Comprehensive management of Transition and Resilience Platform (TRP) (2026CE160AT107)

European Commission (DG REGIO) invites tenders for the comprehensive management of the Transition and Resilience Platform (TRP), reference 2026CE160AT107, procedure EC-REGIO/2026/OP/0076. The contract is a single lot service contract, estimated maximum value €10 million, initial duration 24 months renewable once to a maximum of 36 months, and will provide Secretariat functions, technical assistance, events, communications and analytical support across EU regions. Award is by best price-quality ratio with quality weighted 70 percent and price 30 percent and minimum quality thresholds apply; tenderers must meet exclusion and selection criteria including a consolidated average turnover above €2 million and specified multi-country technical experience. Submission is electronic via the Funding and Tenders Portal with deadline 12 January 2027 at 16:00 Brussels time and full procurement documents are available on the portal.

What it funds

Scope

Procurement of a single service contract to set up and operate the Transition and Resilience Platform (TRP): secretariat functions, targeted technical assistance to Member States/regions, region-to-region and expert exchanges, stakeholder engagement, regular events, communication (new website, newsletters, social media) and ad-hoc analytical support to accelerate implementation of Just Transition Fund (JTF), ERDF PO2 and preparation for related investments under the next MFF (2028-2034).

Footnotes

1. 1Full procurement documents including tender specifications, draft contract and financial tender form are published on the F&T Portal at the link above.

Procurement identity and high-level facts

Key administrative facts

Tender reference EC-REGIO/2026/OP/0076. TED reference 212/2026 757807-2026. Lead contracting authority: European Commission, Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO). Procedure type: Open procedure. Submission method: Electronic eSubmission via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. Language of procurement documents: English (official and prevailing version).

What the contracting authority wants to buy

Summary of subject and scope

The contracting authority seeks a service contractor to provide comprehensive management and Secretariat services for a new Transition and Resilience Platform (TRP). The TRP provides dedicated technical assistance, strategic support, capacity building, knowledge exchange and communication to EU regions and stakeholders to support two programming periods simultaneously: implementation support for 2021–2027 programmes related to the Just Transition Fund (JTF) and ERDF Policy Objective 2 and preparatory and implementation support for investments to be financed under the next Multiannual Financial Framework 2028–2034 (notably investments related to clean and just transition, climate resilience, water/environment and sustainability). The TRP is intended to operate across EU Member States and may include candidate and accession countries where requested by the Contracting Authority.

The contract is for services falling under CPV 79400000 Business and management consultancy and related services and will result in a direct service contract/framework agreement. The contractor will run the TRP Secretariat, deliver technical assistance assignments, organise peer exchanges and events, manage stakeholder engagement, run communication and a TRP website, and provide ad-hoc analytical support.

Deadlines and procedure timeline

Who may apply and how

Eligible applicant types

Eligible applicants include legal persons and natural persons established or otherwise entitled to participate under the EU Treaties, international organisations and economic operators from countries covered by the Agreement on Government Procurement. The procurement allows either a sole tenderer (single legal person) or a joint tender (group of economic operators). Subcontracting is permitted subject to rules in the tender specifications. Typical eligible applicant types and roles expected: public authorities and agencies, consultancies and business services providers, large enterprises, SMEs, research institutes and universities, NGOs and civil society organisations, and public-private groupings. The tender documents set out specific selection and exclusion criteria and the evidence required.

Funding and financial characteristics

This opportunity is a public procurement tender. The contracting authority will pay the contractor for services under a signed service contract. It is not a grant, loan or equity instrument to applicants; rather the Commission purchases services.

Service and operational details (technical scope summary)

Deliverables include inception and progress reporting, calls for applications and selection outputs, activity reports, deliverables for each TA assignment and exchanges, event organisation outputs, final reports, a publishable executive summary in all EU languages and accessible publishable materials. Specific templates and requirements are provided in the procurement documents. All material must comply with Commission visual identity, accessibility and data protection requirements.

Selection, exclusion and evaluation rules

Exclusion criteria are set out in the Declaration on Honour (Annex 2) and follow Article 138 of the Financial Regulation. Tenderers may be excluded for bankruptcy, tax or social security defaults, grave professional misconduct, fraud, corruption, money laundering, terrorist financing, child labour or trafficking offences, irregularities, creation of entities to circumvent obligations, resisting audits, or other similar findings. Evidence will be requested from the presumed successful tenderer prior to award; the contracting authority may consult EDES.

Selection criteria include legal and regulatory capacity, economic and financial capacity and technical and professional capacity. Financial selection minimum: consolidated average yearly turnover of last two financial years above €2,000,000. Technical selection minimums include experience delivering at least three similar projects in the last five years with minimum value each of €400,000 and other requirements on transition, communications and multi-country delivery. Tenderers can rely on capacities of subcontractors or other entities under the specified rules.

Application process and required documents

Applications are submitted via eSubmission on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. Economic operators must register in the Participant Register and obtain a PIC. The tender must include administrative documents, the Declaration on Honour (Annex 2), legal and financial evidence (balance sheets, P&L), the technical offer complying with Part 2 technical specifications, and the financial tender completed with Annex 6. Joint tenders must include Agreement/Power of Attorney (Annex 3). Identified subcontractors (if any meeting thresholds) must provide commitment letters (Annex 5.1) and a list of identified subcontractors (Annex 4).

Administrative, legal and security notes

The procurement is governed by the Financial Regulation (Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509). The contracting authority reserves the right to cancel the procedure before contract signature and is not liable for tender preparation costs. The contract contains detailed procurement clauses including confidentiality, intellectual property rules (the Union acquires ownership of newly created results; pre-existing rights are licensed), data protection obligations (Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 and GDPR references) and security requirements for contractor personnel and IT handling (Appendix 2 Security Requirements).

Procurement evaluation and contract management specifics

Eligibility and applicant fit — targeted expertise and expected maturity

Targeted applicants are organisations with strong advisory, project development and capacity-building track records in regional development, decarbonisation, just transition, climate resilience, water management and related sectors. Tenderers must demonstrate multi-country operational capacity, language capabilities, experience delivering TA, events and communication campaigns, and the ability to manage a Secretariat and expert networks. The expected project maturity for assignments executed under the contract ranges from project identification and development to implementation support, validation and preparation for investment financing and scaling.

Administrative Q&A and support

Questions during the submission phase must be submitted in the Funding & Tenders Portal Questions & Answers section. The contracting authority is not bound to respond to questions submitted less than six working days before the tender deadline. The Portal is the place where new documents, clarifications, corrigenda and Q&A will be published; prospective tenderers should subscribe to the call page to receive notifications. See Annex I for full instructions on required documents and Annex 1 in Part 1 for the document checklist.

Eligible Applicant Types (detailed)

Funding Type

Consortium Requirement

The procurement allows submission by either a single tenderer or a consortium/joint tender. If a consortium applies, the tender must include an Agreement/Power of Attorney (Annex 3), appoint a group leader and specify roles and responsibilities. Joint tender members are jointly and severally liable for the contract.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility)

Target Sector

Mentioned Countries

Project Stage

Funding Amount

Application Type

Application submission is via an open call (open procedure). Submissions are electronic only through the eSubmission tool on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. No paper or e-mail tender delivery is permitted.

Nature of Support

Application Stages

Success Rates

Co-funding Requirement

Templates and application form structure

Tenderers are strongly encouraged to consult the Part 1 administrative tender specifications and the draft contract thoroughly before preparing the tender. All clarifications and corrective notices will be published on the Funding & Tenders Portal and tenderers must monitor the procurement page regularly. 1

Concluding summary

Footnotes

1. 1Procurement documents, clarifications, templates and the eSubmission portal are available on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal at the procurement page: Funding & Tenders Portal TRP Tender.

Opportunity summary

This is a European Commission public procurement tender, not a grant scheme. The contracting authority is the European Commission Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy. It seeks one contractor to provide technical assistance and strategic support for the management of the Transition and Resilience Platform, known as TRP. The opportunity is identified as 2026CE160AT107 and procedure EC-REGIO/2026/OP/0076. 1

The TRP is intended to support EU regions during two programming periods at the same time. The work covers implementation of the 2021 to 2027 programmes for the Just Transition Fund and the European Regional Development Fund Policy Objective 2, while also supporting preparation of investments related to clean and just transition, sustainability and climate resilience under the 2028 to 2034 Multiannual Financial Framework. 1

The procurement is particularly relevant to consultancy firms, public policy advisers, regional development specialists, economic transition experts, communication providers and consortiums able to combine these capabilities across several EU countries.

Key opportunity facts

The principal characteristics of the procurement are as follows. 1

What the contract is intended to deliver

The successful contractor will provide technical assistance for the management of the TRP. The technical specifications are the decisive source for the detailed task structure, deliverables, staffing expectations, service levels and operational requirements. Applicants should therefore treat the technical specifications, administrative specifications, draft contract, financial tender form and security requirements as one integrated procurement package. 2

The expected service environment is broad. Services may be performed at European Commission premises, at the contractor's premises, in territories supported by EU cohesion policy and, where requested by the Commission, in candidate and accession countries.

The work is strategically important because it must bridge the remaining implementation period for current cohesion policy programmes and the preparation of investments under the next MFF. The current JTF and ERDF Policy Objective 2 implementation is expected to continue until 2030 under the n plus 3 rule.

Who can apply

Any natural or legal person that has access to EU procurement may submit a tender. International organisations may also participate. Organisations established in third countries may participate where the relevant EU agreement or World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement provides access on the applicable conditions.

A tenderer cannot participate as a sole tenderer and simultaneously as a member of another tendering group in the same procedure. It also cannot participate in two or more groups. Cross subcontracting arrangements between competing tenderers are restricted and may result in rejection.

A joint tender group must appoint a group leader. All group members assume joint and several liability for performance of the contract and must sign the required agreement or power of attorney. The group leader acts as the principal contact and must have authority to bind the group.

Subcontracting is permitted. Identified subcontractors include subcontractors on whose capacity the tender relies and subcontractors whose anticipated individual share exceeds 15 percent. Identified subcontractors must be listed and must provide the required commitment letter.

Entities whose capacities are used for technical or professional criteria must actually perform the services for which those capacities are required. Abstract or unsupported commitments to make resources available will not be sufficient.

Mandatory registration and access conditions

Each participating organisation or natural person must be registered in the European Commission Participant Register and must have a Participant Identification Code. Existing participants should reuse their existing PIC. The organisation's legal information and SME status should be checked and kept current.

An EU Login account is required to access the electronic submission process, submit questions and use the relevant procurement functions of the Funding and Tenders Portal. Tenders sent by email, post or any route other than the designated electronic submission system will be disregarded. 3

Participation is subject to EU restrictive measures. The tenderer, group members, subcontractors and entities whose capacities are relied upon must not be subject to applicable EU asset freezes or prohibitions on making funds or economic resources available.

The tender must be prepared independently and autonomously from other tenders. The contracting authority may reject tenders affected by conflicts of interest, collusion, false declarations or other conduct that compromises competition or contract performance.

Exclusion requirements

Each relevant involved entity must submit the prescribed Declaration on Honour concerning exclusion and selection criteria, unless an up to date declaration already submitted in another European Commission procedure can be reused under the stated conditions.

The exclusion declaration covers, among other matters, insolvency, unpaid taxes or social security contributions, grave professional misconduct, fraud, corruption, criminal organisation, money laundering, terrorist financing, trafficking in human beings, significant deficiencies in previous EU contracts, irregularities, circumvention of legal obligations, obstruction of audits and conflicts arising from previous involvement in preparing the procurement.

The declaration also covers persons with powers of representation, decision making or control, beneficial owners and, where relevant, persons with unlimited liability for the tenderer. It includes declarations concerning restrictive measures, established debts to the Union and the independent preparation of the tender.

The Commission will initially assess exclusion on the basis of declarations and available information. The presumed successful tenderer may be required to provide recent judicial, tax, social security, corporate or equivalent evidence within a short deadline. Failure to provide valid evidence may lead to rejection.

Selection criteria

The tenderer must demonstrate legal and regulatory capacity, economic and financial capacity, and technical and professional capacity. The required declarations are not a substitute for the evidence that must be submitted with the tender where the specifications expressly require evidence at submission stage.

Legal and regulatory capacity

The tenderer must be legally authorised to perform the contract and pursue the relevant professional activity in its country of establishment. Evidence may include enrolment in a trade or professional register, authorisation to perform the contract and membership of a professional organisation where applicable. This requirement applies individually to each member of a joint tender.

Economic and financial capacity

The tenderer as a whole must have an average annual turnover above €2 million for the last two financial years. The assessment is consolidated, allowing the capacities of involved entities to be combined where the procurement rules permit.

The tender must include copies of profit and loss accounts and balance sheets for the last two closed financial years for each relevant entity, or appropriate bank statements where the specified accounts are unavailable. The most recent financial year must have closed within the previous 18 months.

Technical and professional capacity

The tenderer must meet all of the following minimum experience requirements. The criteria are assessed on a consolidated basis unless the specifications indicate otherwise. 2

Award methodology

The contract will be awarded using the best price quality ratio. Quality accounts for 70 points and price accounts for 30 points. A tender must meet the minimum quality thresholds as well as all administrative, eligibility, exclusion, selection and technical requirements.

The methodology should explain how the tenderer will address the full scope of work and each task in the technical specifications. It should be realistic, structured, relevant to the Commission's needs and capable of supporting both current programme implementation and future investment preparation.

The organisation section should identify roles and responsibilities, staffing, time allocation, resources, management arrangements and the rationale for the proposed allocation. The qualifications and expertise of the proposed team will be assessed.

The quality control section should provide a task specific system covering deliverable quality, language review, continuity during staff absence, risk management, monitoring and evaluation, complaints and corrective action. A generic quality assurance description is likely to score poorly.

The financial offer

The estimated maximum total value is €10 million. This is the maximum procurement value indicated for the procedure and is not a grant amount or guaranteed revenue. Payment and purchasing arrangements are governed by the direct contract and the technical and financial documents.

The financial tender must use the prescribed financial model in Annex 6 and include the required price breakdown. The total amount entered in the electronic submission system must correspond to the amount in the uploaded financial tender. If the amounts differ, the amount in the financial tender will be taken into account.

Prices must be stated in euros, including by tenderers outside the euro area. Exchange rate movements are the tenderer's responsibility. Prices must be free of duties, taxes and other charges, including VAT, in accordance with the applicable privileges and immunities of the European Union institutions.

A tender exceeding the maximum budget may be rejected as unacceptable. The Commission may also examine abnormally low tenders under the applicable Financial Regulation rules.

Contract duration and structure

The contract is a direct contract rather than a framework agreement. The contract terms are intended to be defined at the outset and implemented directly after signature.

The maximum duration is 36 months. The procurement data indicates an initial period of 24 months with one possible renewal, subject to the draft contract and the Commission's decision. The tenderer should price and resource the full potential duration and should not assume that renewal is automatic.

Within three years following signature, the Commission may use a negotiated procedure to procure new similar services from the contractor up to a maximum of 50 percent of the initial contract value, where the applicable conditions are met. This is a possibility rather than a guaranteed extension or guaranteed additional revenue.

Operational and contractual conditions

The contractor must comply with the Commission's security requirements. Any costs associated with security measures, background checks or security clearances are borne by the contractor unless the contract states otherwise.

The contractor must support fraud prevention and detection and must pass relevant obligations to subcontractors and personnel. The Commission may require evidence that these obligations have been incorporated into subcontracting and personnel arrangements.

Environmental considerations must be taken into account throughout service delivery, including relevant Commission environmental management and audit scheme practices. The contractor must also comply with EU and national data protection, social, labour and environmental obligations.

The contractor must promote equality and diversity and maintain an open and inclusive working environment. The requirements cover non discrimination, equal opportunities and respect for human dignity in implementation of the contract.

The successful tenderer remains fully liable to the contracting authority for the performance of the contract, including work performed by subcontractors. The Commission may require financial or contractual safeguards where an entity's capacity is used to meet economic and financial criteria.

Submission package

The tender should normally include the technical tender, completed financial tender, declarations on honour, evidence of legal and regulatory capacity, financial capacity evidence, technical and professional project references, details of proposed group members and subcontractors, commitment letters where applicable, authorisation to sign and any other documents specified in the annex listing submission documents.

The technical tender must demonstrate compliance with every mandatory requirement in the technical specifications. Reservations, assumptions or qualifications against minimum requirements may lead to rejection before the tender is fully evaluated.

Documents requiring signatures should preferably use a qualified electronic signature compliant with the eIDAS rules. Handwritten signatures may be accepted in the circumstances described in the procurement documents, but tenderers must retain originals and provide evidence of signing authority where required.

Timeline and communication

The deadline for receipt of tenders is 12 January 2027 at 16:00 Brussels time. The electronic system timestamp is the evidence of timely submission. A tender received after the deadline cannot be submitted through the system and will be rejected.

The planned public opening is scheduled for 12 January 2027 at 16:30 Brussels time. Up to two representatives per tender may attend the virtual opening if they request access in accordance with the invitation letter.

Questions must be submitted through the Questions and Answers function of the Funding and Tenders Portal. The contracting authority is not required to answer requests received less than six working days before the tender deadline. Applicants should therefore submit clarification questions substantially earlier than the stated question cut off.

The metadata contains an additional 1 January 2027 timestamp, but the official call details and invitation identify 12 January 2027 at 16:00 Brussels time as the tender submission deadline. Tenderers should monitor the portal for any correction or modification and rely on the current portal record and official procurement documents at the time of submission.

Practical applicant assessment

This opportunity is best suited to an organisation or consortium with a substantial record in EU cohesion policy, regional economic transformation and public sector technical assistance. The €2 million average turnover requirement and the combined experience thresholds make a purely individual specialist consultancy less likely to qualify unless it forms an appropriate joint tender or uses eligible supporting entities.

A competitive tender will need more than general management consultancy experience. It should demonstrate credible delivery in industrial transition, regional and local authority capacity building across at least five EU countries, communication and digital content, high quality English reporting and management of complex international stakeholders.

The strongest bids are likely to connect the methodology directly to the dual time horizon of the TRP, show how the team will operate across multiple territories, allocate named experts and resources to each task, and present a practical quality and continuity system.

Key risks include failure to satisfy one of the mandatory experience thresholds, incomplete financial or legal evidence, inconsistent information between the electronic form and financial model, insufficiently specific quality control arrangements, conflicts of interest, restrictive measure exposure, late submission and reliance on subcontractors without valid commitment letters.

Recommended bid preparation checklist

Applicants should complete the following actions before submission.

Overall assessment

The TRP tender is a high value, single lot strategic services procurement focused on EU regional transition, resilience and cohesion policy implementation. It offers a potential contract of up to €10 million over a maximum of 36 months, but there is no grant financing, no automatic allocation for successful applicants and no guaranteed use of the full value.

The opportunity is technically demanding and evidence led. Eligibility depends on access to EU procurement, absence of exclusion grounds, legal and financial capacity, and demonstrable multi-country experience across regional technical assistance, industrial transition, communication, English reporting and public authority capacity building. The 70 percent quality weighting means that a compliant but generic tender is unlikely to be competitive.

The authoritative source is the European Commission Funding and Tenders Portal opportunity record and its attached procurement documents. 1

Footnotes

1. 1Official opportunity record: Funding and Tenders Portal tender record
2. 2Official procurement documents: Procurement documents
3. 3Submission is through the Funding and Tenders Portal eSubmission system and requires EU Login and Participant Register registration. The applicable technical and procedural instructions are provided in the invitation to tender and the portal guidance. European Commission calls for tender