Rules applicable to service contracts

Technical and economic support in the course of cooperation policy involves recourse to outside know-how on the basis of service contracts, most of them for studies or technical assistance.

Study contracts include studies for the identification and preparation of projects, feasibility studies, economic and market studies, technical studies, evaluations and audits.

Study contracts generally specify an outcome, i.e. the contractor must provide a given product: the technical and operational means by which it achieves the specified outcome are irrelevant. These are, therefore, lump-sum (global-price) contracts and the contractor will be paid only if the specified outcome is achieved.

Service contracts worth € 200 000 or more must be awarded by means of an international restricted tender procedure following publication of a procurement notice.

The procurement notice is to be published in all appropriate media, in particular on the Partner’s web site, in the international press and the national press of the country in which the Action is being carried out, or in other specialist periodicals. It must state the number of candidates which will be invited to submit tenders within a range of four to eight candidates, and must be sufficient to ensure genuine competition.

All would-be service providers fulfilling the conditions referred to in section "Eligibility for contracts" may ask to participate but only candidates satisfying the published selection criteria and invited in writing by the Partner may submit a tender.

Service contracts worth less than € 200 000 must be awarded by means of a negotiated procedure without publication, in which the Beneficiary consults at least three service providers of its choice and negotiates the terms of the contract with one or more of them.

For services of a value of € 10 000 or less, the Partner may place orders on the basis of a single tender.



Sources and useful links:

• PRAG 2010, section 3
• Contract-award procedures (Annex IV)