negotiated procedure following publication of a contract

The Hague, 30.09.2014

Negotiated procedure following publication of a contract notice for the provision of Hotel Rooms in The Hague

Europol Reference: D/C584/1424

Tender Specifications

Eisenhowerlaan 73 2517 KK The Hague The Netherlands

P.O. Box 908 50 2509 LW The Hague The Netherlands

Phone: +31(0)70 353 1681 Fax: +31(0)70 318 0808

www.europol.europa.eu

2

Contents

1. Background Information ............................................................................. 3

1.1. Booking procedure ............................................................................ 3

1.2. Terms and conditions ....................................................................... 4

1.3. Terms of payment ............................................................................. 4

2. Technical Specifications .............................................................................. 5

2.1. Mandatory requirements .................................................................. 5

2.2. Optional requirement: bookings by third parties ........................ 6

3. Tender Dispatch and Content .................................................................... 6

4. Award criteria ............................................................................................... 7

5. Specific Europol Rules ................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Annexes:

Annex 1 Form for submission of offers

Annex 2 Declaration on Honour

Annex 3 Mandatory Contractual Requirements

Hotel Tender Specifications.doc

3

Dear Madam or Sir,

Europol would like to invite you to submit an offer for Hotel Services in compliance with the requirements described hereafter.

1. Background Information

Europol is a European law enforcement agency which supports its Member States in preventing and combating all forms of international serious crime and terrorism. Europol’s vision is to contribute to a safer Europe by providing the best possible support to law enforcement authorities in the Member States. This is to be achieved by delivering a unique set of operational services for the European Union, developing as its principal:

• support centre for law enforcement operations;

• criminal information hub and

• centre for law enforcement expertise.

The aim of this tendering procedure is the creation of a list of hotels in The Hague for the booking of hotel rooms for Europol guests and visitors.

All tenderers who have submitted valid offers fulfilling the selection criteria and mandatory requirements set out in this tender specifications document will be offered to sign an agreement with Europol (see “Mandatory Contractual Requirements” attached as Annex 3). The agreement will be valid for a period of four years, starting 1.1.2015.

As a result of signing an agreement with Europol, the hotels will be ranked on three (3) “Europol Selected Hotels Lists (hereinafter the Hotels Lists)” by star rating classification in ascending order of price, which is the sequence in which they will be contacted for the booking of rooms (see section 1.1 for further information on the booking system).

Tenderers are informed that Europol has booked a total of roughly 3.500 hotel rooms in the environs of Statenkwartier and Scheveningen in the period January to June 2014. From a current perspective, it is expected that a total of up to 7.000 hotel rooms could be booked per year. However, this figure is indicative only and Europol cannot commit to minimum booking quantities.

The total value of this call for tender is capped at 3.500.000 € over the maximum duration of 4 years. The estimate is not binding upon Europol and subject to budget availability and Europol’s future policies on the organisation of conferences and travel arrangements.

1.1. Booking procedure

The Hotels Lists will work in a cascade system:


4

The hotels will be listed per star rating category in ascending order of room prices: As outcome of the tender procedure, Europol will create three lists of hotels: one for 3-star hotels, one for 4-star hotels and one for 5-star hotels. All hotels which have submitted valid offers and have signed an agreement with Europol will be included in the corresponding Hotel List and ranked – the first hotel on the list being the one offering the cheapest room, the second the one with the second cheapest room and so forth (= ascending order of room price).

Every time Europol needs to book a hotel room, the hotel with the lowest price which complies with the specific requirements1 for the booking, if any, will be identified from the appropriate Hotels List.

Should the hotel with the lowest price not have free rooms, Europol will contact the next appropriate hotel on the list which fulfils all the requirements for the booking in question and so forth.

1.2. Terms and conditions

The contractual relationship between the successful tenderers and Europol will be governed by the attached “Mandatory Contractual Requirements”.

Please note that the offered rates must remain valid at all times throughout the year 2015, including during heavy booking periods. The agreement will be automatically renewed under the same terms and conditions up to three (3) times. The rates can be reviewed in December of each year for the period covering the following calendar year, but again the new rates must be valid for throughout the whole year. In case of price revision, the ranking of the hotels on the three lists will be adapted according to the new prices.

1.3. Terms of payment

Two types of payments are possible:

- payment by Europol via bank transfer upon receipt of an invoice

- payment by the guest upon departure

With each booking, Europol will inform the hotel in advance whether an invoice shall be sent to Europol for payment or whether the guest will settle the account himself.

1 Specific requirements for individual bookings can include for example: availability of Wireless LAN in the room, availability of closed parking space, etc. Europol will check the availability of such amenities on the basis of the information contained in the offers submitted by the hotels in this tender procedure. If the information is unclear or missing, Europol may use the information from the hotel’s websites or contact the hotels to request further clarification and information at any time during the validity of the contractual relationship.


5

Europol does not have a credit card and can thus not confirm or pay bookings by credit card; however Europol guarantees reservations for late arrival.

2. Technical Specifications

2.1. Mandatory requirements

Hotels which wish to qualify for the list of contractors MUST comply with the following requirements:

• The hotel is located in The Hague. It should be either within walking distance from Europol’s Headquarters (Eisenhowerlaan 73, The Hague, 2517KK) or have a good public transport connection (roughly 15 minutes maximum travel time to Europol).

• The hotel has at minimum 40 rooms.

• The hotel complies at minimum with the conditions of classification for a three star rating as defined by the “Nederlandse Hotel Classificatie” (the hotel however does not need to be a member of the Nederlands Hotel Classificatie). Europol wishes to work with hotels complying with the requirements for classification of: 3-star, 4-star and 5-star.

• The hotel offers a flexible cancellation policy

Minimum required by Europol:

• For individual bookings: free cancellation up to 24 hrs in advance

• For Group bookings:

Group reservations of 10 rooms and more can be cancelled free of charge up to 1 week prior to arrival. Up to three days prior to arrival, 10% of the group reservation can be cancelled free of charge.

Important note: If you find it impossible to comply with these cancellation terms, please send us your proposal for an alternative procedure in the framework of the questions and answers phase described in section 5.2 below. Europol may decide to lower the requirement if your proposal is considered to be acceptable. Such changes to the requirements MUST be agreed by Europol during this questions and answer phase of the tendering procedure – no change can be accepted after the deadline for submission of offers.

• The hotel guarantees Last Room Availability (LRA).

• The offered rates remain valid at all times throughout the year, including during heavy booking periods.

• If not within walking distance the hotel should provide a shuttle service (free of charge) from the hotel to Europol, at least for


6

groups of guests. Departure time from the hotel will be communicated to the hotel timely in advance. This requirement is not mandatory but desirable. When this service is explicitly required by Europol at the time of a specific booking’s request, it can lead to one hotel being favoured over an other hotel despite a lower ranking on the corresponding Hotel List.

• Tenderer’s attention is drawn to the fact that English is Europol’s working language, therefore during the execution of the contract, all communication between the contractor and Europol must be possible in the English language.

2.2. Optional requirement: bookings by third parties

Tenderers are invited to offer / extend the terms of the Europol agreement to Europol visitors and guests (third parties) who, for administrative and budgetary reasons can not book their rooms through Europol.

In other words, when Europol visitors and guests book a hotel directly by mentioning that they are attending a meeting or a conference at Europol, they shall benefit from the Europol room rates and cancellation terms. Invoices shall be issued to the third parties and payments shall be made by the third parties; therefore, the hotels are required to agree on payment terms with the third parties. In order to prevent abuse and double bookings, hotels offering this service are requested to copy Europol into the booking confirmations sent to third parties and include such reservations into all Europol booking overviews.

This service is optional and tenderers not offering it will not be excluded from the tender procedure. However, only hotels which offer this service will be recommended by Europol to visitors and guests who do not book their hotel room via Europol.

Currently, no data is available on the number of rooms which could be booked through this procedure in the coming years.

3. Tender Dispatch and Content

For the formalities with regard to the dispatch of the offers, please see points 2 and 3 of the cover letter.

Offers shall be presented in three parts:

Part 1 – Administrative Offer,

Part 2 – Technical Offer,

Part 3 – Financial Offer),

by filling in the form attached as Annex 1.

Tenderers shall add the documents requested as well as a signed copy of Annex 2 (Declaration of Honour: Tenderers will be required to


7

confirm that they are not in one or more of the situations listed in the document, by inserting a signed copy into their offer).

Tenderers shall attach two signed copies of the “Mandatory Contractual Requirements” (Annex 3) to their offer. One copy counter-signed by Europol will be sent back to the successful tenderers after contract award.

4. Award criteria

All companies having submitted a valid offer which complies with all mandatory requirements set out in this invitation to tender will be included into the Hotels List resulting from this tendering procedure and will be ranked in ascending order by price per room and by star rating classification. Europol may, only if deemed necessary, negotiate the offers with the tenderers before accepting them.


ANNEX 1

The Hague, September 2014

Tender for Provision of Hotel Services Tender Reference: D/C584/1424

Form for submission of offers To be filled-in, dated and signed

Part 1 - Administrative Offer

(a) Name and contact details of a single point of contact for any communication associated with tender issues: [please fill-in]

(b) Name and contact details of a single point of contact for any communication associated with any future business issues: [please fill-in]

(c) Please attach a copy of the company’s registration with the Chamber of Commerce

(d) Please attach a copy of the hotels’ policy for liability insurance with a coverage of min. € 2 Mio per incident

(e) Please attach a signed copy of Annex 2 – Declaration of Honour



Phone: +31(0)70 353 1681 Fax: +31(0)70 318 0808


2

Part 2 - Administrative Offer

Please take account of the minimum conditions described in section 2 of the invitation to tender!

(a) Description of the proposed booking procedure, and confirmation of Last Room Availability: [please fill-in]

(b) Description of the offered cancellation procedure and terms: [please fill-in]

(c) Description of the hotel and available services and amenities:

• Hotel classification: [please fill-in]

• a description of the rooms, incl. availability of WLAN: [please fill-in]

• a description of parking facilities: [please fill-in]

• if available: a description of wellness/fitness facilities: [please fill-in]

• if available: a description of meeting rooms or other business facilities: [please fill-in]

• any other available amenities, e.g. wheelchair access, laundry service, availability of dietetic cooking in the restaurant etc.: [please fill-in]

• if available, a description of the offered shuttle service, including minimum and maximum number of guests, booking and cancellation terms: [please fill-in]

(d) If available, please attach a catalogue and/or leaflet of your hotel or include a reference to a website.

(e) Please attach two signed copies of the “Mandatory Contractual Requirements” (Annex 3) (one copy counter-signed by Europol will be sent back to the successful tenderers after contract award).

(f) Optional requirement: Please confirm whether or not the offered room rates and cancellation terms are extended to guests and visitors of Europol (Europol’s Third Party as defined in Clause 4(a) of Annex 3 (Mandatory Contractual Requirements) who do not book their hotel rooms via Europol, as described in section 2.2 of the tender specifications: [please fill-in]


3

Part 3 – Financial Offer

Note: Prices must be quoted as follows:

• in Euro;

• free of all duties and taxes (in particular VAT); (Europol is, as a rule, exempt from all taxes and duties, including value added tax (VAT), pursuant to the provisions of Articles 3 and 4 of the Protocol 7 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union (OJEU 9 May 2008 C115/266 – Dutch contractors invoice their products and services to Europol including VAT, but detailing the VAT separately on the invoice. Europol recovers the VAT from the Dutch Ministry of Finance. Non-Dutch contractors invoice their products and services to Europol without VAT)

• with a validity at all times for the period 1.1.2015-31.12.2015 (a revision of the prices is possible for the period 1.1.2016-31.12.2016);

• detailing fixed prices for each available room category without breakfast, e.g.: standard / superior / executive / suite etc.

• separately detailing the prices for:

- breakfast

- parking

- WLan (only if not offered for free)

- shuttle service (only if not offered for free)

- other services as available

Please fill in, using the format of your choice, as an example:

Standard room single, per night, per room: [price in EUR excl. VAT]

Standard room double, per night, per room: [price in EUR excl. VAT]

Executive room single, per night, per room: [price in EUR excl. VAT]

Etc.

Breakfast, per person: [price in EUR excl. VAT]

Parking, per car, per 24 hrs: [price in EUR excl. VAT]

Etc.

Confirmation:

The offer (Parts 1 – 3) is binding and valid for 2 months from the date of opening the tenders.

Done at [place] ………………………........…, [date] ……………………………….

[signature]

___________________________ ___________________________ Company Stamp Full Name and Position


ANNEX 2 [please fill-in and sign]



Declaration of Honour

with respect to the Exclusion Criteria and Absence of Conflict of Interest

The undersigned, Mr/Mrs/Ms .......................................................................

in his/her own name (if the economic operator is a natural person or in case of own declaration of a director or person with powers of representation, decision making or control over the economic operator)

or

representing (company's name, legal form, address and VAT No) .................

.................................................................................................................................... formally declares that the company or organisation that he/she represents / he/she:

a) is not bankrupt or being wound up, is not having its affairs administered by the courts, has not entered into an arrangement with creditors, has not suspended business activities, is not the subject of proceedings concerning those matters, and is not in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations;

b) has not been convicted of an offence concerning professional conduct by a judgment which has the force of res judicata;

c) has not been guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means which the contracting authorities can justify;

d) has fulfilled all its obligations relating to the payment of social security contributions and the payment of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of the country in which it is established, with those of the country of the contracting authority and those of the country where the contract is to be carried out;

e) has not been the subject of a judgement which has the force of res judicata for fraud, corruption, involvement in a criminal organisation or any other illegal activity detrimental to the Union’s financial interests;

f) is not a 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 failing to supply an information, or being declared to be in serious breach of his obligation under contract covered by the budget.

In addition, the undersigned declares on their honour: g) they have no conflict of interest in connection with the contract; a conflict

of interest could arise in particular as a result of economic interests,



Phone: +31(0)70 353 1681 Fax: +31(0)70 318 0808


2

political or national affinities, family or emotional ties or any other relevant connection or shared interest;

h) they will inform the contracting authority, without delay, of any situation considered a conflict of interest or which could give rise to a conflict of interest;

i) they have not made and will not make any offer of any type whatsoever from which an advantage can be derived under the contract;

j) they have not granted and will not grant, have not sought and will not seek, have not attempted and will not attempt to obtain, and have not accepted and will not accept any advantage, financial or in kind, to or from any party whatsoever, constituting an illegal practice or involving corruption, either directly or indirectly, as an incentive or reward relating to award of the contract.

k) that the information provided to Europol within the context of this invitation to tender is accurate, sincere and complete.

By signing this form, the undersigned acknowledges that they have been acquainted with the administrative and financial penalties described under art 133 and 134 b of the Implementing Rules (Commission Regulation 2342/2002 of 23/12/02), which may be applied if any of the declarations or information provided prove to be false. Done at [place] ………………………........…, [date] ……………………………….

[signature] ___________________________ ___________________________

Company Stamp Full Name and Position


ANNEX 3 [please fill-in and sign in 2 copies]



Mandatory Contractual Requirements

Due to the estimated Europol financial contribution, a written/contractual arrangement is required to be produced in accordance with Europol Financial rules.

Each tenderer is requested to adhere to the terms and conditions of this Annex and to sign it for acceptance as part of its tender.

This Annex intends to regulate the contractual relationship between Europol and the Contractor for the performance of services covered in tender D/C584/1424 Hotel Rooms (The Hague) Services if the Contractor is awarded this tender.

Clause 1: Structure:

The Contractor acknowledges that these Mandatory Contractual Requirements and the additional documentation listed below constitute by order of precedence the entire contractual relationship with Europol (hereinafter “the Contract”) if the Contractor is awarded tender D/C584/1424 Hotel Rooms (The Hague) Services:

• the Tender Specifications (Annex I)

• Contractor’s Offer dated [__________] (Annex II)

• Any Order Forms concluded under this Contract (Annex III)

• The Contractor’s General Terms and Conditions (Annex IV)

Clause 2: Subject:

1. The Contract covers the provision by the Contractor of hotel rooms and associated services to Europol’s guests/visitors (hereinafter the “Services”) as further detailed in Annex I (Tender Specifications) and Annex II (the Contractor’s Offer) to this Contract.

2. The Contractor shall provide the Services following either:

• a writing request from Europol, or

• if explicitly accepted by the Contractor in accordance with Clause 4, a request from a Europol’s Third Party in accordance with Clause 4(a)

3. The Contractor agrees to be included in the Europol Selected Hotels List (hereinafter “the Hotels List”) in accordance with the Tender Specifications (Annex I to this Contract). The Contractor acknowledges that the Hotels



Phone: +31(0)70 353 1681 Fax: +31(0)70 318 0808


2

List is subdivided per star classification/rating as defined by the “Nederlandse Hotel Classificatie”. The handling of the Hotels List and the ranking of each Contractor within the List shall be in accordance with Clause 4 below.

4. Europol is neither obliged to request Services exclusively from the Contractor nor obliged to request the Services exclusively from hotels which are on the Hotels List.

5. Europol shall be under no obligation to order or to commit any minimum amount of Services under this Contract: Only implementation of the Contract by Order Forms as specified at Clause 4 below is binding on Europol.

Clause 3: Duration:

1. The Contract is concluded for a period of 12 (twelve months) and shall be valid for 1 (one) calendar year from the date it is signed by both parties. The Contract shall start to apply from 1st January 2015.

2. The Contract shall be automatically renewed under the same terms and conditions up to three (3) times, each time for a period of twelve (12) months, unless notification to the contrary is sent by one of the parties at least three (3) calendar months in advance before the expiry of the Contract.

Clause 4: Ordering procedure of Services requested by Europol

1. The Contract will be implemented by means of Order(s) Forms. The costs payable in respect of each Order Form cannot exceed the prices set forth at clause 5 below. For the sake of clarity, Order Forms as referred to in this Annex may take the form either of a formal paper order or an electronic (on-line) order.

2. Formal Order Form(s):

Formal Orders Form shall be placed in accordance with Europol’s booking request.

Formal Orders Form shall be returned by the Contractor duly signed and dated within [maximum 2 (two) Working Days] of them being sent by Europol.

If Europol is second to sign a Formal Order Form, it will notify the Contractor within 2 (two) Working Days thereafter with regard to the date of signature of such Formal Order Form. The date on which Europol signs such Order shall be the “Formal Order Form date” which must be referenced in the relevant request for payment (invoice) submitted by the Contractor to Europol.

If the Contactor is second to sign such Formal Order Form and the signed Formal Order Form is not returned within the period of 5 (five) Working Days referenced above, the “Formal Order Form date” is deemed to be the first day following the expiry of such period, which must be referenced in


3

the relevant request for payment (invoice) submitted by the Contractor to Europol.

Electronic Order Form(s):

Electronic Order Form(s) shall be placed in accordance with Europol’s booking request where on-line booking is required.

Electronic Order Form(s) shall be considered finally placed with the Contractor and become binding on Europol where the relevant Europol staff [travel/conference team within Europol] requests (room) booking to be issued and such request has been confirmed by the Contractor’s booking system and where the [electronic] invoice related to such booking has been issued by the Contractor and sent to Europol.

Handling of the Hotels List:

3. The initial ranking of the Contractor in the Hotels List is as mentioned on the last page of this document. The initial ranking of each Contractor is defined by star classification and per price. The Contractor acknowledges that the ranking may be revised during the Contract implementation if prices are changed in accordance with Clause 5.5. Europol will inform the Contractor about any change of ranking only upon written request.

4. Europol shall address any booking request in accordance with the ranking of each Contractor as clustered in the Hotels List.

5. Europol shall be entitled to contact any additional Contractor from the Hotels List under the following conditions:

a. If no offer is received from the first ranked Contractor within the time specified in the Europol’s booking request.

b. If the Contractor declares, or it is apparent from the Contractor’s offer/website that they are not able to comply (entirely or partially) with the specific requirements of the Europol’s booking request.

Clause 4(a): Ordering procedure of Services requested by a Europol’s Third Party

1. If explicitly authorised by the Contractor in Clause 14 (Final Clause), the Services under the Contract shall be extended to a Third Party holding an event/a conference at Europol Premises (hereinafter Europol’s Third Party). For the purpose of interpretation of this Article, Europol’s Third Party shall include the following entities:

• (law enforcement) administration of EU Member States,

• (law enforcement) administration of a Third State having a cooperation/strategic agreement with Europol,

• the Europol Liaison Bureaus located within the Europol Premises,

• EU institutions/bodies/Agencies

• Interpol.


4

2. The Contractor is under no obligation to accept a request for Services from a Europol’s Third Party. For the avoidance of doubt, the Contractor shall not be in default of its obligations under the Contract if he refuses to extend the scope of the Contract to a Europol’s Third Party. Whether the Contractor accepts or refuses a request for Third request for Services, he shall inform Europol in writing about its decision. The Contractor shall be entitled to request Europol to confirm that the third party who requests (a) room(s) booking is a Europol’s Third Party.

3. If the Contractor accepts to provide the Services to a Europol’s Third Party, the Contractor and the Contractor (Personnel) shall comply with the following conditions:

• to enter into a separate contract with the Europol’s Third Party: Europol shall not be a party to any separate contract which is entered into between the Contractor and the Europol’s Third Party.

• to apply to the Europol’s Third party the same room rates (within the limits of availability of rooms) and cancellation policy as negotiated to Europol under this Contract.

• to agree and accept to the extent permissible by law that Europol is not liable for any loss, injury and/or damage of whatever nature to the Contractor (Personnel) caused by a Europol’s Third Party.

• to submit any request for payment directly to the Europol’s Third Party: No payment shall be due by Europol to the Contractor for the provision of Services to a Europol’s Third Party.

• to give a standing consent that Europol provides the Europol Third Party with the Contractor’s (personal) data included in the Contract.

Clause 5: Prices and Payment

1. The Contractor recognises that Europol is obliged to have a budget commitment in place prior to a legal commitment. What this means in practice is that the Contract must foresee the mechanism for Europol to make orders, knowing the cost incurred upfront so that this can be adequately covered from the budget.

2. Prices of this Contract shall be in Euro and as listed in the Contractor’s offer attached as Annex II.

3. The volume discount(s), where applicable shall be as mentioned in the Contractor’s offer.

4. Europol shall not be responsible for paying for any additional costs in excess of the Services ordered by means of Order Form(s), such as telephone/food/beverage/mini bar/laundry which may be incurred by Europol guests/visitors occupying the rooms: the Contractor is required to take adequate measures in this regard to ensure payment as per the usual practice of the industry.

5. Prices of the Contract shall be fixed during the first calendar year of the Contract, unless the Contractor requests in writing to decrease the prices of the Contract during the course of that calendar year. From the beginning of the second calendar year of the Contract, the Contractor shall


5

be entitled to revise the prices of the Contract. No further revision of prices during the second calendar year shall be authorised. The Contractor may at any time inform Europol that the prices are decreased during the course of a calendar year. In the event of price revision, Europol may modify the ranking allocated to the Contractor in the Hotels List.

6. Unless otherwise advised in writing by Europol, (paper or electronic) invoices shall be addressed to the Europol Finance Unit and shall include the following information:

a) the Contract reference and/or the Order Form reference and, if applicable, any supporting documents.

b) the detailed breakdown of the Services delivered.

c) the place of taxation

d) 1 for VAT purposes and separately the amounts not including VAT and the amounts including VAT: the Contractor recognises that Europol is, as a rule, exempt from all taxes and duties, including value added tax (VAT) pursuant to the provisions of Article 3 and 4 of the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union. If the Contractor is a Dutch registered company, it shall ensure that all invoices issued to Europol under the Contract are including VAT (shown in a separate line in the invoice), which shall be reclaimed by Europol from the Dutch Tax authorities. If required, the Contractor shall provide Europol with all necessary assistance to facilitate the procedure to reclaim VAT.

7. Payments shall be deemed to have been made on the date on which Europol’s account is debited.

8. In return for satisfactory performance of the contract, payment shall be made by Europol within 30 (thirty) calendar days following the receipt of an admissible invoice. Europol may refuse or defer payment if it contests the invoice or if the supporting documentation supplied with the invoice is inaccurate or incomplete. Unless otherwise mutually agreed in writing between the parties, Europol shall not be obliged to make any payments in advance.

9. In the event of late payment the Contractor shall be entitled to interest (even without the need to submit a claim) provided the calculated interest exceeds EUR 200 (two hundred Euro). If interest does not exceed EUR 200, the Contractor may claim interest within two (2) months of receiving the payment. Interest shall be calculated at the rate applied by the

1 If the Contractor requires payment to be made to a bank account outside the Netherlands, to facilitate international payments, the contractor shall send with the invoice the following details:

- IBAN code

- Swift/BIC Code

- Full name and address of the bank

- Full name and address of the beneficiary (as registered with the Bank)

If those details are not provided, Europol shall charge the Contractor for the full banking costs, both domestic and international


2

European Central Bank to its most recent main refinancing operations (“the reference rate”) plus seven (7) percentage points (“the margin”). The reference rate in force on the first day of the month in which the payment is due shall apply. Such interest rate is published in the C series of the OJEU. Interest shall be payable for the period elapsing from the calendar day following expiry of the time limit for payment up to the day of payment.

Clause 6: Security, Confidentiality and Data Protection

1. The Contractor agrees to take strict confidentiality into consideration with regard to the provision of the Services to Europol. The Contractor shall not make available to third parties any information or media it has at its disposal and shall only make these known to its personnel insofar as this is necessary to perform the Contract. The Contractor shall continue to be bound by this undertaking after the expiry of the Contract.

2. Europol shall neither be part of and/or be listed in any registry or directory available to third parties; nor shall Europol be subject to any telemarketing or customer surveys conducted or subcontracted by the Contractor.

3. The Contractor gives permission for Europol to put in place appropriate security arrangements including in relation to access to rooms being used by Europol. The Contractor will comply with all reasonable security instructions given by Europol or Europol’s security advisors.

4. The Contractor guarantees to comply with current national and European regulations governing the handling of personal data.

5. Without prejudice to clause 8 below, the parties agree that personal data shall be processed solely for the purpose of the performance, management and follow-up of the contract.

6. The Contractor may, upon request, obtain communication of the Contractor’s personal data and rectify any inaccurate or incomplete personal data. Should the Contractor have any queries concerning the processing of the Contractor’s personal data, the Contractor shall address them to Europol’s Data Protection Officer as referred to the following contact point: [email protected]. With regard to the processing of the Contractor’s personal data, the Contractor has a right to recourse at any time to Europol’s Data Protection Officer.

Clause 7: Recovery

1. If total payments made exceed the amount actually due, the Contractor shall reimburse the appropriate amount in EURO on receipt of a debit note sent by Europol within 30 days.

2. In the event of failure to pay by the deadline specified in the request for reimbursement, the sum due shall bear interest at the rate indicated in paragraph 9 of “Pricing and payment” above. Interest shall be payable from the calendar day following the due date up to the calendar day on which the debt is repaid in full.


mailto:[email protected]

3

Clause 8: Checks and audits

1. The European Court of Auditors shall be empowered to audit the documents held by the natural or legal persons receiving payments from the budget of the European Union from signature of the contract up to five (5) years after payment of the balance of the last implementation.

2. Europol or an outside body of its choice shall have the same rights as the European Court of Auditors for the purpose of checks and audits limited to compliance with contractual obligations from signature of the Contract up to five (5) years after payment of the balance of the last implementation.

3. In addition, the European Anti-Fraud Office may carry out on-the-spot checks and inspections in accordance with Council regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 and Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 from signature of the contract up to five (5) years after payment of the balance of the last implementation.

Clause 9: Liability

1. Europol is not liable for the acts or omissions of guests on whose behalf Europol acts merely as a booking agent. It is the responsibility of the Contractor to bring to the guests attention any terms relevant to the separate liability conditions as between the Contractor and the guest.

2. The Contractor agrees to apply at least as a minimum the same liability provisions as are set out in the Uniforme Voorwaarden Horeca2 (UVH, standard industry terms, applicable version as attached to this Contract Requirements) in force as at the date of this tender to the booking. The Contractor is required to have in place a comprehensive liability insurance with a coverage of at least two (2) million Euro per incident.

Clause 10: Cancellation of booking(s)

1. Europol shall have the right to cancel individual guest bookings up to 24 hours in advance with no charge or financial penalty.

2. For cancellation of group bookings the minimum provisions in favour of Europol shall be as follows:

a. Right to cancel group reservations of 10 rooms and more free of charge up to 1 week prior to arrival.

b. Right to cancel up to 10% of group reservation free of charge up to three days prior to arrival.

c. The remainder of the terms shall be at least as favourable towards Europol as those contained in the attached UVH (specifically: clause 9.2.1).

2 The UVH are not applicable in their entirety but only when specifically referred to and incorporated by reference in this Contract Requirements document.


4

Clause 11: Termination

1. Either contracting party may, of its own volition and without being required to pay compensation, terminate the Contract by serving three (3) months formal prior notice. Should Europol terminate the Contract, the Contractor shall only be entitled to payment corresponding to the Services ordered by means of an Order Form prior to the termination date. Termination shall take effect on the date on which a registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt terminating the Contract is received by the Contractor, or on any other date indicated in the letter of termination.

2. In case of force majeure either party may terminate the Contract where performance thereof cannot be ensured for a period corresponding to at least 1/5 (one fifth) of the period laid down in the Contract.

3. Europol may terminate the Contract without notice if the Contractor is found to be in one of the situations listed in the Declaration of Honours attached as Annex A to the Tender Specifications (Annex I to the Contract).

Clause 12: Applicable Law and Jurisdiction

1. The Contract shall be governed by the Law of the Netherlands complemented, where necessary, by European Union Law.

2. Any dispute between the parties resulting from the interpretation and/ or application of the contract which cannot be settled amicably shall be brought before the Courts of The Hague, The Netherlands.

Clause 13: Severability

If any of these requirements is, for any reason, held to be illegal, in full or in part, or invalid, or if its legality or validity is otherwise affected, the validity of the remaining mandatory requirements shall not be affected. In such cases the parties agree to negotiate in good faith in order to replace the invalid requirement with a requirement that comes closest to the intent and purpose of the parties.


5

Clause 14: Final Clause

For the Contractor:

I understand and accept the terms and conditions contained in this document, include the annexes therein.

Optional Services:

I [accept] or I [do not accept] 3

to extend the Services of the Contract to (a) Europol’s Third Party(ies) in accordance with Clause 4(a)

…………………………………... NAME & POSITION (signature) and …………………...DATE

For Europol4:

Hotel List (star classification):____________

Hotel ranking: ____________

……………………………….…... NAME & POSITION (signature) and…………………...DATE

3 Delete as applicable. 4 To be signed off with selected Contractor(s) only.


negotiated procedure following publication of a contract

Documents