Call for proposals: Improving SMEs' access to public procurement

The general objective of this call for proposals is to improve the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in tenders, especially across borders, through the actions of intermediate organisations supporting SME participation in public procurement.

As the needs of SMEs vary from country to country and sector to sector, organisations submitting proposals must tailor their services to their clients' needs. However, each proposal must have a cross-border dimension, covering at least the countries represented in the consortium.

The action must cover several types of activities, including:

1. Exchange of information on procurement between EU countries  (tender alerts and guides on country specific elements on public procurement).
2. Training and advisory services to SMEs (e.g. on the changes introduced by the new Directives, use of e-procurement systems, developing a proposal, etc.).
3. Organising matchmaking events.
4. Coaching/mentoring on bidding in other EU countries.
5. Organising business-to-procurer events.
6. Coaching/mentoring on joint bids.
7. Mentoring activities between large companies and SMEs, etc.

The expected results include the following:

• Intermediate organisations offering more and better support to SMEs in public procurement, especially cross-border procurement.
• Better informed and prepared SMEs to participate in public procurement.
• More SMEs participating in public procurement, especially cross-border procurement.
• Materials presenting the specificities of the public procurement legislation in different EU countries.
• Better informed procurers on the specificities of SMEs and on the technologies available in the market.
• SME-formed consortia to participate in calls for tender.

The deadline for electronic submission is 28 July 2016 17.00 hours (Brussels time).

The electronic submission reference for this call will be COS-APP-2016-2-05.

Please click here to access the Participant Portal to draft and submit proposals.

Full information concerning this call of proposals