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GENERAL INVITATION TO TENDER
No 10220
Consolidation work on legislative acts
SPECIFICATIONS
CONTENTS
1. Preliminary information concerning the invitation to tender 4
1.1. Presentation of the Publications Office 4
1.2. Subject and value of the contract 5
1.3. Starting date of the contract and duration of the tasks/contract 5
1.4. Price 5
1.5. Terms of payment 6
1.6. Financial Guarantees 6
1.7. Place of performance 6
1.8. General terms and conditions for the submission of tenders 6
1.9. Period of validity of the tender 7
1.10. Visit to the premises 7
1.11. Date and place of opening of the tenders 7
2. The tender and the evaluation 8
2.1. Assessment and award of contract 8
2.2. Form and content of the tender 8
2.3. Structure of the tender 9
2.4. Section one: administrative information 9
2.5. Section two: exclusion criteria 10
2.5.1. Documents relating to the exclusion criteria…………………………….…….. …….10
2.5.2. Grounds for exclusion ………………………………………………………………11
2.5.3. Administrative and financial penalties …………………………………………...11
2.6. Section three: selection criteria 12
2.6.1. Financial and economic capacity of the tenderer ………………………………….12
2.6.2. Technical and professional capacity of the tenderer ………………………..13
2.7. Section four: award criteria – technical bid 14
2.7.1. Documents to provide concerning the technical award criteria ………………14
2.7.2. Evaluation of the technical award criteria …………………………………………...16
2.8. Section five: award criteria – financial bid 16
2.8.1. Documents to provide relating to the financial award criteria ………………16
2.8.2. Compensation of start-up costs for the new contractor ………………………..17
2.8.3. Evaluation of the financial award criteria …………………………………………...18
2.9. Final evaluation 18
2.10. Information for tenderers 18
2.11. Award of the contract 18
3. Joint bid and subcontracting 19
3.1. Making a bid in collaboration with other companies 19
3.1.1. Joint bid ………………………………………………………………………..19
3.1.2. Subcontracting ………………………………………………………………………..19
3.2. Documents to submit – joint bid 20
3.2.1. Section One: Administrative Information and evidence for access to the contract..20
3.2.2. Section Two: Documents relating to the exclusion criteria ………………………..20
3.2.3. Section Three: Documents relating to the selection criteria ………………………..20
3.2.4. Sections Four and Five: Documents relating to the award criteria ………………20
3.3. Documents to submit – subcontracting 20
3.3.1. Section One: Administrative Information and evidence for access to contract……21
3.3.2. Section Two: Documents relating to the exclusion criteria ………………………..21
3.3.3. Section Three: Documents relating to the selection criteria ………………………..21
3.3.4. Sections Four and Five: Documents relating to the award criteria ………………21
3.4. Evaluation of the bids in case of joint bids or subcontracting 21
3.4.1. Exclusion criteria ………………………………………………………………21
3.4.2. Selection criteria ………………………………………………………………21
3.4.3. Award criteria ………………………………………………………………………..22
4. Technical specifications 23
4.1. Definitions and preliminary remarks 23
4.2. Production scheme 25
4.3. Working method 26
4.3.1. Determining the composition of the families ………………………………….26
4.3.2. Production proposals ………………………………………………………………26
4.3.3. Source files ………………………………………………………………………..27
4.3.4. Obtaining source files ………………………………………………………………28
4.3.5. Consolidation ………………………………………………………………………..28
4.3.6. Checking technical execution of consolidation ………………………………….29
4.3.7. Delivery ………………………………………………………………………..29
4.3.8. Reporting anomalies ………………………………………………………………29
4.3.9. Validation ………………………………………………………………………..30
4.3.10. Quality …………………………………………………………………………………30
4.3.11. Acceptance ………………………………………………………………………..30
4.3.12. Correction of errors detected …………………………………………………….30
4.4. Production specifications 31
4.4.1. Description of deliverables …………………………………………………….31
4.4.2. Pre-printing work ………………………………………………………………33
4.4.3. Additional services ………………………………………………………………37
4.4.4. Production volumes and delivery …………………………………………………….37
4.4.5. Liquidated damages ………………………………………………………………39
4.4.6. Working days ………………………………………………………………………..39
5. Annexes 40
Preliminary information concerning the invitation to tender
These specifications follow the publication of:
- the contract notice in OJ S, see reference in the invitation letter.
1 Presentation of the Publications Office
The Publications Office of the European Union, hereinafter referred to as “the Publications Office”, (2, rue Mercier, L-2985 Luxembourg) is the publishing house of the European institutions in the broadest sense, responsible for producing and distributing, on all media and by all means, all the publications of the European Union. The Publications Office, whose current organisation and operation are laid down by Decision 2009/496/EC, Euratom) (Official Journal of the European Communities, L 168, 30.6.2009, p. 41), is managed by a Management Committee in which each institution is represented by its Secretary-General. The Publications Office is administratively attached to the European Commission. More information can be found on the Publications Office website: .
As a publisher, the Publications Office has a duty to offer the highest quality service to its customers – the originating departments of the institutions and other bodies of the European Union and to its public – the people of the European Union and those throughout the world who are interested in European affairs. In the field of new technologies, the Publications Office must place itself in the forefront of the publishing profession.
Under the provisions of the Treaties establishing the European Communities, the publication of certain titles, such as the Official Journal of the European Union or the General Report on the Activities of the European Union, is a legal obligation.
Useful web sites
|Office for Official Publications | |
|EU-bookshop: the Union's online bookshop | |
|EUROVOC: multilingual thesaurus | |
|CORDIS: Community R&D Information Service | |
|Eur-Lex: the gateway to European Union law | |
|WHOISWHO: inter-institutional directory of the European Union | |
|TED: supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union | |
|SIMAP: EU-information for public procurement | |
|DG MARKT: DG Internal Market | |
|Other useful links | |
3 Subject and value of the contract
The purpose of this call for tender is the selection of one company for Consolidation work on legislative acts.
As exact implementing conditions, quantities and/or delivery times cannot be indicated in advance, the Commission intends to conclude a framework contract with one economic operator, which shall establish the basic terms for a series of order forms to be issued or concluded over its duration. Framework contract does not give rise to any direct obligation on the part of the Commission, it is only their implementation through specific contracts and/or orders that is binding on the part of the Commission.
The estimated volume of the contract is 8 000 000 EUR over a maximal period of 5 years.
Restriction in the offer(s)' submission (Conflict of interest):
Companies responsible for the contracts "Legal expertise services - codification" and "Assistance with consolidation work and its verification looking towards later codification and consolidation of legislative acts" will be excluded from this contract.
Companies linked to any participating party or consortium involving the companies concerned above will also be excluded from this contract
4 Starting date of the contract and duration of the tasks/contract
The contract is foreseen to be signed in January 2010.
The execution of the tasks may not start before the contract has been signed. The period of execution of the tasks may be extended only with the written agreement of the contracting parties, before the end of the period originally stated in the contract.
The contract is expected to enter into force on 26 March 2010. During the period from 26 March until 26 June 2010 the production tests will be performed by the Contractor (testing period). The provision of services under this contract shall start on 27 June 2010.
The duration of the contract shall be twenty-four (24) months counted from the day it enters into force. The contract shall be renewed three times, each time for a period of twelve months, under the same conditions, unless written notification to the contrary is sent by one of the contracting parties by registered mail and received by the other not later than three months before its expiry.
5 Price
• Prices must be all inclusive and expressed in euro. For tenderers in countries which are not part of the euro zone, the price quoted may not be revised in line with exchange rate movements;
• Prices shall be fixed and not subject to revision during the first year of the duration of the contract. From the beginning of the second year of duration of the contract prices can only be revised according to Article I.3 of the contract. Please note that the price revision is conditional to a request which must be put in place at the latest three months before the anniversary date of the entry into force of the contract. In case of a justified and timely request, the revised prices shall enter into force on the anniversary date of the entry into force of the contract. The price revisions will be calculated with the same number of decimals as was accepted in the initial original price schedule and also the revised prices will have the same number of decimals (point 2.8.1).
For details on how to present the financial bid in the price schedule and estimation form, see point 2.8.1.
6 Terms of payment
Payments shall be made in accordance with Article I.5 of the draft contract.
7 Financial Guarantees
The contractor shall be required to provide a guarantee for performance of 200 000 euro in compliance with Article I.5 of the draft contract. The guarantee, complying with the model in Annex 2.C, must be provided before the contract is signed by the Publications Office.
8 Place of performance
The place of performance of the tasks shall be the contractor's premises or any other place indicated in the tender, with the exception of the premises of the Publications Office. In addition, up to twelve meetings per year shall be held between the Publications Office and the successful tenderer on the premises of the Publications Office.
9 General terms and conditions for the submission of tenders
Participation in the tendering procedure is open on equal terms to all natural and legal persons coming within the scope of the treaties and to all natural and legal persons in a third country which has a special agreement with the European Communities in the field of public procurement on the conditions laid down in that agreement.
Submission of a tender implies that the tenderer accepts all the terms and conditions set out in the invitation letter, in these specifications (including the annexes) and in the draft contract and waives all other terms of business. Submission of a tender binds the tenderer to whom the contract is awarded during performance of the contract.
Once the Publications Office has accepted the tender, it shall become the property of the Publications Office and the Publications Office shall treat it confidentially.
The Publications Office shall not reimburse any costs incurred in preparing and submitting tenders.
The Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities or, where appropriate, the Vienna Convention of 24 April 1963 on Consular Relations shall apply to this invitation to tender.
10 Period of validity of the tender
The offer must remain valid for a period of 9 (nine) months following the final date for submitting tenders (see invitation letter). During this period, tenderers must maintain all the conditions of their bids.
11 Visit to the premises
Not applicable.
12 Date and place of opening of the tenders
Tenders will be opened at 10h00 on 28/10/2009 at the following location:
|Address of the Publications Office: |
|Publications Office |
|2, rue Mercier |
|L-2985 Luxembourg |
An authorised representative of each tenderer may attend the opening of the bids. Companies wishing to attend are requested to notify their intention by sending a fax or e-mail at least 48 hours in advance to the address below. This notification must be signed by an authorised officer of the tenderer and specify the name of the person who will attend the opening of the bids on the tenderer's behalf.
|Fax: (352) 2929-42672 |
|E-mail: opoce-appels-offres@publications.europa.eu |
The tender and the evaluation
1 Assessment and award of contract
The assessment of tenderers and offers will take place in three main stages:
The aims of each of these stages are:
• to check, in the first stage (exclusion criteria), whether tenderers can take part in the tendering procedure and, where applicable, be awarded the contract;
• to check, in the second stage (selection criteria), the economic and financial capacity and the technical and professional capacity of each tenderer who has passed the first stage;
• to assess, on the basis of the award criteria, each bid which has passed the first and second stages.
The assessment procedure may end with the award of the contract.
The assessment will be based on the tenderer’s offer. Concerning the exclusion and selection criteria, the Publications Office reserves the right to request additional evidence in relation to the bid submitted for clarification or verification purposes within a timelimit stipulated in its request. All the information will be assessed against the criteria specified in this chapter.
Please note that concerning the award criteria, the Publications Office can contact the tenderer only if clarification is required or if obvious clerical errors must be corrected. This contact can only lead to clarification of points already mentioned in the bid and may not lead to an alteration of the terms of the bid. Only the offers meeting the requirements of a stage will pass on to the next stage of the assessment.
2 Form and content of the tender
Tenders must be clear and concise and assembled in a coherent fashion (e.g. bound or stapled, etc.). The tenderer is also asked to provide a completed list indicating where to find the required documents (Annex 5). If the tender is divided into different files, it is advised to make a table of contents in each file.
Since tenderers will be judged on the content of their written bids, these must make it clear that they are able to meet the requirements of the specifications.
Information on the general requirements and on how to submit the bid is provided in the invitation letter.
Please pay attention to the fact, that the tender shall be signed by a person or persons who is/are entitled to represent the economic operator in accordance with its articles of association and/ or extract from the commercial register, or by a person(s) who received power of attorney to do so from (a) person(s) who is/are mentioned in those documents. The documents showing that the person is entitled to represent the economic operator must be submitted as explained in point 2.4.
The same rule is applicable to the person(s) designated to sign the contract.
3 Structure of the tender
All tenders must be presented in the following five sections:
• Section One: administrative information;
• Section Two: exclusion criteria;
• Section Three: selection criteria;
• Section Four: award criteria – technical bid;
• Section Five: award criteria – financial bid.
Sections one to four on the one hand and Section five on the other hand must be submitted in two separate sealed envelopes, which together are placed in double sealed envelopes as described in the invitation letter. Each inner envelope must clearly indicate its contents (“technical” and “financial”).
Please observe that all documentation has to be provided in triplicate (original and two copies) and that this also applies to any digital medium that is part of the offer.
4 Section one: administrative information
In the first section, the tenderer must provide the following:
• A duly signed cover letter
• the completed form for identification of the tenderer, as provided in Annex 3, including the following information:
• the tenderer's name and/or business name;
• a clear description of the tenderer's legal form;
• the address of the tenderer's registered office;
• the tenderer's telephone and fax numbers, e-mail address and, where available, Internet address;
• the names of the legal representatives (directors, etc) of the tenderer, authorised to sign contracts with third parties;
• the name, address, telephone and fax numbers to a contact person in relation to the submission of the tender;
• the tenderer's VAT number and trade-register entry number;
• information concerning the bank account;
• contact persons;
• a signed declaration confirming the validity of the tender;
• a financial identification form filled in and signed by an authorised representative of the tenderer, stamped by the bank and signed by a bank representative. If you attach the copy of a recent bank statement, the stamp and signature of the bank's representative is not needed. A standard form is provided in Annex 2 and a specific form for each Member State is available at the following Internet address:
• the "Legal Entity" form, to be signed by a representative of the tenderer authorised to sign contracts with third parties. There is one form for individuals, one for private entities and one for public entities. A model is provided in Annex 2.B. Specific forms in each Member state language are available at:
The Legal Entity Form must be supported by the following documents in order to prove the administrative information of the tenderer:
For private entities:
• a legible copy of the instrument of incorporation or constitution, and a copy of the statutes, if they are contained in a separate instrument, or a copy of the notices of such constitution or incorporation published in the national or other official journal, if the legislation which applies to the tenderer requires such publication;
• a legible copy of the most recent amendment to the instruments mentioned in the previous indent, including that involving any transfer of the registered office of the legal entity, or a copy of the notice published in the relevant national or other official journal of such amendment, if the legislation which applies to the tenderer requires such publication;
• if the above documents don’t show the registration number, a proof of registration, as prescribed in their country of establishment, on one of the professional or trade registers or any other official document showing the registration number;
If the most recent document submitted according to this or one of the two previous paragraphs is more then one year old at the time the offer is sent, a written confirmation, signed by a legal representative of the tenderer, that there has been no amendment or transfer of registered office since the most recent of these documents were issued must be added.
• if the above documents don’t show the VAT number, a copy of the VAT registration document, where applicable;
• 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, if it is not included in the abovementioned documents, or a copy of the publication of such appointment if the legislation which applies to the legal entity concerned requires such publication. If the person(s) signing the tender or the person(s) designated to sign the contract is/are entitled to represent the economic operator by a Power of Attorney from the abovementioned authorised persons, the Power of Attorney must also be submitted.
5 Section two: exclusion criteria
1 Documents relating to the exclusion criteria
In Section Two, the tenderer(s) must provide the declaration on grounds for exclusion (Annex 6) and the following related certificates or documents:
• a recent extract from the "judicial record" or equivalent as evidence that they are not in one of the situations listed in paragraph (a), (b) or (e) of point 2.5.2, or, failing this, of an equivalent recent document issued by a competent judicial or administrative authority in the country of origin or residence, showing that these requirements have been met;
• a recent certificate by the competent authorities of the state concerned stating that the tenderer has fulfilled obligations relating to the payment of social security contributions or equivalent;
• a recent certificate by the competent authorities of the state concerned stating that the tenderer has fulfilled obligations relating to the payment of taxes or equivalent.
Where no such documents or certificates are issued in the country concerned, they may be replaced by a sworn or failing that a solemn statement made by the tenderer before a judicial or administrative authority, a notary or a qualified professional body in his country of origin or provenance.
2 Grounds for exclusion
In accordance with Article 93 of the Financial Regulation No 1605/2002 (OJ L 248, page 1, of 16 September 2002, as amended), tenderers shall be excluded from the selection and award procedures if they:
a) are bankrupt or being wound up, are having their affairs administered by the courts, have entered into an arrangement with creditors, have suspended business activities, are the subject of proceedings concerning those matters, or are in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations; or
b) have been convicted of an offence concerning their professional conduct by a judgment which has the force of res judicata; or
c) have been guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means which the contracting authorities can justify; or
d) have not fulfilled their obligations relating to the payment of social security contributions or the payment of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of the country in which they are established, or with those of the country of the contracting authority or those of the country where the contract is to be performed; or
e) have been the subject of a judgment which has the force of res judicata for fraud, corruption, involvement in a criminal organisation or any other illegal activity detrimental to the Communities' financial interests; or
f) are currently subject to an administrative penalty referred to in Article 96(1) of the Financial Regulation (Council Regulation N° 1605/2002 of 25/06/2002, as amended).
In addition, contracts may not, according to Article 94 of the Financial Regulation, be awarded to tenderers who, during the procurement procedure:
g) are subject to a conflict of interest;
h) are guilty of misrepresentation in supplying the information required by the contracting authority as a condition of participation in the contract procedure or fail to supply this information.
The Publications Office reserves the right to check the above information.
3 Administrative and financial penalties
The tenderers should also be aware of the following points:
• A central database shall be set up and operated by the Commission in compliance with Community rules on the protection of personal data. The database shall contain details of candidates and tenderers which is in one of the situations referred to in point 2.5.2 above and candidates and tenderers which have been excluded from the contracts or grants financed by the budget of the European Communities.
• According to Article 96 of the Financial Regulation No 1605/2002 (OJ L 248, page 1 of 16.9.2002, as amended), administrative or financial penalties may be imposed by the Commission on tenderers in the cases referred to in point 2.5.2 (h) above or who have been declared to be in serious breach of their obligations under contracts covered by the budget of the European Communities after they have been given the opportunity to present their observations.
These penalties may consist:
a) in the exclusion of the tenderer or contractor concerned from contracts and grants financed by the budget of the European Communities, for a maximum period of ten years;
b) in the payment of financial penalties by the tenderer or contractor up to the value of the contract in question.
The penalties imposed will be in proportion to the importance of the contract and the seriousness of the misconduct.
The details of those penalties are laid down in Article 133a of the implementing rules to the Financial Regulation, Commission Regulation No 2342/2002 (OJ L 357, page 1 of 31 December 2002, as amended).
6 Section three: selection criteria
Selection of the tenderer suitable for attribution of the contract will be based on an assessment of the tenderer’s:
• economic and financial capacity, and
• technical and professional capacity.
A tenderer may, where appropriate, rely on the capacities of other entities, regardless of the legal nature of the links which it has with them. In that case, it must prove to the contracting authority that it will have at its disposal the resources necessary for performance of the contract, for example by producing an undertaking on the part of those entities to place those resources at its disposal.
1 Financial and economic capacity of the tenderer
1 Documents to provide concerning the financial and economic capacity
Section Three must include in its first part the information on the financial and economic capacity of the tenderer. The tenderer shall provide an Economic and Financial capacity questionnaire (see Annex 7), including supporting documents mentioned therein.
2 Evaluation of the financial and economic capacity
The tenderers’ financial and economic capacity will be evaluated on the basis of the above mentioned documents which the tenderers have to submit according to point 2.6.1.1.
The minimum financial and economic capacity level is the following: the amount representing the estimated volume of the contract for one year must not exceed 60% of the annual overall turnover carried out by the tenderer over the last year, or the average annual turnover carried out by the tenderer over the past three years. For the estimated volume of the contract for five years see point 1.2.
2 Technical and professional capacity of the tenderer
1 Documents to provide concerning the technical and professional capacity of the tenderer
In the second part of Section Three, the tenderer must provide information on the technical and professional capacity. The following documents shall be submitted:
• Short description of the tenderer´s economic activity (maximum 5 pages of A4 format, single spaced lines, font Times New Roman or similar size 12), including its activity with regards to the scope of this call for tender;
• Company Form (see: Annex 8);
• Set of PARFs (see: Annex 9 for General rules on submitting PARFs).
The technical and professional capacity of tenderers should prove their capacity to complete the complex work required by this contract. Tenderers’ attention is drawn to the fact that this contract is characterised by a very large volume, a legal component, an important multilingual component (the 23 official languages of the EU and, in future, the additional languages) and complex preparatory work (processing and editing in XML). Tenderers must therefore provide any details, which will demonstrate this capacity.
By submitting a tender, each legal entity involved therein accepts the possibility of a check being carried out by the Publications Office on its technical capacities and, if necessary, on its research facilities and quality control measures.
In addition, all tenderers are informed that they may be asked to prove that they are authorised to perform the contract under national law, as evidenced by inclusion in a professional or trade register or a sworn declaration or certificate, membership of a specific organisation, express authorisation, or entry in the VAT register.
Tenderers' attention is drawn to the fact that any total or partial omission of information for which one or more legal entities involved in the tender are responsible may lead the Publications Office to exclude the tender from the rest of the procedure.
2 Evaluation of the technical and professional capacity
The technical and professional capacity will be judged on the basis of the tenderer’s expertise relevant to the required services in particular with regard to their know-how, efficiency, experience and reliability.
Submitted PARFs (Project Activity Reference Forms) will be evaluated to verify tenderer´s experience with regards to the services requested under this call for tenders. The tenderer has to provide a minimum of three and a maximum of 5 PARFs. If the tenderer presents more than 5 forms, only the first 5 forms as presented in its offer will be evaluated.
To pass selection phase, accepted PARFs for their actually executed part shall cover:
• at least EUR 400 000 for tasks related to supplying SGML/XML machine-readable products on various media and by file transfer;
• at least EUR 400 000 for tasks related to supplying electronic presentation format (PDF or similar), TIFF and HTML files;
• at least one of the accepted PARFs shall be related to activities with a multilingual coverage (at least 8 languages and at least 2 different alphabets[1]);
• at least one of the accepted PARFs shall be related to activities with processing legal texts.
7 Section four: award criteria – technical bid
The contract will be awarded to the tenderer who submits the most economically advantageous bid on the basis of the criteria set out below.
1 Documents to provide concerning the technical award criteria
This part has to contain the documents showing the merits of the bid, to make it possible to evaluate the technical award criteria.
The following documents shall be submitted:
1. A document of maximum 40 pages, A4 format, presenting the tenderer's proposal for the production system to be used for carrying out the work, covering the full details of how tenderers intend to organise the production process relative to the XML processing and editing procedures within the company, in order to carry out this contract.
The organisational quality of the production system to be used for carrying out the work set out in this invitation to tender will be evaluated, including:
• the organisation of the production management,
• the automatisation degree and IT management of the proposed production system,
• the quality of the consolidation work (for all stages and types of production).
2. A document of maximum 10 pages, A4 format, presenting Procedures proposed by the tenderer for ensuring production and delivery deadlines, covering the following information:
The contractor must implement the described mechanisms in the performance of the contract. These mechanisms must impose no obligations on the Publications Office other than those described in these specifications.
If the tenderer has any quality certificate it shall be attached to this document. The certificate in question is not included into the pages limit.
The evaluation, among other, will consider:
• the production planning and management system,
• the planning of sufficient and competent human resources necessary for the execution of the Contract.
3. A document of maximum 10 pages, A4 format, presenting the tenderer's approach to the quality control, describing in detail the quality control mechanisms (strategy for quality objectives, organisational structure and procedures) implemented throughout the production process to guarantee error-free deliveries and respect of all production deadlines. It shall include internal procedures for continuous amelioration.
4. A document of maximum 5 pages, A4 format, presenting the tenderer's proposal for the contingency and production continuity plan, covering the description of the tenderer’s capacity to provide uninterrupted and quality service in case of contingencies. It shall be a logistical plan (documented internal key personnel and backups, critical equipment, identified contingency location, etc.) for how the Contractor will recover and restore partially or completely interrupted critical functions within a predetermined time after the unexpected event having a major negative impact on the production (like building fires, flooding, IT system and communication failures, power grid failure, etc.).
It should describe all possible short-time measures and risk management practices that will be taken to reduce damage to a minimum. It shall provide a full range of measures for a "worst case scenario" and a "what-if analysis" with the aim of assuring valuable tools, measures, actions to implement when unexpected events occur and to evaluate the Tenderer's capacity to do so.
The Publications Office reserves the right to check that the contractor’s technical installations and production method are in compliance with the work process described in these specifications both before final award of the contract and during its implementation.
Similarly, before the award of the contract, the Publications Office will make all the checks which are necessary to verify the tenderer’s actual capacity to comply with the technical specifications of the contract conditions.
Before the start of production, a production test run, following the production workflow as proposed by the tenderer and invoiced in accordance with the price schedule provisions, shall be carried out.[2]
In the event of the Contractor's failure in this production test run, the Publications Office shall be entitled to terminate the contract with immediate effect and the Contractor shall have no right of compensation of any kind.
******
Where a submitted document, including its table of content, figures, graphs, examples, annexes, and all other additional information, exceeds the maximum limits as set out above, only the first number of pages requested will be evaluated.
Texts shall be drafted with single spaced lines,
font Times New Roman or similar, size 12
2 Evaluation of the technical award criteria
The award criteria have the purpose to choose between the tenders which have been submitted by tenderers not subject to exclusion and which meet the selection criteria.
The award criteria are intended to assess the quality of the bid based on the proposal of the tenderer. The criteria concerning the ability or capacity of the tenderers such as previous experience, professional education and references, which are taken into account for the evaluation of the selection criteria will not be taken into account for the evaluation of the award criteria. The technical evaluation will be based on the following criteria.
|No |Technical award criteria |Weighting (maximum points) |
|C1 |Understanding of the objectives of the contract and the work to |5 |
| |be carried out | |
|C2 |Quality of the offer as document as such, including its clarity |5 |
|C3 |Organisational quality of the production system to be used for |40 |
| |carrying out the work | |
|C4 |Quality of procedures proposed by the tenderer for ensuring |20 |
| |production and delivery deadlines | |
|C5 |Quality of the quality control mechanisms implemented throughout|20 |
| |the production process | |
|C6 |Quality of the contingency and production continuity plan |10 |
|Total number of points |100 |
Result of the technical evaluation is the sum of the number of points obtained as a result of the evaluation of each criterion. Only those bids which are awarded at least half of the points for each criterion and a total score of at least 65 points will be considered for the award of the contract.
Since assessment of the tenders will focus on the quality of the proposed services, tenders should elaborate on all points addressed by these specifications in order to score as many points as possible. The mere repetition of mandatory requirements set out in these specifications, without going into details or without giving any added value, will only result in a very low score.
8 Section five: award criteria – financial bid
1 Documents to provide relating to the financial award criteria
For the financial bid, the tenderer must use the annexed price schedule and estimation form.
The financial bid must fulfil the following requirements:
• prices must be expressed in euro;
• prices should be expressed to a maximum of 2 decimal places;
• prices should be quoted free of all duties, taxes and other charges, i.e. also free of VAT, as the Communities are exempt from such charges in the EU under Articles 3 and 4 of the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Communities of 8 April 1965 (OJ L 152 of 13 July 1967). Exemption is granted to the Commission by the governments of the Member States, either through refunds upon presentation of documentary evidence or by direct exemption.
For those countries where national legislation provides an exemption by means of a reimbursement, the amount of VAT is to be shown separately. In case of doubt about the applicable VAT system, it is the tenderer's responsibility to contact his or her national authorities to clarify the way in which the European Community is exempt from VAT.
The following must be taken into consideration when completing the Price schedule and Estimation form.
• the price schedules must include the name of the firm and each page must be duly completed and signed by one of the duly authorised representatives of the company (Annex 1.A). No amendments to the price schedule will be permitted and a full reply must be given to each question.
If no answer is given, the response will be assumed to be negative. Any omission or amendment to the original price schedule will cause the bid to be considered null and void.
• the Estimation forms must be duly completed and signed (Annex 1.B). The content must be based on the unit prices given in the price schedule and the price schedule will take precedence over the estimation form if there is any discrepancy between them. However, the estimation form is intended as a rough guide only and may not be cited in the event of litigation, only the work actually carried out is to be invoiced on the basis of the unit prices given in the price schedule.
The price schedule and the estimation form shall also be provided electronically as excel files. In the case of a discrepancy between the paper version and the electronic file, the paper version will take precedence.
2 Compensation of start-up costs for the new contractor
Upon a successful completion of the production test run mentioned in point 2.7.1, the successful tenderer (Contractor) shall be entitled to an amount of up to 100 000 (one hundred thousand) EUR in order to cover its start-up costs of setting up the technical means necessary for the implementation of the tasks under this contract. The Contractor will have to justify these costs by submitting respective calculations and invoices.
If the successful tenderer is the current contractor (i.e. entity which was awarded the contract under tender N° 10037 or any member of this consortium) or a consortium whose member is the current contractor or any of its members, this tenderer will not be entitled to the start-up costs mentioned in the previous paragraph.
If the successful tenderer shall identify in his offer a subcontractor who is the current contractor or any member of this consortium, or a consortium whose member is the current contractor or any of its members, the maximum amount of the start-up costs mentioned in the first paragraph shall be proportionally lowered by the percentage of participation of this subcontractor on the contract.
The start up costs mentioned in the first paragraph (section E in the estimation form) shall not be taken into consideration in the financial award phase.
3 Evaluation of the financial award criteria
The evaluation of the financial award criteria will be based on the final Total price of price sections A, B, C and D in the estimation form.
9 Final evaluation
Only those offers that have passed the previous stages will be considered for this final evaluation.
The contract will be awarded to the tenderer with the most economically advantageous bid.
In order to identify the offer presenting the best value for money, quality will be given a weighting of 50 % and price will be given a weighting of 50 % in accordance with the following formula, using only data from bids that have reached the final evaluation stage:
[pic]
where:
|R |stands for value for money |
|Q |stands for quality score for the bid in question |
|Qmax |stands for quality score for the bid obtaining the highest quality mark |
|Pmin |stands for the total final amount (sum of price sections A, B, C and D) of the specimen quotation for the lowest |
| |bid |
|P |stands for the total final amount (sum of price sections A, B, C and D) of the specimen quotation of the bid in |
| |question |
10 Information for tenderers
The Publications Office will inform tenderers of decisions reached concerning the award of the contract, including the grounds for any decision not to award a contract or to recommence the procedure.
If a written request is received, the Publications Office will inform all rejected tenderers of the reasons for their rejection and all tenderers submitting an admissible tender of the characteristics and relative advantages of the selected tender and the name of the successful tenderer.
However, certain information may be withheld where its release would impede law enforcement or otherwise be contrary to the public interest, or would prejudice the legitimate commercial interests of economic operators, public or private, or might prejudice fair competition between them.
11 Award of the contract
The procurement procedure is concluded by a contract signed by the parties, or by a decision not to conclude the contract.
After the period of validity of the tender has expired, conclusion of the contract shall be subject to the tenderer's agreement in writing.
Joint bid and subcontracting
This section only applies for tenders involving joint bid or subcontracting. If this is not the case, please continue to the next section (4. Technical specifications).
1 Making a bid in collaboration with other companies
Where a tender involves several legal entities, they may choose between:
• making a joint bid, in which case all the economic operators must be considered as tenderers and, if theirs is the successful bid, as contractors (in this case, one of the tenderers must be put forward as co-ordinator to manage the contract); and
• making a bid in the name of only one tenderer, who is then the sole contractor if the bid is successful, the other legal entities being considered as subcontractors.
Whichever type of bid is chosen (joint bid or bid in the name of one tenderer), the tenderer(s) must stipulate the role, qualifications and experience of each legal entity and, where relevant, the monitoring arrangements that exist between them.
1 Joint bid
Tenderers in a joint bid assume joint and several liability towards the Publications Office for the performance of the contract as a whole. Statements saying, for instance:
• that one of the partners of the joint bid will be responsible for part of the contract and another one for the rest, or
• that more than one contract should be signed if the joint bid is successful,
are thus incompatible with the principle of joint and several liability.
The Publications Office will disregard any such statement contained in a joint bid, and reserves the right to reject such offers without further evaluation on the grounds that they do not comply with the tendering specifications.
In the case of a joint bid, one of the partners of the joint bid (co-ordinator) should be given power of attorney to represent the other parties to sign and administrate the contract.
If the joint bid is selected the tenderers may be required to adopt a given legal form after they have been awarded the contract if this change is necessary for proper performance of the contract.
2 Subcontracting
If certain tasks provided for in the contract are entrusted to subcontractors, the contractor retains full liability towards the Publications Office for performance of the contract as a whole. Accordingly:
• the Publications Office will treat all contractual matters (e.g. payment) exclusively with the contractor, whether or not the tasks are performed by a subcontractor;
• under no circumstances can the contractor avoid liability towards the Publications Office on the grounds that the subcontractor is at fault.
Tenderers must inform the subcontractor(s) that Article II.17 of the contract will be applied to them. Once the contract has been signed, Article II.13 of the above-mentioned service contract shall govern the subcontracting. During execution of the contract, the contractor will need the Publications Office’s express authorisation to replace a subcontractor with another and/or to subcontract tasks for which subcontracting was not envisaged in the original offer.
2 Documents to submit – joint bid
In the case of a joint bid, the following documents must be provided:
1 Section One: Administrative Information and evidence for access to the contract
1. A declaration based on the model agreement on the “Power of Attorney” attached in Annex 2.C, signed by the legal representatives of all the partners of the joint bid including the following:
• recognising joint and several liability for all the partners of the joint bid for the performance of the contract;
• giving one of the partners of the joint bid (co-ordinator) power of attorney to represent the other parties to sign and administrate the contract.
2. If the tenderers have already set up a consortium or similar entity to that end, they should state this in their offer, together with any other relevant information and documentation in this connection.
3. The questionnaire for joint bids and subcontracting (Annex 4) must be provided signed by a legal representative of the co-ordinator.
4. The form for identification of the tenderer must be provided by each partner of the joint bid.
5. The "legal entity" form for each tenderer with all the abovementioned supporting documents as specified in point 2.4
Only the co-ordinator must return the financial identification form.
2 Section Two: Documents relating to the exclusion criteria
6. Each tenderer must fill in and return the declaration on grounds for exclusion (Annex 6) and provide the supporting documents as specified above in point 2.5.
3 Section Three: Documents relating to the selection criteria
Each party of a joint bid must provide the Economic and financial capacity questionnaire (Annex 7) including supporting documents mentioned therein.
4 Sections Four and Five: Documents relating to the award criteria
The documents relating to the award criteria shall be provided once by the co-ordinator representing the group of tenderers.
3 Documents to submit – subcontracting
If the offer envisages subcontracting, it must include the following.
1 Section One: Administrative Information and evidence for access to contract
1. The questionnaire for joint bids and subcontracting provided in Annex 4, signed by a legal representative of the tenderer. The second page of this questionnaire must be provided for each subcontractor;
2. a letter of intent by each subcontractor stating its intention to collaborate with the tenderer if the contract is awarded to him.
2 Section Two: Documents relating to the exclusion criteria
3. Subcontractors must provide the duly signed declaration on grounds for exclusion (Annex 6). Where, in a bid, the value of the subcontracting which is to be executed by a subcontractor is equal to or exceeds 20% of the value of the contract, the subcontractor must be prepared to provide all the supporting documents to the declaration as specified in point 2.5. Where those services represent less than 20% of the contract, the subcontractor shall not be required to provide the supporting evidence. The Publications Office, however, reserves the right, to request the evidence if considered necessary.
3 Section Three: Documents relating to the selection criteria
4. Where, in a bid, the value of the subcontracting which is to be executed by a subcontractor is equal to or exceeds 20% of the value of the contract, the subcontractor must provide the documents related to the economic and financial capacity as specified in point 2.6. Where those services represent less than 20%, the subcontractor does not have to provide the documents related to the economic and financial capacity. However, in case the tenderer relies on the capacities of subcontractors for fulfilling the selection criteria as he indicates in the questionnaire for joint bids and subcontracting the Publications Office will ask for those documents (Annex 4). The Publications Office also reserves the right to ask for those documents if considered necessary.
5. The subcontractor has to answer the questions which concern the services he or she is proposed to perform.
4 Sections Four and Five: Documents relating to the award criteria
The documents relating to the award criteria shall be provided only by the tenderer.
4 Evaluation of the bids in case of joint bids or subcontracting
1 Exclusion criteria
The exclusion criteria will be assessed in relation to each tenderer or subcontractor individually.
2 Selection criteria
Joint bid
If several tenderers are involved in the bid as partners of a joint bid, each of them must prove that they have the required economic and financial capacity. However if the criteria are to be achieved above a certain level, a consolidated assessment shall be made.
The selection criteria concerning the technical and professional capacity will be assessed in relation to the group as a whole.
Subcontracting
The selection criteria concerning the economic and financial capacity will be assessed in relation to the tenderer and each proposed subcontractor individually if the Publications Office finds it necessary due to the role of the subcontractor and volume of the subcontracting. However if the criteria are to be achieved above a certain level, a consolidated assessment shall be made to the extent that the subcontractor puts its resources at the disposal of the tenderer for the performance of the contract.
The selection criteria concerning the technical and professional capacity will be assessed in relation to each proposed subcontractor only as regards the subcontracted services.
Only in the case where the tenderer intends to rely on capacities from the subcontractor in order to fulfil the selection criteria, as he indicates in the questionnaire for joint bids and subcontracting (Annex 4), the selection criteria for technical and professional capacity will be assessed in relation to the combined capacities of the tenderer and the subcontractor as a whole, to the extent that the subcontractor puts its resources at the disposal of the tenderer for the performance of the contract.
3 Award criteria
The evaluation (award) criteria will be assessed in relation to the tender as a whole.
Technical specifications
1 Definitions and preliminary remarks
In this context, "Community legislation" is understood to mean binding secondary legislation (regulations, directives and decisions) adopted by the European institutions pursuant to the provisions of the Treaties (CELEX database sector "3" as available on EUR-Lex[3]) as well as binding supplementary legislation resulting from agreements concluded between Member States (CELEX database sector "4" as available on EUR-Lex).[4]
While in force, a legislative act may undergo amendments specified in amending acts under secondary legislation, corrigenda, acts of accession etc. The set comprising a basic act and all the texts amending it is called a “legislative family”. Any EU legislative act can be consulted in EUR-Lex or in the printed editions of the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ).
The Publications Office is responsible for organising the consolidation of Community legislation and for the preparation by the Commission’s departments of official consolidated texts (codification) and recast versions of Community acts.
In order to make it easier to read amended acts and make Community legislation more accessible, three operations are carried out on the texts published in the Official Journal: consolidation, codification and recasting.
"Consolidation" consists of incorporating all the amendments a basic act has undergone into the body of the text, but without altering the substance in any way. Consolidation has no legal effect and is for information only. It is also called "documentary consolidation" and consists of consolidating the texts belonging to a family of acts as published in the Official Journal of the European Union while carefully keeping track of all amendments which have taken place over time. This results in a continuous text in which the links to the original texts are maintained. Consolidation is the main subject of this invitation to tender.
Carried out on the basis of consolidated texts, "codification" consists of adopting a new legislative act by pooling the texts of one or more existing basic acts and their successive amendments as published in the Official Journal of the European Union, without altering the substance in any way. The new legislative act is adopted in accordance with the applicable legislative procedure, and abrogates and replaces the acts thus codified. Codification is not a subject of this general invitation to tender.
Carried out on the basis of consolidated texts, "recasting" comprises the adoption of a new legal act which both introduces amendments to one or several basic acts and consolidates these amendments with the unchanged provisions of the basic act or acts and their successive amendments. The legal act resulting from the recasting exercise abrogates and replaces the previous act or acts. Recasting is not a subject of this general invitation to tender.
As regards consolidation, the Publications Office intends to:
- systematically carry out ongoing consolidation (in all the official languages available) each time an amending act involving a consolidated family is adopted;
- following new enlargements, bring the legislative families in the enlargement languages to the same level of consolidation as the versions in already existing languages (hereinafter referred as Backlog consolidation);[5]
- continue the necessary developments for better presentation/dissemination of consolidated texts.
Ongoing consolidation is to be carried out as the legislative activity of the institutions continues. In 2008, legislative activity produced 630 amendments and 342 corrigenda, resulting in 982[6] consolidations in all the official languages.[7]
The Publications Office cannot therefore tolerate any shortcomings whatsoever in the production system. The tight deadlines and timekeeping imposed on the Contractor must be strictly adhered to and severe liquidated damages are stipulated in the contract.
The subject of this contract is the production of consolidation, consisting of the following four stages:
I. legal analysis to determine the composition of the families (this stage will also be carried out by the Publications Office in order to double check the Contractor’s analysis and determine the production volume);
II. obtaining source files;
III. analysis of the amending acts (i.e. detailed technical analysis in order to determine which parts of the texts and images and in which way have to be amended);
IV. carrying out consolidation.
Stages I and II will be carried out by both parties (for stage II see point 4.3.4). Stages III and IV are to be carried out by the Contractor.
After completing these four stages of consolidation, the results are published, the content of the consolidated acts is verified and a report on inconsistencies found is drawn up.
2 Production scheme
[pic]
3 Working method
Consolidation is to be carried out in cycles, each cycle corresponding to the incorporation of new amendments from the amending acts or corrigenda with the same date of application into the text resulting from the previous step. At the end of each cycle, there is therefore a "snapshot" (i.e. a historical "layer" or a future "layer") of the law as in force at a certain point of time until the next amending act is adopted. These "snapshots" will be kept in a database at the Publications Office.
1 Determining the composition of the families
Using the EUR-Lex website, the Official Journal or any other relevant source of information, the Contractor shall perform qualitative legal analysis, i.e. will determine the list of amending acts and corrigenda affecting the content of the basic act of the family to be consolidated, as well as any non-textual amendments which may apply (e.g. extensions of the validity, exceptions or suspensions of applicability, etc.). This analysis must be carried out on a daily basis.
2 Production proposals
The Publications Office will periodically (usually on a weekly basis) submit a list of families which are to be consolidated. Within 3 working days after the reception of the abovementioned list of families, using the data obtained during the legal analysis, the Contractor has to submit production proposals. The production proposal should contain detailed information on proposed consolidation, including, but not limited to:
– current status of the family (last "layer" produced and corresponding languages);
– "layer" to be produced and modifying acts to be included in the consolidation indicating languages in which consolidation should be done;
– indication of which source files have to be provided by the Publications Office.
The Publications Office may follow up on the production proposal, correct it, or not take it into consideration.
If the production proposal is accepted, the Publications Office will send to the Contractor an ad hoc worksheet which constitutes the actual request to begin production of a family using the necessary production specifications. Only the ad hoc worksheet constitutes an official production request from the Publications Office. The mentioned requests will be sent, together with the source files, in electronic format only.
In separate cases ad hoc worksheet may be issued for families for which production proposal was not requested and/or not submitted by the Contractor (e.g. consolidation for priority family is requested immediately after the amending act has been published).
NB: Notwithstanding the amending act, it is the Publications Office which will determine the “layers” of production. The option requesting savings of layers including several amendments (which enter into force on the same or different days) can be taken up. In Backlog production only the last "layer" of production is produced, therefore series of "internal cycles" (simulation of "layer" of production without delivering final production files) have to be carried out during the Backlog consolidation.
In case of Backlog consolidation, the production proposals are usually not requested and ad hoc worksheets are issued by taking into account for which families relevant source files are available.
3 Source files
The production process is based on the use of computer files structured according to the Formex[8] (Formalized Exchange of Electronic Publications) V4 standard[9] (as of 1 May 2004), or occasionally V3. As Formex V3 came into force on 1 April 1999, texts published before this date exist only in image format (TIFF, on paper, microfiche etc.) or as non-standard computer files (such as plain text, Microsoft Word, Corel WordPerfect, Microsoft Excel, HTML). Such texts must be recovered and converted to Formex V4 format.
This means that all source files, whatever their input format and the method used, should, at the time of input, be logically structured according to a logical mark-up system complying with the XML (Extensible Mark-up Language) standard and the Document Type Definition (DTD) or Schema agreed with the Publications Office. In all cases, texts are to be entered by a process which is independent of the typographical presentation of the text.
This requirement for logical structuring on input will affect the production process, since, when documents in other than Formex V4 format are received, they must either be:
– logically structured by means of an XML editor (new XML input), if the source files are other than Formex V4 format;
– validated, upon request, if the source files format is not validated Formex V4;
– checked for identical page mark-up and corrected, if source files (CONS.ACT) are in Formex V4 format, but different language versions were produced by different productions systems therefore resulting in different page mark-up.
The resulting file is the “logical” file which permits rapid and efficient access to any part of the text. The Publications Office will, at its request, have access to the text management database.
Notwithstanding abovementioned, in case when a part of the modifying act is needed for the consolidation, the Contractor should convert (if source files are not of Formex V4 format) or, upon request, validate (if source files are of not validated Formex V4 format) only the appropriate part of the source file which is directly needed for the consolidation.
In all cases, the total amount of pages which has to be converted and/or validated shall not exceed the total number of pages in produced consolidated files in PDF format.
If requested by the Publications Office, it might be considered a stage of production, i.e. a source file in Formex V4 format of a validated quality level would be a separate deliverable. Where validation of one of the Contractor’s source files is requested, at any stage of production, the Contractor will be held responsible for all errors resulting from defective source files and must, at his own expense, correct not only those files, but also all flawed consolidated versions. If this results in deadlines being missed, the liquidated damages provided for will apply.
If the Contractor discovers any problems when carrying out validation, it is up to him to make the necessary corrections. These corrections shall be treated as usual procedure covered by the validation task.
Tenderers must pay particular attention to the fact that the SGML/XML formats to be used for the services covered by this contract may develop during its course.
4 Obtaining source files
At the beginning of the contract the Publications Office will provide the Contractor with a most recent copy of database held by the Publications Office containing available most recent "layers" of consolidated families in Formex V4 format. The Contractor should maintain and update this database with the files provided by the Publications Office and produced during consolidation, and obtain necessary source files from it.
The Publications Office for each consolidation will provide necessary source files (except the ones which either were included in the above mentioned database copy or were produced by the Contractor) that will be sent electronically (using the access line as specified in point 4.4.1.10). Occasionally, e.g. due to the big volume, files might be provided by other means – on DVD or other media carrier. However in special cases source files might be provided by lots before consolidation is requested (e.g. in Backlog consolidation overall archive (or part of it) of translated secondary legislation may be provided instead of sending files only for selected list of families).
In case necessary source files may be obtained from publicly accessible interfaces or through any other means which may be accessed by Contractor, instead of the files the Publications Office may provide a link or instructions how these files may be obtained.
Upon reception of the ad hoc file the Contractor should check for the presence and completeness of the relevant source files. In case of missing files and only when these files cannot be obtained from Contractor's database or publicly accessible interfaces, the Contractor should prepare collective requests in electronic form. In return he will receive (depending on size of files) a ZIP file (attached to the e-mail message or uploaded via FTP) or CD/DVD-ROM with the requested files.
5 Consolidation
On the basis of the source files in Formex V4 format (DTD/Schema CONS.ACT or CONS.OTH for the final consolidation) and the CONS.LIST (see below), modifications are to be made (all modifications to be made are to be checked once again at the Contractor's as part of the contract) and delivered in a validated Formex V4 file (DTD/Schema CONS.OTH, CONS.ACT, CONS.LIST, see Annex 10), and a PDF file (see specifications in Annex 13).
In case of Backlog consolidation, the Contractor shall carry out the consolidation on the basis of the comprehensive CONS.LIST list and CONS.ACT of the last layer in a different language, provided by the Publications Office. However, there might be cases when appropriate CONS.LIST does not exist and the Contractor will be asked to produce it.
A CONS.LIST is an XML file which encapsulates descriptions for all members of a consolidation family for all historical phases and all linguistic versions. CONS.LIST is compiled on the basis of the composition of the family to be consolidated and following the analysis of the amending acts. It contains actions to be completed in one language which are to be automatically transferred to all the other language versions affected (not all versions may be affected by a corrigendum, for instance).
NB: as a result of the above, the Contractor should be able to consolidate one language version and then move on to others without repeating the preparatory work.
The modifications will usually be made by cutting and pasting from the source files, although in exceptional cases when there is no source file in an appropriate format, manual inputting may be necessary.
In all cases, the context must be checked and adapted where necessary:
a) following data input and structuring, the text is to be processed typographically by interpreting the logical mark-up;
b) amending text should be adapted according to the language's grammar rules (e.g. declinations, conjugations, etc.);
c) sections of the document in image format (forms, complex tables, formulas etc.) are to be transferred from the source file as they stand. Occasional modifications may, however, be necessary.
6 Checking technical execution of consolidation
The Contractor is obligated to carry out internal quality checks before delivering consolidated families to the Publications Office. The technical staff producing the consolidated versions is expected to read them to ensure that the changes made to the files are correct. All language versions should be checked by proofreaders having the knowledge of the concerned language. Both the form and the content of the files are to be verified.
7 Delivery
This refers to the delivery, within the deadlines specified below, of electronic files in Adobe Acrobat PDF (Portable Document) format or similar and Formex V4 (DTD/ Schema CONS.LIST and DTD/ Schema CONS.ACT or others) and other products to be completed on special request in the print runs specified in each case.
The electronic files which the Contractor must deliver to the Publications Office in Formex V4 (XML) format are to reflect the logical text file after the final approval (passed-for-press). Before being sent to the Publications Office, Formex V4 format files are to be checked by a parser to ensure that their structure matches the reference DTD/Schema. The Contractor will also be responsible for ensuring that the various language versions of each document are structurally identical.
8 Reporting anomalies
The contractor must notify the Publications Office of any anomalies detected during the course of consolidation.
NB: The text published in the Official Journal may contain inconsistencies or ambiguities, or even mistakes, but these must not be corrected at any stage of the consolidation process. Contributors must report any problems encountered (which, where necessary, will be the subject of a report or any appropriate further action, possibly including rectification through the usual legislative channels), but the text published in the Official Journal must be scrupulously adhered to, as it is the product of the legislative process of the European Communities.
9 Validation
Before being permanently entered into the database provided for this purpose by the Publications Office, the products delivered will be accepted and will undergo technical validation by the Publications Office.
10 Quality
Any error, excluding errors originating from the source files, in the final deliverables constitutes a reason for rejection of the erroneous files (see point 4.3.12). However, in separate cases (e.g. minor linguistic, layout or tagging mistakes) the Publications Office instead of rejecting can ask to correct these errors while producing the next consolidation layer.
If following the validation as described in point 4.3.9 the number of rejected files during one month exceeds 5% (five percent) of the total number of deliverables it may result in the application of liquidated damages.
11 Acceptance
The Publications Office will accept all deliverables by signing the deed containing the list of deliverables (a copy of which will be returned to the Contractor) in no later than 6 (six) months following the delivery of the last version.
12 Correction of errors detected
If errors in the delivered products are detected and these errors are the liability of the Contractor, all concerned files are rejected. The Contractor is required promptly following the rejection but in no case later than within three weeks at his own cost to process the rejected files and to deliver corrected versions.
If the contract is no longer in force but the errors have been detected within six months following the delivery of the files concerned, the Publications Office shall have the choice whether to order the corrected versions:
– at the Contractor who shall deliver them within three weeks at the latest; or
– at the Contractor's costs at another economic operator.
In case when the error detected is not done by the Contractor (i.e. error was done by previous contractors) the corrections may be done in two different ways:
– The Contractor may be asked to make a relevant correction. For this reason an ad hoc requesting the corrections will be issued. The contractor should be able to process only the relevant parts (i.e. only the pages containing the mistakes) of Formex V4 and/or PDF files;
– The Contractor may be asked to make relevant corrections when producing consolidation of the next "layer". In this case corrections shall be treated as usual procedure covered by the consolidation task.
4 Production specifications
1 Description of deliverables
1 Content:
– Interim versions of the Formex V4 files[10] of consolidated documents;
– The consolidated text (cover page, title page, preamble of the basic act and provisions), presentation file in Adobe Acrobat PDF (Portable document) format and final Formex V4 files (DTD/Schema CONS.ACT, CONS.OTH, CONS.LIST) which will replace interim versions.
In case of Backlog consolidation, the Contractor is to deliver only the last layer.
Partial billing for deliverables will not be accepted by the Publications Office. Before submitting an invoice, the Contractor must provide the consolidated family in all the languages specified in the instructions in the ad hoc worksheets.
Failure to supply the electronic format and Formex V4 presentation files (interim or final versions) shall be regarded as a serious breach of the contractual obligations and can be a reason for unilateral cancellation of the contract by the Publications Office.
2 Frequency
As a rule, deliveries are to be made in lots, once a week, unless at a special request of the Publications Office for consolidations to be done as priority.
3 Language versions
The Official Journal of the European Union (regular issues) currently comprises 22 language versions (Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish). Some issues of the Official Journal are also published in Irish (Gaelic).
Future enlargement of the European Union might require new language versions.
Consolidation can be requested in all the abovementioned languages and in any new official language in which the Official Journal of the European Union will be published.
4 PDF format
A4 (21 × 29.7 cm)
5 Volume
The volume will vary from family to family.[11]
6 Description
See specimen in Annex 13.
7 Printed area
– “EUDOR” cover page:
width: 40 ciceros.
height: 58 ciceros.
– From the “CONSLEG” cover page onwards, including running head (with folio):
width: 36 ciceros.
height: 60 ciceros.
8 Type
Times New Roman or similar.
6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, 20, 24 and 36 point (Roman, bold, italic and bold italic):
– 6 point
Token entry.
– 7 point
Table headings, table and annex footnotes, disclaimers on the CONSLEG cover page.
– 8 point
Annexes and appendices, text in tables, footnotes.
– 9 point
Text of acts.
– 12, 14, 20, 24 and 36-point
EUDOR cover page.
Latin, Greek and Cyrillic characters, including all the special characters for the various current and future languages are used in the Official Journal.
9 Page make-up
As in the Official Journal, identical page make-up (synoptism) of all the language versions is necessary[12].
– Text (including headings and sub-headings)
In one column (from 22 to 26 ciceros[13]).
– Tables
Various layouts, differing degrees of complexity, either incorporated into the text or separate from it, justification (22–26 ciceros), may be up to 36 ciceros in the case of top-to-bottom layout.
Exceptionally, tables may be placed widthways on the page (landscape).
– Forms
Various layouts, separate from the text, page area may be reduced to correspond to CONSLEG format (36 ciceros, less 3.5 ciceros for the left margin). The running head and vertical arrow at the beginning of the page must remain in place.
10 Technical description of the deliverables on electronic medium
It must be possible for all the texts held by the Contractor to be delivered on electronic medium in accordance with the format described in annexes.
For this reason, by making a bid, all tenderers undertake to comply with the specifications in Annex 10 entitled “Formex V4 specifications” and the PDF guidelines specified in Annex 13.
The Contractor will be responsible for ensuring the proper access line. The data should be exchanged over a safe, secure and redundant connection up to the Publications Office's premises. This connection should fulfil the requirements of the general security rules of the Commission and of the Publications Office. The data should be compressed for the transfer using standard compression techniques (e.g. gzip). The most common application for the remote access service of the Publications Office with the Commission and contractors is File Transfer Protocol (FTP).
In any case, details of the technical implementation of this data transfer have first to be validated by the Publications Office. The costs linked to the setup and the use of the data connection shall be supported by the Contractor.
The Publications Office reserves the right to test the redundant access connection at any time.
Tenderers must also have the necessary equipment (hardware and database management software, XML editor, etc.) to input into their systems data supplied in accordance with Formex V4.
It should be noted that various formats (image, plain text, Microsoft Word, Corel WordPerfect or Microsoft Excel, HTML) may be used as source file formats.
2 Pre-printing work
1 Conversion to XML Formex V4 format
The documents described in point 4.3.3 are to be converted to XML Formex V4 format if they are not already available in this format.
The work to be done may differ from one language version to another (e.g. for special editions of Community law in force at the time of accession), e.g.:
– conversion to XML format according to the selected model: the document in the pilot language is to be converted to XML according to the specimen chosen;
– additional structuring: if necessary, further structuring or modifications are carried out;
– validation of the XML structure: the XML structure of the pilot language document is validated;
– transfer of the XML structure to the other language versions: XML markers are introduced into each language version;
– collation: the identical XML structure of all language versions is checked. If the layout of some language versions is not identical, the XML structure of the incorrect versions must be altered, if necessary by creating empty elements which are clearly marked. As this is exceptional, it should always be documented and the Publications Office be duly informed;
– input of missing sections: empty elements are to be filled with texts published in the Official Journal, either on paper or in electronic form;
– insertion of corrections: on express request, text corrections must be entered on the basis of a paper manuscript corrected by the Publications Office. This type of work may also be requested directly after conversion to XML format;
– proofing: an image of the updated document is created in order to verify and validate it;
– delivery: an electronic copy must be deposited in the reception environment of the Publications Office if requested;
– interim results may be requested by the Publications Office at any time during production.
2 Documents to be processed
The electronic documents are normally available in the following formats:
– Formex V4;
– Formex V3;
– Microsoft Word 2.0 or higher;
– Microsoft Excel 5.0 or higher;
– HTML 3.2 or higher;
– TIFF;
– Plain text.
For other formats provision must be made for the document to be recovered at single-character level (ISO 8859-x, UNICODE). Embedded image formats are possible and remain unchanged.
A document is made up of the following types of elements:
– texts and simple lists;
– tables and/or complex lists (interleaved lists);
– figures, graphics, etc.
The first two are available in character mode; the third is in a bit-map format (TIFF Group IV).
If the language versions do not have an identical layout, the incorrect versions must be altered. The changes to be made to a document may involve its structure and, at the Publications Office’s request, its content (only to ensure it is absolutely identical to the text published in the Official Journal).
3 Composition
The following are the elementary structural changes:
– insertion of an element;
– deletion of an element;
– replacement of an element;
– renumbering of elements.
More complex structural changes may arise but they should be regarded as combinations of elementary changes.
The following are the elementary changes to the content (texts and tables):
– insertion of a string of characters;
– replacement of a string of characters;
– deletion of a string of characters.
In all cases the context should be checked and if necessary adapted.
More complex changes to content may arise, but they should be regarded as combinations of elementary changes.
In general, the images are not to be processed. They must be incorporated into the XML files as they stand. In some cases (e.g. when amendment is done to the information contained in the image) they may require correction.
4 Analysis
The purpose of this task is to identify and transfer to the reference version the amendments contained in the amending act (including acts giving rise to non-textual amendments) or the corrigendum in order to:
– verify the composition of the family to be consolidated by means of the EUR-Lex database or any other source, by automatically including the data contained in EUR-Lex and CONS.LIST;
– find in the act the dates of entry into force to determine the validity period of the consolidation;
– determine the number and nature of the amendments to be made to the reference act;
– compile CONS.LIST;
– mark up modifications in the pilot language version;
– verify that the versions match and repeat the action for the various language versions.
Verification also involves cross-checking the data to ensure that nothing is missing and that footnotes and other references have been correctly entered.
Collation involves checking that the content and presentation of the various language versions are the same.
The Publications Office will supply a reference document setting out its house rules on style (abbreviations, special usages, etc.).
If there is any doubt as to the interpretation of an amending act the Contractor must consult the Publications Office to obtain the relevant information.
The Contractor will on no account be entitled to amend the content of a document in any way except the adaptation of the text according to the language's grammar rules (e.g. declinations, conjugations, etc.), or when explicitly instructed by the Publications Office.
5 Consolidation
This will usually be carried out by cutting and pasting from the source files, but it may include all composition operations (see point 4.4.2.3).
6 XML preparation
XML preparation involves coding the consolidated file to ensure that the files resulting from composition comply with the CONS.ACT or CONS.OTH Formex V4 standard.
7 Composition of the PDF file
The composition program must provide the following functions, on the basis of an XML/Formex V4 file:
– direct inputting in XML of documents for which no electronic Formex V4 file is available, even after conversion (point 4.4.2.1);
– typographic implementation of the logical mark-up;
– paging (text and tables) in accordance with the pages definitions in the XML file, with automatic marking and insertion of footnotes;
– adjusting the layout in order to produce identical page make-up (point 4.4.1.9);
– generation of tables;
– hyphenation specific to each language version, in accordance with the Publications Office’s instructions for Official Journal production;
– generation of TIFF files containing the graphics of the document.
8 Printer’s corrections
This involves checking:
– that the typographical preparation of the mark-up codes strictly complies with Publications Office rules;
– that the modifications indicated in the CONS.LIST have been done correctly;
– that grammatical rules for each language are respected;
– that word-division is correct in each language;
– that the breaks between pages, documents, paragraphs etc. are correct.
This work is to be included in the prices submitted.
3 Additional services
On an exceptional basis, additional services related to the scope of the current general invitation to tender but not covered by the price positions stated in the price schedule may be required and will be the subject of specific requests. The Contractor must provide the Publications Office with an estimate of the costs and time needed to produce the deliverables.
The total value of these additional services for the duration of the contract is foreseen in the amount of 10 % of the value of the exceptional cases stated in the estimation form.
4 Production volumes and delivery
1 Volumes[14]
The volume for the current 22 official languages (except Irish) is quite stable at an average of 140 pages[15] for consolidation per day and per language, with an additional 10% (approx.) of pages for saved "layers".
It is expected that due to the prospective accession of a new member state(s), the Backlog consolidation in the new language(s) should start soon after the day of accession. The estimated volume of Backlog consolidation may constitute around 1.500 families and around 45.000 pages for each language. The average number of amending acts to be included in each family in Backlog consolidation may be between 4 and 5.[16]
Should there be further enlargements or any other reasons causing new official languages being introduced, the production volumes might be a subject to an amendment of this Contract.
The Contractor shall be able to produce up to 20 000 pages per week (of daily and Backlog consolidation together) within the deadlines specified below. However, the fluctuating levels of the new legislation should be taken into account.
2 Delivery
Produced files are to be delivered by electronic transfer within the below-mentioned deadlines to the reception environment to be specified by the Publications Office.
The delivery has to be executed in two stages:
– first, only the Formex V4 format is delivered (interim version[17]);
– secondly, the final lot including PDF, all other requested formats and as well as Formex V4 files with applied paging and corrected mistakes (if any) which were spotted during the production of PDF files (final version), has to be delivered. [18]
3 Deadlines
The production deadlines to be met by the Contractor for a family of up to 500 PDF pages of consolidated text per language version to be consolidated or corrected are calculated after the receipt of the ad hoc worksheet and transfer of the source files as follows:
– two weeks for files in Formex V4 format (interim version);
– four weeks for files in PDF and Formex V4 (final version) and other requested formats.
If a family consisting of more than 500 PDF pages of consolidated text per language has to be consolidated, the Contractor should deliver the consolidated family within the following deadlines:
– four weeks for files in Formex V4 format (interim version);
– twelve weeks for files in PDF and Formex V4 (final version) and other requested formats.
Priority consolidation: upon a special request, the Publications Office may ask for production of families in priority (urgent) for which all deliverables (files in PDF and Formex V4 final version only) have to be delivered within two weeks following the request.
Failure to meet these deadlines will result in the application of the liquidated damages given below. In case of a big volume of production to be done (i.e. more than 20 000 pages per week), the Contractor will not be held liable for infringement of the deadlines provided that at least 20 000 pages of consolidated texts per week are delivered for each stage (ie. interim and final versions), however in this case the Contractor should respect chronological order of the requests and to deliver first files which were ordered earliest (i.e. first in first out).
In particular cases when consolidation is to be very complex (e.g. because of extreme big number of textual modifications or complexity due to big number of modifications to be done in images or tables) extended deadlines will be determined by the Publications Office before issuing a production request.
Deliverables that are rejected must be re-delivered by the Contractor immediately, but in no case later than within three weeks of the latter having been notified. Failure to meet this deadline may result in the application of liquidated damages.
4 Production planning
On a weekly basis the Contractor shall provide to the Publications Office a production planning describing status of families in production, in a form of a table with the following columns:
– family ID;
– production layer;
– ad hoc worksheet date and number;
– deadline for delivery of the interim version of Formex V4;
– deadline for final delivery;
– estimated delivery date of the interim version of Formex V4;
– estimated delivery date of final files;
– justification of missed deadline (if relevant).
5 Contacts between the Publications Office and the Contractor
If the desired level of production is to be achieved within the deadlines given, the Contractor and the Publications Office will need to be in frequent contact, in the form of frequent dispatches between the section responsible for consolidation and the Contractor’s technical departments.
The Contractor shall be responsible for providing a shuttle service if necessary.
5 Liquidated damages
Failure to meet the performance deadlines (point 4.4.4.3) and quality requirements (point 4.3.10) will result in application of liquidated damages, as defined in Article I.14 of the draft contract.
Any delay in delivery shall automatically render these liquidated damages applicable without notice, unless the Contractor can conclusively prove force majeure.
6 Working days
For the purpose of this contract working days shall be defined as from Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays), For the period between 22 December and 1 January the deadlines shall not run.
Annexes
Annex 1. Financial bid 41
Annex 1.A. Price schedule 41
Annex 1.B. Estimation form 43
Annex 2. Forms of legal documents to be attached to the contract 45
Annex 2.A. Financial identification form 45
Annex 2.B. "Legal entity" form 45
Annex 2.C. Guarantee -model 46
Annex 2.D. Agreement / Power of attorney 47
Annex 3. Form for identification of the tenderer 49
Annex 4. Questionnaire for joint bids and subcontracting 51
Annex 5. List of documents to be provided 53
Annex 6. declaration on the grounds for exclusion 55
Annex 7. Economic and financial capacity questionnaire 57
Annex 8. Company Form 58
Annex 9. Project / activity reference forms (PARFs ) 60
Annex 10. Formex specifications 63
Annex 11. Layout rules for consolidated text 63
Annex 12. File name conventions 64
Annex 13. Technical specifications and general guidelines
for PDF files 66
Annex 14. Examples of consolidated texts 68
1. Financial bid
A. Price schedule
|A) Consolidation | |
| | |
|1. Standard case, flat rate for all new or update of the daily and Backlog consolidation. Price per page | |
|produced for full consolidation: | |
| | | |
|1.1. Daily consolidation | |
| | |Price in € |
|Consolidation and composition |Price per PDF page | |
| | | |
|1.2. Backlog consolidation | |
| | |Price in € |
|Consolidation and composition |Price per PDF page | |
| | | |
| | | |
|2. Completion and delivery of consolidated (or corrected) files or source files | |
| | |Price in € |
|Including shipping and media or FTP transfer. |Price per delivery of the layer | |
| | | |
|B) Source files | |
| | | |
|3. New XML input (Formex v4) and validation | |
| | |Price in € |
|Convertion of the source file (of any format, i.e. TIFF, |Price per A4 page (Official Journal) | |
|PDF, plain text, HTML, MS Word, MS Excel, etc.) to the | | |
|validated Formex V4 format | | |
| | | |
|4. Validation of the XML Formex v4 file | |
| | |Price in € |
|Full verification of text and structure (on request), |Price per A4 page (Official Journal) | |
|including the necessary structure corrections | | |
| | | |
|5. Checking identical page make-up of language versions | |
| | |Price in € |
|Checking and, where necessary, correcting the various |Price per A4 page (Official Journal) – each | |
|versions to ensure that the page make-up is identical for|additional language | |
|all language versions. | | |
| | | |
Firm: Date: Signature:
|C) Exceptional cases | |
| | | |
|6. Corrections of errors | |
| | |Price in € |
|XML correction |Price per corrected page | |
| | | |
|7. PDF layout | |
| | |Price in € |
|Creation of PDF file from consolidated XML file |Price per PDF page | |
| | | |
|8. CONS.LIST creation | |
| | |Price in € |
|Legal analysis, production and delivery of the CONS.LIST, |Price per document | |
|in case of already consolidated text where CONS.LIST does | | |
|not exist. This covers all the work needed to draw up and | | |
|create the XML file (including a report on any errors | | |
|detected in the Official Journal) when a new document | | |
|(basic act, amending act or corrigendum) is added to a | | |
|family. | | |
| | | |
|9. Image correction | |
| | |Price in € |
|Correction to an image file |Price per change | |
| | | |
|10. Priority consolidation | | |
| | |Price in € |
|Consolidation and composition |Price per PDF page | |
| | |
|D) Additional services | |
| | |Price in € |
|Services within the scope of the invitation to tender but |10 % of SUB-TOTAL C (See Annex 1.B) | |
|not covered by the price positions 1 to 10 | | |
| | |
|E) Start-up costs | |
| | |Price in € |
|Set up of the technical means which are necessary for the | | |
|execution of the consolidation tasks | | |
Comments:
• Unless otherwise indicated, a page is one page in consolidation format. In terms of characters, one page in the Official Journal is equivalent to 1.31 pages in consolidation format.
• Consolidation ("A") covers all necessary tasks, including, but not limited to, legal analysis, obtaining and processing FormexV4 source files, making all necessary modifications to the texts and images, quality control, delivery of the files produced, etc.
• A delivery of the layer represents all the files contained in the same transmission of the single layer of the family (all language versions included).
• Tenderer's attention is drawn to the fact that fixed price rates have to include any costs concerning the management of services under the Contract (in particular all coordination and reporting activities).
• Prices are all-inclusive and net of tax (The European Community being exempt of all taxes).
• For applicability and description of the start-up costs see point 2.8.2.
Firm: Date: Signature:
B. Estimation form
|A) Consolidation | | | |
| | | | |
|1. Standard case, flat rate for all new or update of the daily and Backlog consolidation. Price per page produced for full consolidation: |
| | | | | |
|1.1. Daily consolidation | | | |
| | |Quantities |Price in € |TOTAL |
|Consolidation and composition |Price per PDF page |4,000,000 | | |
| | | | | |
|1.2. Backlog consolidation | | | |
| | |Quantities |Price in € |TOTAL |
|Consolidation and composition |Price per PDF page |90,000 | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
|2. Completion and delivery of consolidated (or corrected) files or source files | | | |
| | |Quantities |Price in € |TOTAL |
|Including shipping and media or FTP transfer. |Price per delivery of the layer |7,900 | | |
| | | | | |
| |SUB-TOTAL A (1.1+1.2+2) |EUR |
|B) Source files | | | |
| | | | | |
|3. New XML input (Formex v4) and validation | | | |
| | |Quantities |Price in € |TOTAL |
|Convertion of the source file (of any format, i.e. |Price per A4 page (Official Journal) |5,000 | | |
|TIFF, PDF, plain text, HTML, MS Word, MS Excel, | | | | |
|etc.) to the validated Formex V4 format | | | | |
| | | | | |
|4. Validation of the XML Formex v4 file | | | |
| | |Quantities |Price in € |TOTAL |
|Full verification of text and structure (on |Price per A4 page (Official Journal) |125,000 | | |
|request), including the necessary structure | | | | |
|corrections | | | | |
| | | | | |
|5. Checking identical page make-up of language versions | | | |
| | |Quantities |Price in € |TOTAL |
|Checking and, where necessary, correcting the |Price per A4 page (Official Journal) – each |90,000 | | |
|various versions to ensure that the page make-up is |additional language | | | |
|identical for all language versions. | | | | |
| | | | | |
| |SUB-TOTAL B (3+4+5) |EUR |
Firm: Date: Signature:
|C) Exceptional cases | | | |
| | | | | |
|6. Corrections of errors | | | |
| | |Quantities |Price in € |TOTAL |
|XML correction |Price per corrected page |4,000 | | |
| | | | | |
|7. PDF layout | | | |
| | |Quantities |Price in € |TOTAL |
|Creation of PDF file from consolidated XML file |Price per PDF page |10,000 | | |
| | | | | |
|8. CONS.LIST creation | | | |
| | |Quantities |Price in € |TOTAL |
|Legal analysis, production and delivery of the |Price per document |25 | | |
|CONS.LIST, in case of already consolidated text | | | | |
|where CONS.LIST does not exist. This covers all the | | | | |
|work needed to draw up and create the XML file | | | | |
|(including a report on any errors detected in the | | | | |
|Official Journal) when a new document (basic act, | | | | |
|amending act or corrigendum) is added to a family. | | | | |
| | | | | |
|9. Image correction | | | |
| | |Quantities |Price in € |TOTAL |
|Correction to an image file |Price per change |1,700 | | |
| | | | | |
|10. Priority consolidation | | | | |
| | |Quantities |Price in € |TOTAL |
|Consolidation and composition |Price per PDF page |33,000 | | |
| | | | | |
| |SUB-TOTAL C (6+7+8+9+10) |EUR |
|D) Additional services |
| | | | |TOTAL |
|Services within the scope of the current general |10 % of SUB-TOTAL C | |
|invitation to tender but not covered by the price | | |
|positions 1 to 10 | | |
| | | | | |
| |SUB-TOTAL D |EUR |
| | | | | |
| | TOTAL (A+B+C+D) |EUR |
| |
|E) Start-up costs |
| | |Quantities |Price in € |TOTAL |
|Set up of the technical means which are necessary | | | | |
|for the execution of the consolidation tasks | | | | |
| | | |
| |TOTAL (A+B+C+D+E) |EUR |
Firm: Date: Signature:
2. Forms of legal documents to be attached to the contract
C. Financial identification form
A specific form for each Member State is available at the following Internet address:
.
D. "Legal entity" form
A specific form for each Member State is available at the following Internet address:
E. Guarantee -model
[Place/Date]
Contract performance guarantee N ………………
"Title……………………………………………"
Signed on…………………..
Bank (Letterhead)
We hereby confirm that we give the European Community an unconditional and irrevocable joint and several guarantee for an unlimited period to the value of
EUR […]
(in words: … euro)
for performance of the contract, above-mentioned, concluded between the:
European Community represented by the European Commission
Publications Office of the European Union
2, rue Mercier
L – 2985 Luxembourg
And
Firm…………………….,Name………….…/, registration n° ……………………, whose Head office is in…………………..,address ………………; hereinafter referred to as “the Contractor”.
If the Commission gives notice that the Contractor has for any reason failed to fulfil his obligations under the contract by the due date, the Bank, acting on behalf of the Contractor, undertakes to pay up to the above amount into a bank account designated by the Commission immediately on receipt of a first written request from the Commission (sent by registered post, with acknowledgement of receipt).
The Bank waives the right to require exhaustion of remedies against the principal, any right to withhold performance, any right of retention, any right of avoidance, any right to offset, and the right to assert any other claims which the Contractor may have against the Commission under the contract or in connection with it or on any other grounds.
The Bank may be released from this guarantee only with the Commission’s written consent and does not have the right of deposit without its consent.
The Bank’s obligations under this guarantee are not affected by any arrangements or agreements made by the Commission with the Contractor which may concern his obligations under the contract.
This guarantee shall take immediate effect. It shall expire on return of this document, which must occur within 30 days after the final payment under the contract has been made.
This guarantee is governed by the law applicable to the contract.
The courts having jurisdiction for matters relating to the contract shall have sole jurisdiction in respect of matters relating to this guarantee.
[Place/Date]
__________________ __________________
[Signature/Function] [Signature/Function]
F. Agreement / Power of attorney
Model 1
(designating one of the companies of the group as leader and Giving it a mandate)
Agreement / Power of attorney
We the undersigned:
– Signatory 1 (Name, Function, Company, Registered address, VAT number)
– Signatory 2 (Name, Function, Company, Registered address, VAT number)
– …..
– Signatory N (Name, Function, Company, Registered address, VAT number),
Each of them having the legal capacity required to act on behalf of his/her company,
HEREBY AGREE AS FOLLOWS:
(1) The European Commission has awarded the Framework Contract …. (« the Contract ») to Company 1, Company 2, …, Company N (« the Group Members »), based on the joint offer submitted by them on … ….. for the supply of ….. and/or the provision of services for … (« the Supplies and/or the Services »).
(2) As co-signatories of the Contract, all the Group Members:
(a) Shall be jointly and severally liable towards the European Commission for the performance of the Contract.
(b) Shall comply with the terms and conditions of the Contract and ensure the proper execution of their respective share of the Supplies and/or the Services.
(3) To this effect, the Group Members designate Company X as Group Leader. [N.B.: The Group Leader has to be one of the Group Members]
(4) Payments by the European Commission related to the Supplies or the Services shall be made through the Group Leader’s bank account. [Provide details on bank, address, account number, etc.].
(5) The Group Members grant to the Group Leader all the necessary powers to act on their behalf in connection with the Supplies and/or the Services. This mandate involves in particular the following tasks:
(a) The Group Leader shall sign any contractual documents - including the Framework Contract, Specific Agreements and Amendments thereto - and issue any invoices related to the Supplies or the Services on behalf of the Group Members.
(b) The Group Leader shall act as single point of contact for the European Commission in connection with the Supplies and/or the Services to be provided under the Contract. It shall co-ordinate the provision of the Supplies and/or the Services by the Group Members to the European Commission, and shall see to a proper administration of the Contract.
Any modification to the present agreement / power of attorney shall be subject to the European Commission’s express approval.
This agreement / power of attorney shall expire when all the contractual obligations of the Group Members towards the European Commission in connection with the Supplies and/or the Services to be provided under the Contract have ceased to exist. The parties cannot terminate it before that date without the Commission’s consent.
Signed in ………. on ……….. ………
Name Name
Function Function
Company Company
Model 2
(creating the group as a separate entity, appointing a group manager and giving a mandate to him/her)
Agreement / Power of attorney
We the undersigned:
– Signatory 1 (Name, Function, Company, Registered address, VAT number)
– Signatory 2 (Name, Function, Company, Registered address, VAT number)
– …..
– Signatory N (Name, Function, Company, Registered address, VAT number),
each of them having the legal capacity required to act on behalf of his/her company,
HEREBY AGREE AS FOLLOWS:
(1) The European Commission has awarded the Framework Contract …. (« the Contract ») to Company 1, Company 2, …, Company N (« the Group Members »), based on the joint offer submitted by them on … ….. for the supply of ….. and/or the provision of services for … (« the Supplies and/or the Services »).
(2) As co-signatories of the Contract, all the Group Members:
(a) Shall be jointly and severally liable towards the European Commission for the performance of the Contract.
(b) Shall comply with the terms and conditions of the Contract and ensure the proper execution of their respective share of the Supplies and/or the Services.
(3) To this effect, the Group Members have set up under the laws of ……. the Group ….. (« the Group »). The Group has the legal form of a .….. [Provide details on registration of the Group: VAT number, Trade register, etc.].
(4) Payments by the European Commission related to the Supplies or the Services shall be made through the Group’s bank account. [Provide details on bank, address, account number, etc.].
(5) The Group Members appoint Mr./Ms ……. as Group Manager.
(6) The Group Members grant to the Group Manager all the necessary powers to act alone on their behalf in connection with the Supplies and/or the Services. This mandate involves in particular the following tasks:
(a) The Group Manager shall sign any contractual documents —including the Framework Contract, Specific Agreements and Amendments thereto— and issue any invoices related to the Supplies or the Services on behalf of the Group Members.
(b) The Group Manager shall act as a single point of contact for the European Commission in connection with the Supplies and/or the Services to be provided under the Contract. He/she shall co-ordinate the provision of the Supplies and/or the Services by the Group Members to the European Commission, and shall see to a proper administration of the Contract. Any modification to the present agreement / power of attorney shall be subject to the European Commission’s express approval.
This agreement / power of attorney shall expire when all the contractual obligations of the Group Members towards the European Commission in connection with the Supplies and/or the Services to be provided under the Contract have ceased to exist. The parties cannot terminate it before that date without the Commission’s consent.
Signed in ……….. on ……….. ………
Name Name
Function Function
Company Company
3. Form for identification of the tenderer
Identification of the tenderer
(to be completed)
acting in the capacity of:
□ member of consortium (specify role ……………………………)
members of a consortium, which are not the co-ordinator, only have to fill in the first paragraph – identity, a contact person and the last paragraph – declaration
□ single tenderer
Information to be included in the contract in case of award
|Identity |Answer |
|Official name of tenderer in full | |
|Official legal form | |
|Country of registration | |
|Statutory registration number | |
|Official address of tenderer in full | |
|(Internet address – if applicable) | |
|VAT registration number | |
|Person(s) designated to sign the contract – name in full and | |
|function. Please indicate if the person(s) are authorised to sign| |
|alone or together* | |
|Bank account |Answer |
|The information should be consistent with the financial | |
|identification form in Annex 2 | |
|Name of bank | |
|Address of branch in full | |
|Exact designation of account holder | |
|Full account number including codes | |
|IBAN code | |
|BIC code | |
|Contact person |Answer |
|For administrative matters | |
|Name in full and title | |
|Function | |
|Company name | |
|Address in full | |
|Telephone number | |
|Fax number | |
|E-mail address | |
|Contact person |Answer |
|for technical matters | |
|Name in full and title | |
|Function | |
|Company name | |
|Address in full | |
|Telephone number | |
|Fax number | |
|E-mail address | |
Declaration by an authorised representative*
|I, the undersigned, certify that the information given in this tender is correct, that I accept the conditions set out in the |
|invitation letter, the tender specifications and the draft contract and that the tender is valid |
|Name in full and title | |
|Function/Position (e.g. “manager”) | |
|Telephone number | |
|Fax number | |
|E-mail address | |
|DATE/ | |
|SIGNATURE | |
* The tender must include documents proving that the person(s) designated to sign the contract as well as the person(s) signing the tender are authorised to do so.
4. Questionnaire for joint bids and subcontracting
This questionnaire only has to be completed if your tender involves a joint bid or subcontracting.
Joint bid
1. Does your bid involve more then one tenderer? Yes No
The questions No 2 – 4 shall be answered only if the answer is affirmative.
2. Please fill in the name of the company having power of attorney for the group of tenderers and acting as a co-ordinator:
3. Please fill in the names of the other companies taking part in the joint offer:
4. If a consortium or similar entity exists, please fill in the name and the legal status of the entity:
Subcontracting
5. Does your bid involve subcontracting? Yes No
If the answer is yes, please complete question number 6, and the next page once for each subcontractor.
6. List of subcontractors:
…….….……………………………….…
…….….……………………………….…
…….….………………………………….
……….………………………………..…
……….………………………………..…
……….………………………………..…
Reasons, roles, activities and responsibilities of subcontractors.
Please complete this page once for each subcontractor:
Name of the subcontractor:
…….….……………………………….………………………………………..
Official legal form:
…….….……………………………….………………………………………..
Country of registration:
…….….……………………………….………………………………………..
Statutory registration number:
…….….……………………………….………………………………………..
(Internet address, if applicable):
…….….……………………………….………………………………………..
Official address in full:
…….….……………………………….………………………………………..
…….….……………………………….………………………………………..
Contact person:
…….….……………………………….………………………………………..
Telephone number:
…….….……………………………….………………………………………..
Reasons for subcontracting:
…….….……………………………….………………………………………..
Role, activities and responsibilities of the subcontractor:
…….….……………………………….………………………………………..
…….….……………………………….………………………………………..
…….….……………………………….………………………………………..
The volume or the proportion of the subcontracting:
…….….……………………………….………………………………………..
Do you intend to rely on capacities from the subcontractor in order to fulfil the selection criteria? If yes, specify which selection criterion – financial and economic capacity or technical and professional capacity – and be aware that the tenderer must provide the documents which make it possible to assess the selection criteria to the extent that the subcontractor puts its resources at the disposal of the tenderer.
…….….……………………………….………………………………………..
…….….……………………………….………………………………………..
…….….……………………………….………………………………………..
5. List of documents to be provided
| |DOCUMENT |Annex to the |Place in the |
| | |specifi-cations|tender |
|Section One: Administrative information and evidence for access to contract |
|* |Duly signed cover letter (to be provided) |--- | |
|* |Financial identification form (to be completed) |Annex 2 | |
|* |Legal "entity form" (to be completed) with supporting documents as described in point 2.4 |Annex 2.B | |
| |(to be provided) | | |
| |Articles of association | | |
| |Proof of registration number and of VAT number | | |
| |Documents showing that the person(s) signing the tender and designated to sign the contract| | |
| |are entitled to do so | | |
|* |Form for identification of the tenderer (to be completed) |Annex 3 | |
| |Questionnaire for joint bids and subcontracting |Annex 4 | |
| |(if applicable, to be completed) | | |
|* |If it is a joint bid, a declaration (Agreement/Power of Attorney) signed by legal |Annex 2.C | |
| |representatives of all the partners of the joint bid: | | |
| |recognising joint and several liability for all the partners of the joint bid for the | | |
| |performance of the contract, | | |
| |giving one of the partners of the joint bid (co-ordinator) power of attorney to represent | | |
| |the other parties to sign and administrate the contract, | | |
| |(if applicable, to be completed) | | |
|* |If subcontracting is involved in the bid, a letter of intent by each subcontractor stating |--- | |
| |its intention to collaborate with the tenderer if the contract is awarded to him | | |
| |(if applicable, to be completed) | | |
|* |This list of documents to provide (to be completed) |Annex 5 | |
|Section Two: Documents relating to the exclusion criteria |
|* |Declaration on grounds for exclusion (to be completed) with the following supporting |Annex 6 | |
| |documents (to be provided): | | |
| |a recent extract from the ‘judicial record’ or equivalent | | |
| |a recent certificate of having fulfilled obligations relating to the payment of social | | |
| |security contributions or equivalent | | |
| |a recent certificate of having fulfilled obligations relating to the payment of taxes or | | |
| |equivalent | | |
|Section Three: Documents relating to the selection criteria |
|a) financial and economic capacity |
|* |Economic and Financial capacity questionnaire (to be completed) accompanied by the |Annex 7 | |
| |documents mentioned therein (to be provided) | | |
|b) technical and professional capacity |
|* |Short description of the tenderer’s economic activity |-- | |
| |(to be provided) | | |
|* |Company form (to be completed) |Annex 8 | |
|* |Set of PARFs (to be provided) |Annex 9 | |
|Section Four: Documents relating to the technical award criteria |
|* |Tenderer's proposal for of the production system to be used for carrying out the work |-- | |
| |(to be provided) | | |
|* |Procedures proposed by the tenderer for ensuring production and delivery deadlines |-- | |
| |(to be provided) | | |
|* |Tenderer's approach to the quality control |-- | |
| |(to be provided) | | |
|* |Tenderer's proposal for the contingency and production continuity plan |-- | |
| |(to be provided) | | |
|Section Five: Documents relating to the financial award critieria |
|* |Price schedule duly completed and signed (to be filled in) |Annex 1.A | |
|* |Estimation form duly completed and signed (to be filled in) |Annex 1.B | |
6. declaration on the grounds for exclusion
|DECLARATION |
1. Pursuant to Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (OJ L 248/1 of 16 September 2002, as amended), I, the undersigned, declare on my honour that the following grounds for disqualification do not apply to the company or organisation which I represent, or to me (if the tenderer/subcontractor is a natural person):
(a) being bankrupt or being wound up, having one's affairs administered by the court, having entered into an arrangement with creditors, having suspended business activities, being the subject of proceedings concerning those matters, or being in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations;
(b) having been convicted of an offence concerning professional conduct by a judgement which has the force of res judicata;
(c) being guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means which the contracting authority can justify;
(d) not having fulfilled my obligations relating to the payment of social security contributions or my obligations relating to the payment of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of the country of establishment or with those of the country of the contracting authority or those of the country where the Contract is to be performed;
(e) having been the subject of a judgment which has the force of res judicata for fraud, corruption, involvement in a criminal organisation or any other illegal activity detrimental to the Communities' financial interests;
(f) being subject of the administrative penalty for being guilty of misrepresentation in supplying the information required by the contracting authority as a condition of participation in the procurement procedure or for failing to supply an information, or for being declared to be in serious breach of his obligation under contract covered by the budget.
For (d), the applicant must submit, recent certificates issued by the competent authority of the country concerned showing that his or her situation is in order.
The Commission will accept as sufficient evidence that none of the cases quoted in (a), (b) or (e) applies to the tenderer, the production of a recent extract from the "judicial record" or, failing this, of an equivalent recent document issued by a competent judicial or administrative authority in the country of origin or residence, showing that these requirements have been met.
Where the country concerned does not issue documents or certificates of the kind required above, they may be replaced by a sworn, or failing this, a solemn statement, made by the interested party before a judicial or administrative authority, a notary or a qualified professional body in the country of origin or providence.
2. Pursuant to Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities, published in Official Journal No L 248 of 16 September 2002, as amended, I declare on my honour that:
- neither the company or organisation that I represent nor any member of its staff or of its board or any of its directors is placed in a situation of conflict of interests for the purposes of this tendering procedure;
- I will inform the Commission, without delay, if any situation of conflict of interests or that may lead to a conflict of interests arises;
- I have not been guilty of misrepresentation in supplying the information required by the awarding authority as a condition of participation in the contract procedure or failed to supply this information;
- the information given to the Commission for the purposes of this tendering procedure are accurate, honest and complete.
The Commission reserves the right to check this information.
Done at ....................................................., on ..................................................
Signature:
Name of the signatory(ies) of this form (representative(s) legally authorised to represent the tenderer vis-à-vis third parties and acting on behalf of the aforementioned company or organisation)
…………………………………………………………………………………….
Name of the company/organisation represented (if applicable):
…………………………………………………………………………………….
Legal address:
……………………………………………………………………………………
7. Economic and financial capacity questionnaire
| |2008 |2007 |2006 |
|Total turnover | | | |
|Turnover related to the requested tasks | | | |
| |
|Total assets / liabilities | | | |
| |
|Fixed assets | | | |
|Intangible assets | | | |
|Tangible assets | | | |
|Financial assets | | | |
|Current assets | | | |
|Debtors / debts due within one year | | | |
|Debtors / debts due after one year | | | |
|Cash (bank & hand) | | | |
|Stocks | | | |
|Other current assets | | | |
|Capital | | | |
|Subscribed capital | | | |
|Reserves | | | |
|Profits and loss brought forward | | | |
|Provisions | | | |
|Creditors | | | |
|Short term bank debt (to be paid within one year) | | | |
|Long term bank debt (to be paid after one year) | | | |
|Short term non-bank debt (to be paid within one year) | | | |
|Long term non-bank debt (to be paid after one year) | | | |
|Other debts | | | |
| |
|Turnover | | | |
|Other operating income | | | |
| |
|Costs of staff | | | |
|Costs of material | | | |
| |
|Gross operating profit | | | |
|Net operating profit | | | |
|Results from financial activities | | | |
|Profit / loss on ordinary activity | | | |
|Profit / loss for the financial year | | | |
Company: Date:
Name: Signature:
The following documents shall be attached:
• Balance sheet for years 2007 and 2008;
• Profit and loss account for years 2007 and 2008;
• Evidence of professional risk indemnity insurance.
8. Company Form
|Tenderer [19]: |
|acting as : |
|member of consortium (specify role ……………………………) |
|main contractor |
|subcontractor |
|Legal form of tenderer : |
|Date of registration: |
|Country of registration: |
|Registration number: |
|VAT number: |
|Registered address of tenderer: |
| |
|Usual administrative address of tenderer: |
| |
| |
|Person(s) authorised to sign contracts (together or alone) on behalf of the tenderer: |
|Surname, forename, title (e.g. Dr, Mr, Ms, etc.), function (e.g. manager, etc.). |
| |
| |
| |
|Contact person for this call for tenders: |
|Surname, forename, title (e.g. Dr, Mr, Ms, etc.), function (e.g. manager, etc.), telephone number, fax number, address, e-mail. |
| |
| |
|Structure of the company: |
|Number of technical staff : 2007[20]: 2008: 2009: |
|Breakdown regarding the different types of services required in the scope of this call for tender : |
|Consulting : 2009: |
|Project management : 2009: |
| |
|Number of non-technical staff : 2007: 2008: 2009: |
|Breakdown per category : |
|Management : 2009: |
|Sales : 2009: |
|Secretaries : 2009: |
| |
|Total technical staff permanently employed by the tenderer, in the tenderer’s IT division and invoiced for provision of: |
|only fixed price services : 2009: |
|only time and means services : 2009: |
|both : 2009: |
| |
|Total technical staff non-permanently employed by the tenderer, in the tenderer’s IT division and invoiced for provision of: |
|only fixed price services : 2009: |
|only time and means services : 2009: |
|both : 2009: |
|Facts and figures about the company: |
|Current number of active accounts per activity sector: |
|Administration : |
|Banking : |
|Industry, Telecom and Commerce : |
|Energy : |
|Current number of technical staff without contract : |
|Staff turnover (in %) : 2006 2007 2008 |
9. Project / activity reference forms (PARFs )
The project/activity reference form must be used to give details about relevant projects and/or activities the tenderer wants to present as proof of experience with the delivery of services comparable to those defined in the Technical Specifications.
The technical selection is based on these requested tenderer’s project/activity forms
General rules:
1. The use of the annexed project/activity form is mandatory. Only projects and/or activities references submitted by using the annexed form will be evaluated.
2. A submitted PARF should be relevant to the subject and requires electronic publishing expertise for the relevant lot of this call for tender. Projects or activities that do not conform will be eliminated.
3. The tenderer has to provide at least 3 and a maximum of 5 PARFs.
4. One PARF can fulfil several specific requirements at the same time.
5. If the tenderer submits more than 5 PARFs, only the first 5 found in the offer will be analysed in the selection procedure.
6. PARFs shall not be outdated. PARFs will concern projects executed during the period 2006-2009. Projects which started before 01/01/2006 and which are ongoing may be submitted, but only with regards to its part executed during the reference period in question.
7. Framework contracts are accepted, but only with regards to its part executed during the reference period in question.
8. A PARF consists of the following two pages. Both pages must be completed. It is forbidden to add any additional page.
Project/Activity Form (PARF)
PARF No: …..… page 1 of 2
Tenderer: ……………………………..………………………
Project/Activity name: ……………………………..………………………………
Description of Project/Activity
|Explain the relevance of this project: |
| |
| |
| |
|Project/Activity type (development, maintenance, support, study): |
| |
| |
|Internet address of the project when applicable: |
|Description (objectives, executed tasks, main functions developed, data volume, etc.): |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|This PARF demonstrates the specific experience required in the following domain: |
|Tasks related to supplying SGML/XML machine-readable products on various media and by file |
|transfer EUR…..………….. |
|Tasks related to supplying electronic presentation format (PDF or similar), TIFF and HTML files |
|EUR………..…….. |
|Tasks related to multilingual coverage EUR……..……….. |
|Tasks related to processing of the legal texts EUR……..……….. |
Project/Activity Form (PARF)
PARF No: …..… page 2 of 2
Tenderer: ……………………………..………………………
Project/Activity name: ……………………………..………………………………
Technical environment
|Project methodology: |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|Software tools and hardware/operating systems used: |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|Supplying SGML/XML and Postscript machine-readable products on various media and by file transfer: |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|Supplying electronic presentation format (PDF or similar), TIFF and HTML files: |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|Multilingual coverage: |
| |
| |
| |
|Others: |
| |
| |
| |
10. Formex specifications
Formex V4 specifications are available at the following Internet address:
11. Layout rules for consolidated text
For layout rules for consolidated text please see documents (Annex 11 to the specifications, part 1 and part 2) available at the following Internet address:
12. File name conventions
The file names for the CONSLEG consolidated reception chains should follow the rules below:
|[ 1] |filename |::= |series year celexcode language prodseq ‘.’ incseq‘.’(container ‘.’)? type |
|[ 2] |series |::= |CL |
|[ 3] |year |::= |d{4} |
|[ 4] |celexcode |::= |[A-Z]d{4} |
|[ 5] |language |::= |‘BG’ |‘CS’ | ‘DA’ | ‘DE’ | ‘EL’ | ‘EN’ | ‘ES’ | ‘ET’ | ‘FI’ | ‘FR’ | ‘GA’ | ‘HU’ | ‘IT’ | |
| | | |‘LT’ | ‘LV’ | ‘MT’ | ‘NL’ | ‘PL’ | ‘PT’ |‘CS’ | ‘RO’ | ‘SL’ | ‘SV’ |
|[ 6] |prodseq |::= |d{7} |
|[ 7] |incseq |::= |d{4} |
|[ 8] |container |::= |‘doc’ | ‘sls’ |
|[ 9] |type |::= |‘xml’ | `xsl’ | ‘tif’ | ‘pdf’ |
|[10] |d |::= |‘0’ | ‘1’ | ‘2’ | ‘3’ | ‘4’ | ‘5’ | ‘6’ | ‘7’ | ‘8’ | ‘9’ |
Any include files containing graphic information that have not been changed, should retain its original name (the name should be the same as in the corresponding Official Journal). Images that have been changed during the consolidation process should follow the naming conventions for the consolidated filenames, as defined above.
The printers are expected to deliver XML and PDF archives for each linguistic version with all the files for the layer of the family. The description of the XML file (container ‘doc’) should be also delivered with each language. The SLS delivery for the layer should be delivered as well.
The names of the archives should follow the rules below:
|[ 1] |filename |::= |series year celexcode language prodseq ‘.’ type ‘ .’ archive |
|[ 2] |Type |::= |xml | pdf |
|[ 3] |archive |::= |zip | tgz |
Example
An example of an archive for the ‘xml’ type is the following:
Archive name: CL1953D0030FR0040010.xml.zip
Contents:
|CL1953D0030FR0040010.0001.doc.xml |Description document |
|CL1953D0030FR0040010.0001.xml |Consolidated XML document |
|L_1952024FR.01001801.tif |Image as found in the OJ |
|CL1953D0030FR0020010.0001.tif |Image affected by the consolidation at layer 002 (1st |
| |consolidated image) |
An example of an archive for the ‘pdf’ type is the following:
Archive name: CL1953D0030FR0040010.pdf.zip
Contents:
|CL1953D0030FR0040010.0000.pdf |Cover page |
|CL1953D0030FR0040010.0001.pdf |Consolidated PDF document |
An example of an archive for the ‘sls’ type is the following:
Archive name: CL1953D0030FR0040010.sls.zip
Contents:
|CL1953D0030FR0040010.0001.sls.xml |Consolidation History Document |
Note: The Consolidation History Document (container “sls”) need to be delivered only for the FR linguistic version.
Vocabulary
|celexcode |CELEX code (5 positions, 1 letter + 4 digits) |
|d |symbolic placeholder for digits |
|language |language of the document or the publication |
|incseq |Incremental sequence number. For the type “pdf” the cover page should have the value ‘0000’. |
| |For all the other types it should be a sequence of numbers starting from 0001 and each time |
| |incremented by 1 |
|prodsec |Production sequence number as defined by the attribute PROD.SEQ of the INFO.CONSLEG tag. |
|series |Fixed value to “CL” |
|type |file type identifier |
|year |year of the publication of basic act in the Official Journal |
|archive |The format of the archive. ‘.zip’ for the zip utility, or ‘.tgz’ for the GNU tar utility |
13. Technical specifications and general guidelines for PDF files
1. General quality requirements
In the following specification common guidelines are provided for the creation and delivery of PDF instances. They are related to the production of the consolidated texts.
The specification is based on the international ISO 19005-1 (2005) standard. All PDF deliveries have to be compliant with the PDF/A-1a standard. In the following the main features are reminded; it is, however, not an exhaustive repetition of the standard.
As it is the basis of PDF/A the version 1.4 of the PDF specifications has to be respected. No other versions may be used.
Only TrueType fonts may be used. They have to be embedded completely. No difference must occur such as it appears when fonts have to be substituted.
The encoding of characters and symbols must be properly based on Unicode.
For hyphenation it is important to use a character which is mapped to the Unicode value for the soft hyphen (00AD) to cut words at the end of lines if necessary. Any other character used instead (e.g. normal minus sign) will be considered as an error.
In order to provide a re-usable reading sequence and to make the instances compliant with any type of screen readers, the PDF files have to be tagged. This feature is available in Acrobat since version 5 as well as in other tools on the market.
The delivered PDF files must be printable and copies should be allowed.
The following checklist can be used by the printing houses to ensure that the resulting PDF files meet the requirements:
← Check that hyphens used for cutting words at the end of lines are realized as soft hyphens (and not as minus signs or other symbols). Other hyphens may only be used where they are necessary according to spelling rules.
← Check that all accented characters are encoded as single characters and not as two characters (e.g. a¨ instead of ä, no flying accents).
← Check that the PDF is compliant with the PDF/A-1a standard.
← PDF files should be web-optimised. This namely implies the preparation for one-page-at-a-time downloading, which is important for large documents requested by a web-user.
← Check that permissions for printing and copying ('Selecting Text and Graphics') are correctly set to 'allowed'. The 'Security method' has to be set to 'none'. The fields 'Open Password' and 'Security Password' must both be set to 'no'. 'Changing the Document' as well as 'Adding or Changing Annotations and form Fields' are set to 'allowed'.
← Check the correct tagging of the PDF instance. Any error risks to make the document unusable on certain screen readers.
This specification will be revised for example when another version of the ISO standard is taken into account or when a digital signature is required.
2. Additional specifications
The PDF/A1a files can be obtained by using tools from the market such as Acrobat version 8+, but any other tools which are supposed to at least give the same quality may also be used.
2.1. General manufacturing rules
The contents of each consolidated act have to be delivered in the PDF format as specified above. A separate file is produced for each language version of the single layer of the family.
Additionally a PDF file for the title page is delivered.
2.2. File name conventions
File naming of the PDF files should be done in accordance with the File name conventions specified in Annex 12.
2.3. Reading sequence and contents control
To allow a useful and correct indexing of the PDF files by internal or external indexing engines, the PDF files must be generated in conformance to a column oriented read sequence in case of multi-column layout.
Providers of Consleg deliveries have to assure that the contents of the PDF files are corresponding to their Formex instances. This can be done by means of an automatic comparison procedure.
14. Examples of consolidated texts
Examples of the consolidated texts are available at the following Internet address:
under the following file names:
• 1979L0409_0070010
• 1989L0108_0050010
• 1989L0391_0030010
• 1993L0014_0010030
• 1996L0050_0020010
• 1999L0031_0020010
• 2000L0046_0000010
• 2000L0059_0030010
• 2001D0881_0150010
• 2001L0024_0000010
• 2001L0029_0000030
• 2001L0034_0020020
• 2001L0089_0050010
• 2001R0044_0060010
• 2001R1206_0010010
• 2002D0459_0130010
• 2002D0887_0030010
• 2002L0060_0050010
• 2003R0998_0120010
• 2004D0281_0000010
• 2004R0805_0020010
• 2004R0854_0030010
• 2004R0872_0070010
• 2004R0872_0080010
• 2004R1973_0120010
• 2005D0056_0030010
• 2005L0036_0040010
• 2006L0012_0010010
• 2006L0044_0010010
• 2006L0048_0040020
• 2006L0087_0020010
• 2007D0777_0020010
• 2007R1266_0040010
• 2007R1379_0000010
• 2008R1000_0010010
Remark: The requirement for the identical page make-up of consolidated texts is introduced with this Contract. Therefore it has to be taken into account that in the examples of existing production presented here files contain no paging tags and PDF files layout does not respect the identical page make-up.
-----------------------
[1] Currently 3 different alphabets are used in the official EU languages: Latin, Greek and Cyrillic.
[2] Attention should be paid to the fact that the purpose of this test is to evaluate a real production chain on the same conditions as foreseen daily production. Therefore manual processing of test files will be inadmissible.
[3]
[4] Description of the "CELEX sectors" may be found at
[5] The fact that Backlog consolidation is done only in one (or few) languages in contrast to the Daily consolidation, which is usually done in all official languages, has to be taken into account.
[6] One amendment may have an impact to several acts (directly or via other act) resulting in several consolidations, as well as several amendments may be combined in one layer. For this reason total number of consolidations is not equal to the combined number of amendments and corrigendas.
[7] Amounts stated here or elsewhere in this document are for guidance only and do not entail any commitment on the part of the Commission.
[8] For detailed Formex description and complete specifications see Annex 10.
[9] Save for exceptional cases, most of the texts will be available in Formex V4 or newer Formex versions if any will be introduced during the validity of the contract. Introducing a newer version of Formex shall not entitle the Contractor to any compensation from the Commission.
[10] Interim version of the Formex V4 files means correctly consolidated Formex V4 files with the exception of the appropriate paging tags, which are to be introduced in accordance with the layout of the consolidated texts in PDF format.
[11] For examples, see consolidated texts in EUR-Lex.
[12] The requirement for identical page make-up of consolidated texts is introduced with this Contract. Therefore it has to be taken into account that in the examples of existing production presented in Annex 14. XML files contain no paging tags and PDF files layout does not respect the identical page make-up.
[13] The different column width may be applied for different language versions in order to reduce blank spaces resulting from identical page make-up.
[14] As guidance, not to be taken as a commitment.
[15] Number of pages refers to pages of consolidated text in PDF format.
[16] The estimation is purely based on Backlog consolidation in Bulgarian and Romanian languages, considering that two new languages will be introduced as an official language of the European Union.
[17] See point 4.4.1.1
[18] Production and delivery of the interim version constitutes part of the production, therefore only the final lot is to be invoiced.
[19] In case of subcontracting or consortium: please specify company name.
[20] As of 1 January of the relevant year
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