B-Brussels: international adoption in the EU (frequency, means of recourse, means of access and difficulties to obtain such adoptions)

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165924-2008 published in OJ S 125, 01.07.2008

deadline for submission of tenders

Contract award (Original) of Service contract in Belgium

The contractor belongs to European Institution/Agency or International Organisation (European Institution/Agency or International Organisation)

Section I: Contracting authority

I.1) Name, addresses and contact point(s):

European Parliament

Directorate-General for Internal Policies, Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs

Mail Service ASP/00F256, Rue Wiertz 60

Bruxelles/Brussel

1047

B

Tel. (32-2) 283 21 05

faxFax (32-2) 283 23 65

E-mail: joanna.apap@europarl.europa.eu

Internet address(es):

General address of the contracting authority: www.europarl.eu.int.

I.2) Type of the contracting authority and main activity or activities:

European institution/agency or international organisation.

Section II: Object of the contract

II.1) Description

II.1.1) Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority:

International adoption in the EU (frequency, means of recourse, means of access and difficulties to obtain such adoptions).

II.1.2) Type of contract and location of works, place of delivery or of performance:

Services.

Service category No 21.

In case of contract for service categories 17 to 27, do you agree to the publication of this notice? yes

Main place of performance:

B-Bruxelles/Brussel.

NUTS code BE1.

II.1.3) The notice involves:

Contracts based on a dynamic purchasing system (DPS).

II.1.4) Short description of the contract or purchase(s):

The Convention on the Rights of the Child, clearly states that every child has the right to know and be cared for by his or her own parents, whenever possible. Recognising this, and the value and importance of families in children's lives, alternative means of caring for a child may have to be considered when a child's family is unavailable, unable or unwilling to care for him or her. Inter-country adoption is 1 of a range of care options which may be open to children, and for individual children who cannot be placed in a permanent family setting in their countries of origin, it may indeed be the best solution. In each case, the best interests of the individual child must be the guiding principle in making a decision regarding adoption. There are however certain concerns and risks which need to be addressed. Under the Treaties, the EU does not have competence to develop a specific policy regarding children. However, under Article 6.2 of the Treaty of the European Union (TEU), the EU must respect fundamental rights in whatever action it takes in accordance with its competences, including therefore rights enshrined in the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). The Charter of Fundamental Rights, independent of its legal status (though soon to become a legally binding text upon the entry into force of the Reform Treaty) has in Article 24 an authentic expression on the rights of the child. Children's rights are also upheld by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). All EU Member States (as well as most of the other UN member countries) have ratified this Convention, either partly or completely.

The aim of this study:

All Member States have a legislation that governs the question of national and international adoptions, but some of them have developed different legislative acts when it comes to inter-country adoption.

The aim of this study is to draw a comparative overview of the Member States' policies regarding inter-country adoption.

The study should identify:

— A typology of different systems in adoption and administrative practices across the EU.

— Who are the 'adoptable' children across the 27 EU Member States? A definition of children who are possible candidates of international adoption.

— What has been the general trend over the last 15–20 years regarding international adoptions within the EU as well as from outside the EU?

— What was the evolution of the number of adoptions over the years?

Can one see an increase or a decrease in the number of inter-country adoptions since the accession of the new Member States? Which are the main source countries of children to be adopted in international adoptions?

— What problems arise when comparing statistics originating from different countries in the area of international adoption?

— What are the main issues and concerns at stake in international adoptions?

— What international and European instruments regarding children's rights and adoption have the Member States adopted and how have they adjusted their legislation to the respect of these instruments?

— What are the main relevant child welfare policies across the EU?

— Which conditions are required to be fulfilled in view of an international adoption across the current EU?

is there a separate legislative act for international adoptions?

To what extent is it different from the legislation regarding national adoptions?

is there a specialist administrative body that manages international adoptions?

what are the difficulties that foreign citizens face when wishing to adopt a child?

Are such difficulties mainly of an administrative nature and due to long waiting periods or are there also difficulties related to the fact that the potential foster parents are non-national of the state concerned?

— What restrictions are applied by certain countries by way of international adoption?

— What correlation emerges between different Member States' policies and practices in adoption and the respective provisions of welfare for children as well as childcare facilities?

— What are the costs involved in international adoption across the EU?

— What differences exist in length of procedure for adoption across the EU Member States?

— What medical advice is provided to the foster parents before an adoption takes place?

— What kind of legal redress exists should a dispute arise in the procedure of an international adoption?

— What follow-up takes place after an international adoption to ensure the well-being of the child taken into the care of foster parents?

— To what extent are the Member States' adoption systems transparent and oversight by NGOs is provided in such procedures?

— What recommendations for principles to guide decisions regarding long-term substitute care for children?

The study must be drawn up in an official language of the European Union and a translation be provided into either English or French. If the above-mentioned official language is English or French, the translation will then be provided into the other of these 2 languages i.e. the 1 which has not been selected. In principle, and without the written consent of the European Parliament, the study shall not consist of more than 300 pages of text (excluding tables and graphics). In addition the study shall include a summary of no more than 20 pages. The summary must be drawn up in the same languages as the study.

1 month after the letter of award of the contract has been forwarded by the European Parliament — a detailed outline of the study shall be submitted to the European Parliament.

2 months after the letter of award of the contract has been forwarded by the European Parliament — a refined methodology shall be submitted to the European Parliament. This must include a detailed provisional table of contents, proposed schedule of meetings and other arrangements between participants involved in the study, provisional timetable for delivery of partly-completed work, samples of parts of the study which could possibly be produced.

6 months after the letter of award of contract has been forwarded by the European Parliament, represented by the Director of the Citizen's Rights and Constitutional Affairs Directorate, a paper copy of the interim study, in duplicate, which shall be as complete as possible and be drawn up in the same language as the study itself, must be handed over; this interim study may be presented either in Brussels or in Strasbourg.

7 months after the letter of award of contract has been forwarded by the European Parliament, a paper copy of the draft final study in duplicate, which shall be as complete as possible and be drawn up in the same language as the study itself, must be handed over. The draft final study needs to take into account the comments of the European Parliament's departments which will be included in the acceptance letter of the interim study.

9 months and no later than 2 months after the European Parliament has forwarded the letter of acceptance of the draft final study which may include comments to be reflected in the final version of the study, the said final version of the study together with its translation in English or French, must be handed over to the European Parliament's Directorate-General Internal Policies. Meeting this deadline is a vital element of the contract. In drawing up the final version, the contractor shall take account of the comments of the European Parliament's departments on the interim study. The project leader may be required to make 2 visits to Brussels during the preparation of the interim study (that is in the first 6 months of the contract) to discuss the work underway with the appropriate representative of the European Parliament. The final version may be presented either in Brussels or in Strasbourg. The papers will be submitted on a CD-ROM compatible with MS Word; in addition, 3 paper copies of the study in DIN A4 format, printed directly from the aforementioned MS Word files, shall be provided. The study submitted shall be written in strict conformity of the Interinstitutional style guide of the Publications Office of the European Communities and be ready for publication by the European Parliament. The Interinstitutional style guide of the Publications Office of the European Communities is available on-line at the following address:

http://publications.eu.int/code/en/en-000500.htm.

Site or location of works, place of delivery or performance:

The study should be sent to:

European Parliament, Mail Service/ASP 00F256, Directorate-General for Internal Policies, Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs, attn: Mr Laprat, Director (office RMD 06 J 032), Rue Wiertz 60, B-1047 Bruxelles/Brussel. (Invitation to tender IP/C/LIBE/IC/2008-003). The tenderer may be requested to present the interim and/or final version of the study in Brussels or in Strasbourg.

II.1.5) Common procurement vocabulary (CPV):

74100000.

II.1.6) Contract covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA):

Yes.

II.2) Total final value of contract(s)

II.2.1) Total final value of contract(s):

Value: EUR 86 900.

Section IV: Procedure

IV.1) Type of procedure

IV.1.1) Type of procedure:

Open.

IV.2) Award criteria

IV.2.1) Award criteria:

The most economically advantageous tender in terms of

1. methodology; weighting: 45;

2. technical capacity; weighting: 35;

3. price; weighting: 20.

IV.2.2) An electronic auction was used:

No.

IV.3) Administrative information

IV.3.1) File reference number attributed by the Contracting Authority:

IP/C/LIBE/IC/2008-003.

IV.3.2) Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract:

Contract notice

Notice number in OJ: 2008/S 20-24926 of 30.1.2008.

Section V: Award of contract

Contract no: IP/C/LIBE/IC/2008-003

Title: International Adoptions

V.1) Date of contract award:

15.4.2008.

V.2) Number of offers received:

5.

V.3) NAME AND ADDRESS OF ECONOMIC OPERATOR TO WHOM THE CONTRACT HAS BEEN AWARDED:

Istitute degli Innocenti, Piazza SS Annunziata, 12, I-50122 Firenza. Tel. (39) 05 52 03 71. Fax (39) 05 52 41 663. E-mail: compagno@istitutodeglinnocenti.it.

V.4) Information on value of contract

Total final value of the contract:

Value: EUR 86 900.

If annual or monthly value: number of months: 9.

V.5) The contract is likely to be sub-contracted:

No.

Section VI: Complementary information

VI.1) Contract related to a project and/or programme financed by community funds:

No.

VI.3) Procedures for appeal:

VI.3.1) Body responsible for appeal procedures:

Court of the First Instance of the European Communities, boulevard Konrad Adenauer, L-2925 Luxembourg. E-mail: ECJ.registry@curia.eu.int. Tel. (352) 43 03-1. Fax (352) 43 37 66. URL: http://www.curia.eu.int.

Body responsible for mediation procedures:

European Ombudsman, 1, avenue du Président Robert Schuman, F-67001 Strasbourg Cedex. Tel. (33) 388 17 23 13. Fax (33) 388 17 90 62. E-mail: euro-ombudsman@europarl.eu.int. URL: http://www.euro-ombudsman.eu.int.

VI.3.2) Lodging of appeals:

Precise information on deadline(s) for lodging appeals: appeals must be lodged within 2 months. This period begins on the day the plaintiff is notified or, failing this, at least no later than the day on which the interested party becomes aware of the facts on which the complaint is based. Submitting a complaint to the European Ombudsman will neither suspend this deadline, nor cause a new deadline for lodging appeals to be set.

VI.3.3) Service from which information about the lodging of appeals may be obtained:

please fill heading VI.4.2 OR if need be, heading VI.4.3.

VI.4) Date of dispatch of this notice:

19.6.2008.