Consolidated report based on case studies on reduction of working time - 240105/7834

The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) intends to launch a planned negotiated low or middle value procurement (reference EUROFOUND/2026/LVP/0017-EXA) for social research services. The contract scope is to produce an analytical overview of up to 50 company-level case studies on working time reduction in France, Germany, Poland, Spain and Sweden, delivering a comprehensive analytical report and a concise 15-page chapter. The estimated total contract value is €50,000 with a maximum duration of 6 months, and the expression of interest stage opens on 21 October 2026 and closes on 4 November 2026 at 23:59 Europe/Dublin time. Submissions and expressions of interest must be made electronically via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal (EU Login required) and the publication is an intention to procure rather than a call for tenders.

Tender EUROFOUND/2026/LVP/0017-EXA

Quick summary

Contract to produce an analytical overview of up to 50 company-level case studies on working time reduction across five EU Member States (France, Germany, Poland, Spain, Sweden). The contractor will synthesise implementation approaches and impacts on productivity, work organisation, working conditions and employee well-being, and compare findings with academic and grey literature.

Footnotes

1. 1This notice is a planned publication announcing the contracting authority's intention to launch a negotiated low or middle value procedure; final tender documents and exact award conditions will be published on the portal.

Opportunity summary

Core objective

The contracting authority (European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Eurofound) plans to procure a service contract to produce an analytical overview of up to 50 company-level case studies on working time reduction carried out in five EU Member States. The contractor will synthesise findings on implementation approaches, impacts on productivity, work organisation, working conditions and employee well-being, and compare these empirical case-study findings with relevant academic and grey literature. Main deliverables will be a comprehensive analytical report and a concise 15-page chapter to contribute to Eurofound's broader research project on working time reduction.

Scope, outputs and technical requirements

Who can apply and applicant expectations

The notice is a procurement publication by Eurofound aimed at contracting service providers able to deliver high-quality social research and reporting. The announcement does not list an exhaustive eligibility checklist, but the procurement context implies eligible applicants are economic operators established and able to contract with EU institutions and authorities. EU Login is required for electronic submission and for registering interest and participating in the portal process 1.

Financial and procedural details

This is a paid service contract (procurement). The estimated maximum budget available for the contract is €50,000. The procedure is a planned negotiated procedure for middle/low value contract. The publication is an intention notice (reference contains ExA) announcing the future launch. Submissions of expressions of interest must be electronic and require an EU Login account. The contracting authority listed is the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound).

Selection, evaluation and likely application stages

The publication indicates a negotiated procedure. Typical stages in this procurement context are: 1) Expression of interest / registration on the portal; 2) Invitation to participate or to submit an initial tender from Eurofound following evaluation of expressions of interest; 3) Submission of a full tender/proposal (technical offer, CVs, methodology, workplan, and price/budget); 4) Contract award and possible clarification/negotiation phase. The metadata explicitly shows the expression of interest stage leading to the negotiated procedure launch.

Deliverables and expected technical content

Expected deliverables from the successful contractor (based on the published description):

Eligibility, co-funding and contract-specific conditions

The tender notice does not specify a formal co-funding requirement; procurement contracts of this type typically cover the full contract price and do not require co-funding from the contractor. The notice indicates the contract is not flagged as SME-only (smeSuitableIndicator: false). Specific procurement conditions, selection criteria, administrative and financial compliance requirements, and allowed subcontracting rules will be set out in the formal tender documentation published when the negotiated procedure opens.

Evaluation, success rates and competition

The notice does not publish a success rate or a maximum number of awards. As a negotiated procedure for a low/middle value contract, competition will be limited to entities that express interest and are invited to participate in the negotiation/tender stage. The exact number of tenderers to be invited and evaluation criteria will be specified in the forthcoming negotiated procedure documentation.

Suggested application materials and template structure (based on standard procurement expectations)

The formal tender documentation will provide the required templates and forms. Based on the nature of the assignment, applicants should prepare the following materials for submission when invited:

Key contacts, publication and reference links

Mentioned countries

Project maturity and target sector

Concise structured answers to categorisation questions

Footnotes

1. 1EU Login is required to subscribe to calls for tenders, submit questions and tenders electronically on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. More information and account creation guidance are available on the Portal.

Consolidated report based on case studies on reduction of working time

This is a planned EU procurement for social research services, not a grant call. The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, commonly known as Eurofound, intends to launch a future negotiated low or middle value procedure under reference EUROFOUND/2026/LVP/0017-EXA. The portal record states that the publication announces an intention to procure and is not yet a call for tenders.1

The opportunity is relevant to research organisations, universities, public policy institutes, consultancy firms and specialist independent research teams with demonstrable expertise in comparative labour market research, working time, productivity, work organisation, employment conditions and employee well-being.

Opportunity facts

Purpose and policy context

The contract will create an analytical overview of up to 50 company-level case studies concerning reductions in working time in France, Germany, Poland, Spain and Sweden.1

The assignment is intended to support Eurofound’s wider research project on working time reduction. It will examine how working-time reductions have been implemented in companies and the effects associated with different implementation models.

The work is expected to produce evidence that is useful for understanding the relationship between reduced working time and organisational performance, employment quality and employee outcomes. The scope is comparative and cross-national, requiring the contractor to identify similarities and differences across the five specified Member States.

Expected analytical themes

The successful contractor will be expected to synthesise evidence on the following areas:

Expected outputs

The principal deliverables identified in the opportunity description are a comprehensive analytical report and a concise 15-page chapter contributing to Eurofound’s wider research project.1

Who can apply or express interest

Because this is a procurement procedure, the relevant participants are economic operators capable of delivering the requested services rather than grant beneficiaries. The published record does not provide a final eligibility section, selection criteria, exclusion criteria, minimum turnover requirements or minimum technical capacity requirements. Those conditions should be confirmed in the negotiated procedure documents when they are published.

Potentially suitable applicants include:

The record does not state that applicants must be established in a particular Member State. It also does not confirm whether subcontracting, joint tenders or consortia will be permitted. These matters should not be assumed and should be checked in the invitation, tender specifications and draft contract issued at the next stage.

Geographical and language considerations

The substantive research covers France, Germany, Poland, Spain and Sweden. A credible delivery model should therefore include the ability to identify, assess and interpret evidence from all five countries, including national-language sources where relevant.

The published record does not specify the working language, language requirements for deliverables, translation arrangements or whether national experts are mandatory. Applicants should be prepared to explain their language coverage, country expertise and method for ensuring comparability across national contexts.

Funding and financial conditions

The estimated total value is €50,000 for the whole service contract and the maximum contract duration is 6 months.1 This amount should be treated as the estimated procurement value, not as a grant award or a guaranteed payment to every applicant.

No EU co-financing rate, reimbursement percentage, lump-sum grant, eligible-cost category or applicant contribution is specified. Funding-rate concepts applicable to grants therefore do not appear to apply. The successful contractor would instead be paid under the procurement contract and payment conditions that will be set out in the future tender documents.

The published information does not clarify whether €50,000 is inclusive or exclusive of applicable taxes, nor does it provide a detailed price structure, payment schedule, budget ceiling by deliverable or rules concerning travel and other reimbursable costs. Applicants should verify these points in the invitation to tender and draft contract.

Procedure and timetable

Applicants must distinguish between the expression-of-interest stage and the later negotiated procedure. The expression of interest is not necessarily the final tender submission. The contracting authority may use the responses to identify economic operators to invite to the subsequent procedure, subject to the final procurement documents and applicable procurement rules.

Submission requirements

Expressions of interest must be submitted electronically through the address provided in the EU Funding and Tenders Portal. An EU Login account is required for electronic submission, subscription to the procedure and submission of questions or requests to participate.1

Applicants should create or verify their EU Login account well before the deadline, ensure that the organisation or individual is correctly represented in the portal and confirm that the electronic submission has been successfully completed before the closing time.

The available notice does not specify the documents to be uploaded, page limits, file formats, signature requirements, administrative declarations or technical response template. These requirements should be taken from the future invitation and associated procurement documents rather than inferred from the planned notice.

Likely capability areas to demonstrate

Recommended preparation strategy

Key risks and limitations

Overall assessment

This is a focused, relatively small-value research procurement suited to a specialist team rather than a large-scale programme grant. Its strongest strategic fit is for organisations that can combine comparative labour research, company-level case-study analysis, multilingual evidence gathering and policy-oriented synthesis.

The opportunity is potentially attractive where an applicant already has relevant datasets, literature access, national research partners or established expertise in reduced working time. The limited budget and six-month duration mean that an efficient methodology, tightly defined scope and credible access to evidence will be central to competitiveness.

The immediate action is to register for or verify EU Login access, submit an expression of interest electronically by 4 November 2026 at 23:59 Europe/Dublin time if the organisation wishes to be considered, and then review the formal procurement documents when the negotiated procedure is launched. The final documents will control eligibility, selection, award, pricing, deliverables, intellectual property, confidentiality and payment conditions.1

Source note

The factual opportunity details in this report are drawn from the official EU Funding and Tenders Portal record identified in the supplied opportunity information.1