Appointment of an independent auditor to audit the annual fund manager assurance submitted by the Estonian National Agency for the Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps programmes

The bidder, or a member of its representative, management or supervisory body, must not be subject to exclusion grounds arising from a final conviction for participation in a criminal organisation, corruption, fraud, terrorist offences or other offences related to terrorist activity, money laundering or terrorist financing, unlawful use of child labour, or human trafficking. Convictions handed down within the last five years are considered, as is any exclusion period imposed by a judgment that remains in force. In certain cases, the bidder may provide evidence of measures taken to restore its reliability. Exclusion also applies where the bidder has outstanding tax or social security contribution debts. In Estonia, a tax debt certificate is not issued where the total debt for taxes administered by the relevant tax authority, excluding interest not established by an administrative act, is less than EUR 100, or where payment of the debt has been deferred. A foreign bidder’s tax debt is assessed under the law of its country of establishment. A conviction for enabling a foreign national to work in Estonia without a legal basis, or enabling a breach of the conditions for a foreign national’s employment in Estonia, is also an exclusion ground. This includes paying less than the statutory wage rate. In addition, awarding the contract to the bidder must not breach an international sanction or a sanction imposed by the Government of the Republic of Estonia. Participation is prohibited for an entity established or resident in Russia or Belarus.

The bidder must have completed at least one similar contract during the 36 months preceding the start of the procurement. The contract must have involved financial auditing of an organisation managing European Union funds. Details of the contract must be provided in the ESPD. The audit service provider must hold the licences and activity permits required to provide the service, including to conduct internal audits; copies or equivalent documents must be submitted. The person or persons responsible for conducting the audit must be sworn auditors, certified internal auditors, or certified internal auditors of a public-sector entity. The bidder must submit a copy of the direct service provider’s qualification document. The bidder must have no conflict of interest with the legal entity of which the National Agency is part and must be functionally independent of that entity. The bidder must confirm compliance with environmental requirements and prevention of adverse environmental impacts when providing the service. Bidders established or resident in Russia or Belarus may not participate. The offer must comply with the tender documents and may not be conditional. The bidder must follow the prescribed price-submission structure, identify and justify any trade secrets (the price and evaluation-related numerical indicators may not be classified as trade secrets), and provide the required declaration and confirmations in Annex 2. For a joint bid, the partners must appoint an authorised representative and include a power of attorney. Where equivalence is claimed, it must be explained and supported by evidence. The supplied documents do not specify the award criteria; check the official tender documents for their details.