Testing youth-sector services against service standards (in 2 municipalities)

Exclusion grounds cover final convictions within the previous five years, or an exclusion obligation that remains in force, involving the bidder or persons with management or representation powers. The grounds include participation in a criminal organisation, corruption, fraud, terrorist offences, money laundering or terrorist financing, and illegal use of child labour or human trafficking. Where applicable, the bidder may provide evidence of measures taken to restore its reliability. A breach of tax or social security contribution obligations is also an exclusion ground. The stated threshold for tax debt is EUR 0; the tax authority does not issue a tax-debt certificate if the debt administered by that authority is below EUR 100 or payment has been rescheduled. For a foreign bidder, the tax-debt certificate is issued under the law of its country of establishment. A conviction for enabling a foreign national to work while unlawfully present in the country, or for enabling breaches of the conditions for a foreign national’s work in Estonia, is an exclusion ground; this includes paying less than the statutory wage. The bidder must also confirm that awarding the contract would not breach international or Estonian government sanctions. Sanctions restrictions include Russian citizens, residents and entities established in Russia, entities more than 50% owned by them, and their representatives or persons acting on their instructions. Such subcontractors or suppliers must not be involved for more than 10% of the contract value, and their capacities must not be relied on to meet qualification requirements.

For either lot, the bidder must submit the completed participation application (Form I). Joint bidders must appoint an authorised representative and submit the signed power of attorney (Form II). The bidder must provide a copy of its current statutes or equivalent governing document and a completed activity plan, budget and forecast number of participation sessions (Form IV). The planned activities should, where possible, not start before March 2027, as the contract is expected to be concluded in January or February 2027. The bidder must provide at least one youth-sector specialist for contract delivery. The specialist must have a higher education qualification in youth work, or a youth-work qualification at Estonian Qualifications Framework level 5 or equivalent, and at least 12 months’ prior experience working in the youth sector or managing youth-sector projects. Submit the completed Form III, signed by the specialist, and a copy of evidence of their education or current qualification. Overlapping periods of experience count only once. To receive evaluation points for the number of youth-sector specialists included in the contract team, submit Form III and qualification evidence for each such specialist. The number of specialists is an award criterion; the notice does not specify the scoring details. Bidders may participate only if established or resident in Estonia, another EU Member State, an EEA contracting state, or a country party to the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement. The bid must comply with the tender documents; conditional bids are not allowed. Where an equivalent is offered, provide evidence showing that it is equivalent in the context of this procurement. Equivalent requirements, permits, registrations and qualifications from the bidder’s country of establishment may be used where applicable. The bidder must confirm that contract award would not violate international or Estonian government sanctions and that prohibited Russian-linked entities will not be involved in more than 10% of the contract value, or relied on to meet qualification requirements.