Enterprise policy and tourism call for experts

The European Commission, DG XXIII, has published a call for individual consultants, associations and organizations to inform the Commission of their possible interest in providing research and advisory services in connection with enterprise policy, trade, skilled work, tourism...

The European Commission, DG XXIII, has published a call for individual consultants, associations and organizations to inform the Commission of their possible interest in providing research and advisory services in connection with enterprise policy, trade, skilled work, tourism, and cooperatives.

The Commission will examine the offers received and draw up a list of contractors who could be called upon in the framework of a study or a consulting contract to carry out tasks related to the evaluation, preparation and implementation of actions in the abovementioned fields. The list will be used to determine applicants who could be invited to submit detailed offers to the Commission under restricted calls for tender related to specific themes. The maximum value of a contract is ECU 200,000 (ECU 100,000 in the case of a study contract).

Applicants invited to tender under a restricted procedure will be selected on the basis of the following criteria:
- Competence and experience in the field concerned;
- Overall experience in the field of SMEs;
- Capacity to carry out the assignments planned: geographic cover, language skills, availability, etc.;
- Quality of the dossier;
- Price scale.

Study and research contracts will concern various aspects of enterprise policy, trade, skilled work, tourism and cooperatives, in particular in the countries of the European Economic Area. Some initiatives will cover Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) or third countries and geographic zones.

The expertise required relates to the following general objectives:
- Improved understanding of the situations, processes and problems related to enterprise policy, trade, skilled work, tourism and cooperatives, to be obtained by means of integrated transnational, national, regional and/or local studies.
-Identification of good practices and explanation of the preoccupations and orientations common to actions and policies implemented in the Member States of the European Union principally, to be achieved by means of deliberative, evaluative and integrative studies and legal, economic or statistical reports.

The Commission may issue restricted calls for tender in order to select contractors who have demonstrated competence and experience in enterprise matters, in particular:

A. Comparative law:
A.1. Commercial law/taxation;
A.2. Civil law;
A.3. Public law;
A.4. Community law;

B. Strategies for providing information to enterprises;

C. Information for enterprises:
C.1. Information networks;
C.2. Information management;
C.3. New information products;
C.4. Organization of conferences for tourism professionals;
C.5. Preparation, where required, translation, and publication of reports and brochures concerning tourism:

D. New technologies:
D.1. Innovation and R&D technologies;
D.2. Technology transfers;
D.3. New technologies of interest to trade, tourism and, more generally, SMEs;
D.4. Technologies for tourist information and/or reservations;

E. Urban planning, area planning, SMEs, trade and skilled work;

F. Transnational projects favouring SMEs:
F.1. Information;
F.2. Cooperation;
F.3. Promotion;
F.4. Utilization of information and telecommunications technologies in such projects;

G. Training and support;

G.1. Training of managers and executive aides;
G.2. Standardization, certification, quality and security, including quality assurances and total quality management;
G.3. Small businesses, skilled work and family businesses;
G.4. Professional training for commerce;
G.5. Exchange of apprentices and skilled workers;
G.6. Initial and continuing training in tourism, hotel work and catering;
G.7. Quality of tourist services;

H. Financing;
H.1. Specific problems related to SME financing;
H.2. Financial engineering and financial instruments (start-up capital);
H.3. Unlisted securities markets;
H.4. Mutual guarantees;

I. Market access and access to new markets:
I.1. Public procurement;
I.2. Third countries;
I.3. Impact of the single market on SMEs and skilled workers;
I.4. Promotion in third-country markets of Europe as a tourist destination;
I.5. Tourist cooperation with Central and Eastern Europe and with the Maghreb-Mediterranean region;

J. Environment;
J.1. Regulations and SMEs, environmental audits;
J.2. Clean technologies and SMEs;
J.3. Tourism and the environment (sustainable development);

K. SMEs:K.1. Studies and research in the field of SMEs;
K.2. Analysis of the economic, financial and regulatory situation of SMEs in the European Economic Area;
K.3. Computer and technical support of actions in favour of SMEs;
K.4. SMEs involved in tourism;

L. Subcontracting;
L.1. Economic aspects of European subcontracting;
L.2. Legal aspects of European subcontracting;
L.3. Technical aspects of European subcontracting;
L.4. Importance of networking, information and cooperation for subcontractors;

M. Provision of qualified personnel;
M.1. Legal:
M.2. Economic;
M.3. Commercial;
M.4. Computer;
M.5. Secretariat;
Applicants are to send their application dossier to:

European Commission
DG XXIII
Mrs. R. Stern200 rue de la Loi (AN80 5/28)
B-1049 Brussels
Fax. [phone]