

1. How the services are monitored and

evaluated in order to guarantee their

quality (e.g. proof-reading, factual

accuracy in reporting). (20 points)

2. What mechanisms are employed to

tackle unforeseen situations both

regarding human and technical resources.

(E.g. back-stopping, extra-staff needed)

(10 points)

TOTAL 100

Any tenderer not scoring the minimum quality threshold of 50% of the points for each criterion and

60 points for all the criteria combined will be eliminated.

7.2. Financial tender

The prices for the tender must be tendered:

- In EUR;

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- Free of all duties, taxes and other charges, including VAT, as the Contracting Authority is

exempt from such charges under the Settlement Agreement of 8 February 1991;

- All inclusive. This means that, unless otherwise mentioned in these Tender Specifications,

prices tendered for shall include all the costs to be incurred by the tenderers in order to provide

the services;

- Using the price schedule form (Annex A).

During the validity of the tender and the implementation of the contract, prices cannot be revised.

The price schedule is binding during implementation of the contract.

Only the financial tenders submitted by those tenderers who have obtained an overall technical

score of 60 points or more and at least 50% of the maximum score allocated for each individual

criterion will be opened.

Financial tenders will then be checked for arithmetical accuracy. Where arithmetical errors are

found, tenderers will be requested to correct them.

7.3. Calculation of the overall score

The tenderer chosen will be the one which offers the best price-quality ratio among the technically

compliant tenders, namely the tender obtaining the best overall score Pi calculated as follows where

the weighting is 70% for the quality and 30% for the price:

Pi = Ti * 0.70 + Fi * 0.30

Ti = (technical quality score of the tender under consideration / score of the best technical quality

tender ) * 100

Fi = (cheapest total price for the scenario / price of the scenario of the tender under consideration) *

100

8. CONTENT OF THE TENDER

Tenderers shall submit all the requested documents listed here.

The tender shall contain:

1. A cover letter presenting the name of the tenderer, including identified subcontractors

whose share of the contract is above 10%, and the name of the single contact person in

relation to this tender. The cover letter must indicate the proportion of the contract to be

subcontracted;

2. A letter of intent for each subcontractor, if any, whose share of the contract is above 10%

stating their willingness to provide the services foreseen in the tender and in line with the

present tender specifications;

3. Declaration on honour on the exclusion criteria and on the selection criteria in one form

(points 5.1 and 5.2) Annex A;

4. A table of financial capacity of the tenderer (Annual overall turnover), Annex B;

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5. A table of technical and professional capacity of the tenderer (List of the similar

contracts implemented in 2014-2016) with reference letters (minimum 3), Annex C.

6. CVs of key experts with copies of their diplomas and copies of their reference letters

(minimum 1 per each expert).

In addition to the above, tenderers shall submit all the requested documents listed below

under "Technical Envelope" and "Financial Envelope".

If any of these documents is missing, the Contracting Authority shall not request it

additionally and will proceed to the evaluation exclusively on the basis of the submitted

documents. No further documents or improvement of the content of the tenderer can be

requested by the Contracting Authority.

8.1. Technical Envelope

(a) Statement of compliance with the tender documents annex duly filled and signed

(Annex 1).

(b) A description of the tender submitted. The tenderer will explain in detail its tender

including detailing the tasks which will be performed by each subcontractor whose share

of the contract is higher than 10% (Annex 2).

(c) Award criterion n°1: Organisation and methodology of the services (Annex 3) with 3

samples of media monitoring reports of the similar type recently prepared by the key

experts.

(d) Award criterion n°2: Quality control measures (Annex 4).

8.2. Financial Envelope

(a) The duly completed and signed price schedule form (Annex D).

* * *

The successful tenderer will also be requested to provide the following documents:

(a) A signed Legal Entity Form with its supporting evidence.

The form is available at:

http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/legal_entities/legal_entities_en.cfm .

When the tenderer is a legal person, a legible copy of the notice of appointment of the persons

authorised to represent the tenderer in dealings with third parties and in legal proceedings, or a copy

of the publication of such appointment if the legislation which applies to the legal entity concerned

requires such publication. Any delegation of this authorisation to another representative not

indicated in the official appointment must be evidenced. When the tenderer is a natural person, a

proof of registration on a professional or trade register or any other official document showing the

registration number;

(b) A signed Financial Identification Form and its supporting evidence.

The form is available at:

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http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/financial_id/financial_id_en.cfm (bank

account file - BAF).

* * *

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Annex A – Declaration

Declaration on honour on

exclusion criteria and selection criteria

The undersigned [insert name of the signatory of this form], representing:

(only for natural persons)

himself or herself

(only for legal persons) the following legal person:

ID or passport number:

(‘the person’)

Full official name:

Official legal form:

Statutory registration number:

Full official address:

VAT registration number:

(‘the person’)

I – Situation of exclusion concerning the person

(1) declares that the above-mentioned person is in one of the following

situations:

YES NO

(a) it is bankrupt, subject to insolvency or winding up procedures, its assets are

being administered by a liquidator or by a court, it is in an arrangement with

creditors, its business activities are suspended or it is in any analogous situation

arising from a similar procedure provided for under national legislation or

regulations;

(b) it has been established by a final judgement or a final administrative decision

that the person is in breach of its obligations relating to the payment of taxes or

social security contributions in accordance with the law of the country in which

it is established, with those of the country in which the contracting authority is

located or those of the country of the performance of the contract;

(c) it has been established by a final judgement or a final administrative decision

that the person is guilty of grave professional misconduct by having violated

applicable laws or regulations or ethical standards of the profession to which

the person belongs, or by having engaged in any wrongful conduct which has

an impact on its professional credibity where such conduct denotes wrongful

intent or gross negligence, including, in particular, any of the following:

(i) fraudulently or negligently misrepresenting information required for the

verification of the absence of grounds for exclusion or the fulfilment of

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selection criteria or in the performance of a contract;

(ii) entering into agreement with other persons with the aim of distorting

competition;

(iii) violating intellectual property rights;

(iv) attempting to influence the decision-making process of the contracting

authority during the award procedure;

(v) attempting to obtain confidential information that may confer upon it

undue advantages in the award procedure;

(d) it has been established by a final judgement that the person is guilty of the

following:

(i) fraud, within the meaning of Article 1 of the Convention on the

protection of the European Communities' financial interests, drawn up by

the Council Act of 26 July 1995;

(ii) corruption, as defined in Article 3 of the Convention on the fight against

corruption involving officials of the European Communities or officials of

EU Member States, drawn up by the Council Act of 26 May 1997, and in

Article 2(1) of Council Framework Decision 2003/568/JHA, as well as

corruption as defined in the legal provisions of the country where the

contracting authority is located, the country in which the person is

established or the country of the performance of the contract;

(iii) participation in a criminal organisation, as defined in Article 2 of

Council Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA;

(iv) money laundering or terrorist financing, as defined in Article 1 of

Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council;

(v) terrorist-related offences or offences linked to terrorist activities, as

defined in Articles 1 and 3 of Council Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA,

respectively, or inciting, aiding, abetting or attempting to commit such

offences, as referred to in Article 4 of that Decision;

(vi) child labour or other forms of trafficking in human beings as defined in

Article 2 of Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the

Council;

(e) the person has shown significant deficiencies in complying with the main

obligations in the performance of a contract financed by the Union’s budget,

which has led to its early termination or to the application of liquidated

damages or other contractual penalties, or which has been discovered following

checks, audits or investigations by an Authorising Officer, OLAF or the Court

of Auditors;

(f) it has been established by a final judgment or final administrative decision that

the person has committed an irregularity within the meaning of Article 1(2) of

Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95;

(g) for the situations of grave professional misconduct, fraud, corruption, other

criminal offences, significant deficiencies in the performance of the contract or

irregularity, the applicant is subject to:

i. facts established in the context of audits or investigations carried out by the

Court of Auditors, OLAF or internal audit, or any other check, audit or

control performed under the responsibility of an authorising officer of an

EU institution, of a European office or of an EU agency or body;

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ii. non-final administrative decisions which may include disciplinary measures

taken by the competent supervisory body responsible for the verification of

the application of standards of professional ethics;

iii. decisions of the ECB, the EIB, the European Investment Fund or

international organisations;

iv. decisions of the Commission relating to the infringement of the Union's

competition rules or of a national competent authority relating to the

infringement of Union or national competition law; or

v. decisions of exclusion by an authorising officer of an EU institution, of a

European office or of an EU agency or body.

II – Situations of exclusion concerning natural persons with power of

representation, decision-making or control over the legal person

Not applicable to natural persons, Member States and local authorities

(2) declares that a natural person who is a member of the administrative,

management or supervisory body of the above-mentioned legal person,

or who has powers of representation, decision or control with regard to

the above-mentioned legal person (this covers company directors,

members of management or supervisory bodies, and cases where one

natural person holds a majority of shares) is in one of the following

situations:

YES NO N/A

Situation (c) above (grave professional misconduct)

Situation (d) above (fraud, corruption or other criminal offence)

Situation (e) above (significant deficiencies in performance of a contract )

Situation (f) above (irregularity)

III – Situations of exclusion concerning natural or legal persons

assuming unlimited liability for the debts of the legal person

(3) declares that a natural or legal person that assumes unlimited liability

for the debts of the above-mentioned legal person is in one of the

following situations:

YES NO N/A

Situation (a) above (bankruptcy)

Situation (b) above (breach in payment of taxes or social security

contributions)

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IV – Grounds for rejection from this procedure

(4) declares that the above-mentioned person: YES NO

(h) has distorted competition by being previously involved in the preparation of

procurement documents for this procurement procedure.

V – Remedial measures

If the person declares one of the situations of exclusion listed above, it must indicate measures it has

taken to remedy the exclusion situation, thus demonstrating its reliability. This may include e.g.

technical, organisational and personnel measures to prevent further occurrence, compensation of

damage or payment of fines. The relevant documentary evidence which illustrates the remedial

measures taken must be provided in annex to this declaration. This does not apply for situations

referred in point (d) of this declaration.

VI – Evidence upon request

Upon request and within the time limit set by the contracting authority the person must provide

information on the persons that are members of the administrative, management or supervisory

body. It must also provide the following evidence concerning the person itself and concerning the

natural or legal persons which assume unlimited liability for the debt of the person:

For situations described in (a), (c), (d) or (f), production of a recent extract from the judicial record is required or, failing that, an equivalent document recently issued by a judicial or administrative authority in the country of establishment of the person showing that those requirements are satisfied.

For the situation described in point (a) or (b), production of recent certificates issued by the competent authorities of the State concerned are required. These documents must provide evidence covering all taxes and social security contributions for which the person is liable, including for example, VAT, income tax (natural persons only), company tax (legal persons only) and social security contributions. Where any document described above is not issued in the country concerned, it may be replaced by a sworn statement made before a judicial authority or notary or, failing that, a solemn statement made before an administrative authority or a qualified professional body in its country of establishment.

VII – Selection criteria

(5) declares that the above-mentioned person complies with the

selection criteria applicable to it individually as provided in the

tender specifications:

YES NO N/A

(a) It has the legal and regulatory capacity to pursue the professional

activity needed for performing the contract as required in section 5.1

of the tender specifications;

(b) It fulfills the applicable economic and financial criteria indicated in

section 5.2.1 of the tender specifications;

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(c) It fulfills the applicable technical and professional criteria indicated in

section 5.2.2 of the tender specifications.

(6) if the above-mentioned person is the sole tenderer or the leader in

case of joint tender, declares that: YES NO N/A

(d) the tenderer, including all members of the group in case of joint

tender and including subcontractors if applicable, complies with all

the selection criteria for which a consolidated asseessment will be

made as provided in the tender specifications.

VII – Evidence for selection

The signatory declares that the above-mentioned person is able to provide the necessary supporting

documents listed in the relevant sections of the tender specifications.

The above-mentioned person may be subject to rejection from this procedure and to

administrative sanctions (exclusion or financial penalty) if any of the declarations or information

provided as a condition for participating in this procedure prove to be false.

Full name Date Signature

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Annex B

Economic and financial capacity

Annual overall turnover

Company name: _____________________________________________________

All the information provided to the Contracting Authority shall be treated as strictly confidential.

Please indicate the annual overall turnover of your company as well as the annual overall turnover

concerning the services subject to this tender for the following years:

Annual

overall

turnover

in EUR

2014

2015

2016

General

For the

related

services

General

For the

related

services

General

For the

related

services

The successful tenderer will be asked to provide evidence on these figures (balance sheets for the

indicated period).

I the undersigned

________________________________________________________________

(Name of the official representative of the company)

certify that all the information above is true and correct.

Date ___________________ Signature ___________________

Stamp

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Annex C

Technical and professional capacity

List of similar contracts

Please indicate all contracts with similar services fulfilled during the last three years (minimum 3).

Contract

name

Implementation

period

Contract

amount (in

EUR)

Client

(if not confidential)

The share of the

contract

implemented by

your company

(%)

Country of

performance

of the

contract

… … …

Please provide at least 3 reference letters from the clients.

I the undersigned _____________________________________________________________________

(Name of the official representative of the company)

certify that all the information above is true and correct.

Date ___________________ Signature ___________________

Stamp

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Annex 1 – Technical tender

Statement of compliance with the tender documents

Ref. ……….

I, ...................., the undersigned, being the authorised legal representative of [to be completed with

the name of the tenderer; for joint tenders, this must include all members], hereby declare that we

have examined and accept without reserve or restriction all the terms and conditions set out in the

invitation to tender, in the tender specifications and in the draft contract for the tender procedure

referred to above and, where appropriate, waive the tenderer's own general or specific terms and

conditions. We offer to provide the services on the basis of our technical tender and our financial

tender which do not diverge in any way from the requirements described in the tender documents as

drafted by the contracting authority. Our tender complies with all the technical requirements

indicated in the tender specifications.

We also undertake to respect these requirements scrupulously during the performance of the

contract in case we become the awardee of the contract.

Name of the legal representative of the tenderer:

Signature: Date:

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Annex 2 – Technical tender

A description of the tender submitted. The tenderer will explain in detail their tender

Including, if applicable, detailing the tasks which will be performed by each subcontractor

whose share of the contract is higher than 10%

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Annex 3 – Technical tender

Award criteria n° 1:

ORGANISATION AND METHODOLOGY OF THE SERVICES

This criterion will enable to assess the organisation and methodology of the services offered by the

tender, including the resort to subcontractors; concrete steps proposed in order to implement the

requested services:

1. How the tenderer understands the objectives of the contract and services to be carried out. (10

points)

2. The methodology the tenderer offers to implement the project, description of concrete actions for

implementation of each type of activities. (30 points)

3. How the roles of the proposed team (including subcontractors, if applicable) are distributed for

each task. (10 points)

4. Attention to detail, understanding of the current political and economic situation, international

affairs and Russian media landscape, proficiency, language, stylistics, accuracy, taste, approach,

etc. (10 points). (This evaluation will be carried out on the basis of the samples provided).

Tenderers will develop in detail the methods and steps they offer for each question and activity.

Tenderers will provide 3 samples of similar media monitoring reports recently prepared by the

key experts.

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Annex 4 – Technical tender

Award criteria n°2:

QUALITY CONTROL MEASURES

This criterion will enable to assess the quality control system applied to the services foreseen in

these tender specifications and continuity of the service in case of absence of the members of the

team.

How the services are monitored and evaluated in order to guarantee their quality (e.g. proof-

reading, factual accuracy in reporting, etc).

What mechanisms are employed to tackle unforeseen situations both regarding human and

technical resources (e.g. backstopping, extra staff needed).

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Annex D – Financial tender

Direct contract (global price)

Price schedule per 12 months in EUR

Total price in EUR __________________________ per 12 months*, including 0% VAT.

This price covers all expenses.

*If the contract is renewed for another period of 12 months, the total price for the new period shall

remain as indicated above.

Name of tenderer:__________________________________

Name of the legal representative of the tenderer:__________________________

Date: Signature: