EEA/DTL/R0/26/003 - Provision of consultancy services for delivering derived geospatial products (“instances”) from the CLCplus Core database

Tender EEA/DTL/R0/26/003 (EEA/2026/OP/0016) issued by the European Environment Agency seeks a single-winner framework service contract to produce derived geospatial instances from the CLCplus Core database for policy support, principally LULUCF, with potential extension to Nature Restoration Regulation and Soil Monitoring Law. The framework ceiling is €2,600,000 for a maximum duration of 48 months, with an indicative budget split for production, user engagement and ad-hoc consultancy and a minimum of six specific contracts foreseen. Electronic tenders must be submitted via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal eSubmission by 01 June 2026 16:00 CEST. Evaluation follows the best price-quality ratio combining technical merit (70 points, minimum 42) and price (30 points).

Who can apply

Eligible bidders

Open tender for economic operators established in EU member states and Norway, Iceland and the UK. Joint bids and subcontracting are allowed; the lead contractor must meet managerial capacity requirements.

What the contract funds:A single framework service contract to produce tailored geospatial 'instances' from the CLCplus Core database (primarily yearly LULUCF instances and possible additional policy instances such as Nature Restoration and Soil Monitoring). Services include rule development, production (Alpha/Beta/Final), QA/QC, documentation, aggregated statistics and user engagement activities ¹.

1. 1Delivery and iterative improvement of annual LULUCF instance products
2. 2Production of additional policy-specific instances on request (NRR, SML, etc.)
3. 3Documentation, QA/QC and comparison with country reporting (CRT)
4. 4Communication, user uptake and training support, webinars and materials
5. 5Ad-hoc consultancy and analysis tasks

Key technical context:CLCplus Core is a grid-based multi-use repository (currently €100 Mgrid, potential transition to €10 Munder discussion). Instance production relies on ingesting and combining existing CLMS and ancillary datasets; it does not involve satellite image classification. Deliverables must include metadata (INSPIRE), QC reports and documentation.

How much and how long:Estimated total framework ceiling €2,600,000 (indicative split: ~€2.2M production, €0.2M user uptake, €0.2M ad-hoc); maximum duration 48 months. Specific contracts (minimum 6 foreseen) will define exact tasks and payments.

1. 1Daily-rate procurement: bidders must provide all-inclusive daily rates by profile (senior/junior thematic experts and senior/junior user-uptake consultants) per the price template
2. 2Invoices, reporting and deliverables follow templates and quarterly reporting; final rights/usage follow the draft contract IP clauses

Evaluation:award on most economically advantageous tender using technical merit (70 points, minimum 42) and price (30 points). Minimum turnover and staff CV requirements apply; full procurement documents and templates are on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal F&T Portal. ¹

Footnotes

1. 1Full call documents, annexes (price template, tender specifications, draft contract, technical manuals and user uptake/communication annexes) and eSubmission instructions are available on the Funding & Tenders Portal page for this tender.

Opportunity summary

The European Environment Agency (EEA) published an open call for tenders to establish a single-framework service contract (maximum duration 48 months) with an economic operator to produce tailor‑made derived geospatial products called instances from the CLCplus Core database. The contract ceiling is €2,600,000. The first and principal recurring service is production of annual LULUCF (Land Use, Land‑Use Change and Forestry) instance products (Alpha version by mid‑January and Beta final updates some months later), iterative refinement of extraction rules, QA/QC, aggregated statistics comparing instance‑derived area estimates with country reporting (CRT/NIR), support for possible additional policy instances (Nature Restoration Regulation, Soil Monitoring Law), and user engagement / communication activities. This is a services procurement (CPV 72000000). Submission is electronic via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal eSubmission; EU Login account required. Key procurement dates: TED publication 28/04/2026; deadline for tenders 01/06/2026 16:00 Copenhagen time; public opening 02/06/2026 10:00 Europe/Copenhagen.

What to deliver (core services and outputs)

The framework will be used to place specific contracts. Each specific contract will normally focus on one instance product and associated activities. The main streams of work are:

1. 1Annual LULUCF instance production (Alpha and Beta deliverables) built on existing extraction rules and CLCplus Core inputs; maintenance and iterative refinement of extraction rules and documentation.
2. 2Production of additional policy instances on request (examples: Nature Restoration Regulation instance; Soil Monitoring Law instance). These will require specific extraction rules and possibly additional input datasets.
3. 3Provision of aggregated statistics and preliminary discrepancy analysis: compile activity-area statistics from the Beta instances for EU27 and compare with country Common Reporting Tables (CRT) / NIRs; provide summaries and support MRV activities and country fact sheets where requested.
4. 4User engagement and user uptake activities: design and implement communication, webinars, training, use cases, Jupyter notebooks, tutorials, social media content and other outreach per the EEA CLMS Communication & User Uptake Strategy 2023–2028 (Annex 7) and operationalised in Annex 6.
5. 5Ad‑hoc consultancy services: targeted analyses or product developments not covered by routine production (subject to specific contract).

All data deliverables must include INSPIRE‑compliant metadata (the EEA provides a CLMS template and metadata editor) and pass the CLMS QC tool. Documentation deliverables must use Quarto Markdown templates in the EEA CLMS documents repository. The contractor must nominate a project manager (not subcontractable) and provide quarterly and final reports.

Deliverables (illustrative):Instances work plan; Alpha instance raster datasets (€100 Mgrid, per product); Beta instance datasets; final instance rasters covering EEA38+UK when inputs allow; extraction rule documentation and logs; Product User Manual updates; QA/QC reports; aggregated statistics tables and discrepancy analyses; user uptake materials (webinars, Jupyter notebooks, tutorials, social content); quarterly and final reports.

Procurement model, budget, timing and logistics

Framework agreement (single contractor) without re‑opening of competition for specific contracts. Estimated total value (ceiling): €2,600,000. Indicative split: production services €2,200,000; user engagement/uptake €200,000; ad‑hoc consultancy €200,000. Maximum FWC duration 48 months. Minimum of 6 specific contracts foreseen across the duration. The award method is best price‑quality ratio. The EEA may procure additional repetitive services (up to 50% of initial ceiling) via negotiated procedure within three years if contractor maintains its original offer unchanged. Routine work is largely remote/extra‑muros, with occasional intra‑muros activity at EEA Copenhagen and up to two EU trips per expert per year anticipated.

Documents published with the call (selected)

Invitation to tender; Tender specifications (Annex I); Annexes:Price quotation template (Annex 1), Reimbursement rules (Annex 2), Draft contract (Annex 3), Overview of experience template (Annex 4), CLMS IT architecture principles (Annex 5), User uptake & involvement activities (Annex 6), Communication strategy (Annex 7), eSubmission checklist (Annex 8). Full files and templates available from the F&T Portal procedure page and in the annex file set.

Eligibility, application and selection

Application is open to natural and legal persons established in the EU Member States and Norway, Iceland and the UK (EU/EEA/UK). Tenderers must register in the Participant Register (PIC) and submit electronically via the eSubmission system (EU Login required). Subcontracting is permitted; however managerial staff CVs must come from the tenderer or members of a joint tender (not subcontractors).

How to submit:Use the EU Funding & Tenders Portal eSubmission application. Only electronic tenders via eSubmission are accepted. Follow the eSubmission Quick Guide and the tender checklist (Annex 8). Deadlines and timestamps are Copenhagen local time; ensure two‑factor EU Login readiness. Alpha/beta delivery schedules will be set in specific contracts.

Eligibility, funding and contractual terms - structured answers

Eligible Applicant Types:Startups, SMEs and large enterprises (private companies), universities, research institutes, non‑profits and NGOs, government entities (public bodies) may participate. Joint tenders and public‑private partnerships are allowed. Subcontractors may be used. The call does not limit to a single organisational type but requires proof of legal capacity and selection criteria (see tender).

Funding Type:Procurement (service contract). This is a paid contract; payments are made on invoices per specific contracts. Not a grant, loan, equity or voucher. Reimbursements for travel and subsistence follow Annex 2 rules.

Consortium Requirement:Single contractor awarded the framework. Tenders may be submitted by a sole economic operator or a group (joint tender). If a joint tender is used, members are jointly and severally liable; one member must be leader. There is no mandatory consortium requirement; single applicants are permitted.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility):Eligible applicants: organisations established in EU Member States, Norway, Iceland and the UK. Work covers EEA38+UK instances; products must be delivered for EU27 and EEA38+UK extents as inputs allow.

Target Sector:Environment, land monitoring, climate policy support (LULUCF), earth observation / Copernicus services, geospatial IT/remote sensing, data dissemination, communications and user uptake activities supporting EU policy (biodiversity, soil, nature restoration, agriculture).

Mentioned Countries:Denmark (EEA headquarters). Coverage references: EU27, EEA38 plus United Kingdom and optionally neighbouring countries for specific inputs; individual input datasets mention countries/regions in tender documentation.

Project Stage:Maturity expected: operational production and annual updates (demonstration / operational). The LULUCF instance is an operational product (production and annual refinement). Additional instances may require development and validation phases.

Funding Amount:Framework contract ceiling €2,600,000. Indicative budget split: production €2.2M; user uptake €0.2M; ad‑hoc consultancy €0.2M.

Application Type:Open call for tenders (electronic submission via eSubmission). Not an open grant call; commercial procurement process.

Nature of Support:Monetary payment for services (service contract). The contracting authority reimburses travel & subsistence under Annex 2 and pays for delivered services by invoice per agreed payment terms.

Application Stages:Single-stage tender submission (electronic). After contract award, individual specific contracts are issued under the framework (each will have its own implementation timeline and deliverables).

Success Rates:No published historical success rates. This is an open single‑winner framework procurement; typical success depends on compliance with technical and financial evaluation (minimum thresholds apply: technical minimum 42/70).

Co‑funding Requirement:No co‑funding is required. Prices quoted must be all‑inclusive and exclude VAT. All costs for tender preparation are borne by the tenderer.

Selection, evaluation and application templates guidance

Evaluation is based on exclusion, selection and award criteria in the Tender Specifications. Tenderers must provide: administrative forms (Identification form, Declaration on honour), simplified financial statements and financial evidence (turnover >= €650,000 for each of the last two closed financial years), technical and professional evidence (CVs and overview table per Annex 4), list of three comparable projects (each ≥ €350,000) and completed technical offer (max 40 A4 pages). Complete Annex 1 price table in EUR (daily all‑inclusive rates per profile).

1. 1Templates and required attachments: Identification Form, Declaration on Honour, Simplified financial statement, Profit & Loss and balance sheets (last two years), CVs per Annex 4 structure, completed Price Quotation template (Annex 1), Technical offer (max 40 pages) and eSubmission checklist (Annex 8).
2. 2Technical offer must include: draft Instances workplan, project management approach, expert pool approach (how to staff and match experts to specific contracts), five user uptake actions (max 2 A4), and a concise communication plan with a LinkedIn post example (2 A4 + 1 A4 respectively).
3. 3Financial offer: all fields in the price template are compulsory; non‑compliance leads to exclusion.

Practical implementation notes & technical requirements

Deliverables must be INSPIRE‑compliant, include metadata via the EEA Metadata Editor template, be QC‑checked via the CLMS QC tool, and use Quarto Markdown templates for public documentation. Production uses the CLCplus Core repository and web interface; many CLMS inputs are already ingested. The contractor is responsible for rule‑set development, execution inside CLCplus Core, post‑processing, QA/QC, documentation, and preparing dissemination layers. The EEA provides templates, PUM and extraction rules history, and a secure SharePoint folder of tender resources.

Technical & IT expectations:Suppliers should follow CLMS IT architecture principles (Annex 5): modular design, containerised deployment (Docker or equivalent), reproducible workflows (automation scripts and versioned source code), open APIs for reusability, CI/CD, automated tests, observability/metrics logging, security hardening, and disaster recovery plans. Source code for client‑specific software should be delivered and published under EUPL‑1.2 unless otherwise agreed.

Milestones, meetings and reporting

A typical specific contract will include a Kick‑Off Meeting (1–4 weeks after signature), an Operational Readiness Review (~2 months after KoM), regular bi‑weekly progress meetings, up to ten ad‑hoc technical meetings per year, and a final project meeting. Quarterly Reports are required; templates provided by EEA. The contractor must be available for participation in Copernicus/EEA meetings and provide communication/user uptake products when requested.

Risk & compliance considerations

Tenderers must declare no exclusion situations (Article 138 Financial Regulation). The contractor must comply with environmental, social and labour law obligations (EU and international instruments), ensure data protection compliance (Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 for EEA processing), avoid professional conflicts of interest, and provide transparency over pre‑existing rights incorporated into results (list and evidence as required by the draft contract and Annex IV). The contracting authority may terminate the framework for serious breaches or conflicting interests as per the draft contract.

Where to apply / useful link:Submit tenders electronically through the EU Funding & Tenders Portal eSubmission application. Project page and procurement documents available on the Portal (subscription recommended for updates) Funding & Tenders Portal - tender page. ¹

Practical checklist for applicants (step by step)

1. 1Register organisation / get PIC in Participant Register and ensure EU Login account is ready with 2FA.
2. 2Download all documents from the F&T Portal tender page and the SharePoint package (Annexes, templates, PUM, extraction rules and example datasets).
3. 3Prepare administrative evidence: Identification Form, Declaration on Honour, supporting legal/financial documents, simplify financial statement and bank details as requested.
4. 4Prepare technical offer (max 40 A4 pages) following award criteria: draft Instances workplan, project management, expert pool methodology, five user uptake actions (2 A4), communication plan + LinkedIn post example (2+1 A4), CVs & Annex 4 overview table, list of 3 comparable projects.
5. 5Complete Annex 1 price quotation template (daily all‑inclusive rates in EUR) and upload financial offer in eSubmission.
6. 6Run internal quality checks: ensure all required eSubmission attachments are present per Annex 8; check file sizes and supported formats; sign forms (QES recommended).
7. 7Submit electronically by the deadline; retain submission receipt timestamp as proof.

Summary — what is this opportunity about and why it matters

This is a procurement opportunity to contract the operational production and service support for CLCplus Instances derived from the CLCplus Core database. The EEA seeks a service provider to continue and professionalise annual LULUCF instance production, to support additional policy instances as needs arise, to provide aggregated indicators and discrepancy analyses useful for MRV processes, and to run coordinated user engagement and uptake activities. The role combines technical geospatial data production (rule‑set development, ingestion, extraction on grid, QA/QC) with science‑to‑policy translation (statistics comparison, country support) and communication/user uptake to ensure the products are usable in EU policy contexts. Successful bidders will demonstrate geospatial and remote sensing expertise, knowledge of EU LULUCF reporting and policy contexts, proven track records on similar large projects, strong project and data management practices, and the capacity to manage user engagement and communications alongside operational production.

Footnotes

1. 1Access procurement documents and eSubmission instructions at the Funding & Tenders Portal tender page: ec.europa.eu

Opportunity Overview

This is a framework service contract tender issued by the European Environment Agency (EEA) for the provision of consultancy services to deliver derived geospatial products, known as instances, from the CLCplus Core database. The contract focuses on producing tailored policy-support datasets for environmental monitoring, particularly for Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) reporting, with potential expansion to Nature Restoration Regulation (NRR) and Soil Monitoring Law (SML) policy areas.

Key Opportunity Details

Contracting Authority:European Environment Agency (EEA), Copenhagen, Denmark, acting under delegated tasks from the European Commission as part of the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service (CLMS).

Tender Reference and Type:EEA/DTL/R0/26/003; EEA/2026/OP/0016. This is an open procedure for a single framework service contract with no reopening of competition.

Total Contract Value:€2,600,000 (two million six hundred thousand euros) covering the entire framework contract period. Budget is indicatively split as: Production services €2,200,000; User engagement and user uptake €200,000; Ad-hoc consultancy services €200,000.

Contract Duration:Maximum 48 months from entry into force. The framework contract automatically renews for three consecutive 12-month periods unless either party provides formal notification to the contrary at least three months before the end of the current duration.

Submission Deadlines:Tender submission deadline: 01 June 2026 at 16:00 CEST (UTC+2). Questions must be submitted by 21 May 2026 at 23:59 CET. Public opening session: 02 June 2026 at 10:00 CEST.

Scope of Services

The contractor shall provide consultancy services for the production of derived geospatial products (instances) from the CLCplus Core database. Instances are tailor-made, policy-specific datasets derived by combining information from datasets ingested into the CLCplus Core database on a 100-meter grid level. The primary focus is on LULUCF (Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry) instance products, with potential expansion to NRR and SML instances.

Main Service Components

• Continuation of annual LULUCF instance product delivery for reference years 2025 to 2028, including both Alpha (initial) and Beta (final) versions
• Production of additional policy instance products for Nature Restoration Regulation and Soil Monitoring Law as requested
• Instance production workflow management including data selection, extraction rule development, quality assurance and quality control coordination
• Provision of aggregated statistics and analytical support comparing instance-derived data with country-reported figures
• User engagement and user uptake activities including webinars, training, communication materials and stakeholder interaction
• Contract transition support including handover procedures between contractors
• Ad-hoc consultancy services for product development and specific analysis activities

The contract operates through a framework agreement mechanism whereby the EEA issues requests for specific contracts specifying detailed tasks, deliverables and schedules. A minimum of 6 specific contracts are foreseen over the 48-month period. The contractor must respond to requests for specific contracts within specified timeframes (typically 5-10 working days).

Eligibility and Participation Requirements

Who Can Apply:Participation is open on equal terms to all natural and legal persons from the 27 EU Member States, Norway, Iceland and the United Kingdom. Tenderers can submit as sole economic operators or as joint tenders (consortia). Subcontracting is permitted. Entities must be registered in the Participant Register and obtain a Participant Identification Code (PIC).

Minimum Financial Capacity:Tenderers must demonstrate an annual turnover of at least €650,000 for each of the past two financial years for which accounts have been closed. This is assessed on a consolidated basis for joint tenders.

Technical and Professional Capacity Requirements:Tenderers must provide evidence of: (1) Sufficient manpower with suitable qualifications including minimum 1 manager with 5 years relevant experience in land monitoring and remote sensing projects, minimum 3 senior technical experts with 5 years experience each, and minimum 3 junior experts with 2 years experience each; (2) Expertise in user engagement and user uptake with minimum 1 senior consultant (5 years experience) and 1 junior consultant (3 years experience); (3) Relevant experience with at least 3 similar projects completed in the last 4 years, each with minimum value €350,000; (4) Quality assurance accreditation or documented quality policy; (5) Environmental management policy and measures.

All proposed managerial staff must demonstrate documented experience in leadership and managing large-scale projects within land monitoring and remote sensing, plus good knowledge of standard project management principles such as PM2. Technical staff must have good knowledge of the Copernicus Programme and specifically the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service. For LULUCF work, staff must demonstrate good understanding of Greenhouse Gas reporting, LULUCF regulation, remote sensing derived geospatial data, and European land use and land cover data including EAGLE nomenclature. English language proficiency is mandatory: minimum C1 level for managerial and senior staff, B2 level for junior staff.

Evaluation and Award Criteria

Award Method:Best price-quality ratio. Tenders are ranked by total score combining technical merit and price scores.

Technical Merit Evaluation (Maximum 70 points, Minimum 42 points required):Technical merit comprises three main criteria: (1) Project implementation and contract management (40 points maximum, 24 minimum) assessing completeness and coherence of work plan, project management approach, and mechanisms for maintaining and updating the work plan; (2) Expert selection methodology and approach (20 points maximum, 12 minimum) evaluating approach to establishing and maintaining expert pools, adapting to evolving needs, and matching experts to specific contracts; (3) User engagement and user uptake (10 points maximum, 6 minimum) assessing five proposed user uptake actions, coherence of communication plan, and quality of proposed LinkedIn post.

Technical offers are limited to maximum 40 DIN A4 pages (minimum font size 11pt, single or 1.15 line spacing, 2cm margins). Tenderers must provide a draft work plan describing overall workflow and implementation process, project management approach including follow-up and progress meetings, and approach to establishing and maintaining the project work plan. Tenderers must also provide five justified, creative and realistic user uptake actions (maximum 2 pages) and a concise communication plan for CLMS visibility and brand recognition (maximum 2 pages for plan plus 1 page for LinkedIn post proposal).

Price Evaluation (Maximum 30 points):Tenderers must submit all-inclusive daily rates (8-hour day) in EUR for six service categories: Senior Thematic Expert extra-muros (weighting factor 60); Senior Thematic Expert intra-muros (weighting factor 10); Junior Thematic Expert extra-muros (weighting factor 15); Junior Thematic Expert intra-muros (weighting factor 5); Senior Consultant user engagement extra-muros (weighting factor 5); Junior Consultant user engagement extra-muros (weighting factor 5). Intra-muros refers to work at EEA premises; extra-muros refers to work at contractor premises or elsewhere. Price scores are calculated using the formula: PS = (Pmin/P0) x EWF x 30, where Pmin is the lowest price offered, P0 is the tender price being evaluated, and EWF is the evaluation weighting factor.

All prices must be exclusive of VAT, expressed in EUR, and all-inclusive of all expenditures including management costs, administrative costs, salaries with social security contributions, insurance, equipment, processing costs, and travel costs (except ad-hoc meetings outside Copenhagen). Prices are fixed and not subject to revision during the first year; from year two onwards, prices may be revised annually upon written request using the HICP index formula. The EEA is exempt from VAT under EU privileges and immunities.

Submission Requirements and Process

Submission Method:Electronic submission only via the eSubmission application on the EU Funding and Tenders Portal. Tenders submitted by email, post or other means will be disregarded. Tenderers must have an EU Login account and register their organisation in the Participant Register to obtain a PIC.

Required Documents:Administrative data form; Identification form with supporting documents proving legal capacity; Declaration on exclusion criteria (declaration on honour); Simplified financial statement; Evidence of economic and financial capacity (profit and loss accounts and balance sheets for last two years or bank statements); Evidence of technical and professional capacity (CVs with overview table per Annex 4); List of at least 3 similar projects completed in last 4 years with minimum €350,000 value each; Quality assurance accreditation details or quality policy outline; Environmental policy and measures description; Technical offer (maximum 40 pages) with work plan, project management approach, expert selection methodology, and user engagement proposals; Financial offer with completed price quotation template.

All documents must be submitted in one of the official EU languages. Signatures must be either hand-written or qualified electronic signatures (QES) as defined in Regulation (EU) No 910/2014. Tenderers are strongly encouraged to use QES. File attachments must be less than 50MB each; maximum 200 files per submission. Supported file types and system requirements are specified in the eSubmission system documentation.

Key Contractual Terms and Conditions

Payment Terms:The contracting authority must approve submitted documents and deliverables and pay within 60 days from receipt of invoice. Pre-financing is not applicable. Payment is made to the contractor's bank account specified in the contract. Interest on late payment is calculated at the European Central Bank reference rate plus 8 percentage points, applicable from the day after the due date until payment date.

Travel and Subsistence Reimbursement:Travel expenses are reimbursed based on shortest itinerary: first class rail fare, economy class air tickets, or equivalent rail fare for car travel. Daily subsistence allowances vary by country (ranging from €174 to €334 per day as specified in Annex 2) and cover accommodation, meals and local transport. Allowances are reduced 25 percent for missions exceeding 4 weeks. Only 50 percent of daily allowance is paid if overnight stay is not at mission location. Meetings at EEA premises in Copenhagen use intra-muros rates; other EU locations use extra-muros rates.

Intellectual Property Rights:The Union, represented by the European Commission, acquires irrevocably worldwide ownership of all results and intellectual property rights on newly created materials produced specifically for the EEA. Pre-existing rights are licensed to the Union on a royalty-free, non-exclusive, irrevocable basis for all modes of exploitation. The contractor must provide a list of all pre-existing rights and evidence of ownership or licensing rights. Results may be used for any purpose including distribution to public, modification, translation, incorporation in other works, and licensing to third parties.

Liability and Insurance:The contractor performs at its own risk and warrants to hold the EEA harmless against any third-party claims. Contractor liability is limited to three times the total amount of the relevant specific contract, except in cases of gross negligence, wilful misconduct, injury to persons, or breach of intellectual property rights, where full liability applies. The contractor must take out insurance against risks and damage relating to contract implementation and provide evidence of coverage upon request.

Termination Grounds:The EEA may terminate the framework contract or specific contracts if: provision of services does not start within 15 days of scheduled date; contractor cannot obtain required permits or licences; contractor fails to implement services in accordance with specifications or is materially in breach of obligations; contractor is in exclusion situations per Financial Regulation Article 138; procedure proves subject to errors, irregularities, fraud or breach of obligations; contractor does not comply with environmental, social or labour law; contractor is in conflict of interest situation; contractor's legal, financial, technical or ownership situation substantially changes; force majeure makes resumption impossible; EEA's needs change; or contractor breaches data protection obligations.

Liquidated Damages and Price Reduction:For delay in delivery, liquidated damages are calculated as 0.3 x (V/d) where V is the price of the relevant deliverable and d is the specified duration in days. Price may be reduced if contractor fails to provide services in accordance with high quality standards or tender specifications. Both liquidated damages and price reduction may be applied together. The contractor has 30 days to submit observations after formal notification before decisions become enforceable.

Data Protection and Confidentiality:Personal data is processed in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1725. The contractor must treat all confidential information with the same level of protection as its own confidential information and may not disclose it to third parties without prior written agreement. The contractor must obtain written commitments from personnel and subcontractors to comply with confidentiality obligations. Personal data must be processed only within EU and EEA territory; data centres must be located within EU and EEA; no access outside these territories is permitted. The contractor must notify the EEA of personal data breaches within 48 hours.

Conflict of Interest:The contractor must take all necessary measures to prevent conflicts of interest or professional conflicting interests and must notify the EEA in writing as soon as possible of any situation that could constitute such a conflict. The contractor must immediately take action to rectify the situation. The EEA may require further action within a specified deadline or decide not to award specific contracts until the situation is rectified.

Implementation Framework

The framework contract operates through specific contracts issued by the EEA. When the EEA issues a request for a specific contract, the contractor must respond within specified timeframes (typically 5-10 working days) stating its intention to reply and then submitting a detailed response. The contractor's reply is binding for at least 90 days. Specific contracts must be signed within timeframes specified by the EEA. If the contractor repeatedly fails to respond or sign specific contracts, this constitutes breach of framework contract obligations.

A Kick-off Meeting (KoM) is scheduled 1-4 weeks after signature of the first specific contract to define tasks, workplan and user uptake planning. An Operational Readiness Review (ORR) occurs approximately 2 months after KoM. Bi-weekly progress meetings are organized between the project manager and EEA. Up to 10 technical ad-hoc meetings may be held as needed. Participation in Copernicus meetings organized by EEA and European Commission may be requested on ad-hoc basis, with up to 2 trips per year per expert anticipated.

Key Deliverables and Outputs

• Instances workplan as living document including stakeholder list and communication plan (draft with technical offer, updated occasionally)
• Alpha development versions of instances (€100Mgrid datasets)
• Beta-versions of instances (€100Mgrid datasets)
• Final delivery of instances as €100Mraster datasets for EEA 38+UK countries
• Detailed documentation including input data, processing procedures, EAGLE barcoding, extraction rulesets, known issues and changes
• Product user manual for external dissemination
• Summary report of quality assurance and quality control activities
• Detailed reports and aggregated results tables
• User requirement documents and materials for webinars, use case support and social media
• Quarterly progress reports throughout contract duration
• Final report at end of each specific contract including project overview, production workflows, user involvement activities and lessons learned

All technical documentation must be provided in Quarto Markdown (QMD) format and published on the dedicated EEA GitHub repository. Data deliverables must be verified for technical conformity using the QC tool, with the contractor responsible for deploying the tool, conducting conformity checks and submitting reports. Metadata must comply with INSPIRE Metadata Implementing Rules based on EN ISO 19115 and EN ISO 19119 standards.

Important Considerations for Applicants

Tenderers should note that instances are fully based on existing operational land cover and land use data and do not entail classification of satellite imagery. The production process is highly iterative and depends on frequent interaction with EEA, CLCplus Core staff and stakeholders including EIONET experts, EAGLE group members, Topic Centres and LULUCF reporting experts from EU Member States. The timing of National Inventory Reports (NIR) constitutes a key constraint for LULUCF instance production, with Alpha versions required by mid-January regardless of delays in underlying CLMS products.

A possible transition from 100-meter to 10-meter grid resolution for CLCplus Core is under discussion and may be implemented during the contract period. Tenderers must demonstrate their approach to managing this technical evolution. The contractor must be prepared to work with the CLCplus Core system, which is fully operational online at clcplus-core.land.copernicus.eu and requires EIONET account access.

User engagement and user uptake are key to success. The contractor must contribute to communication and user uptake activities adhering to the EEA's CLMS Communication and User Uptake Strategy 2023-2028, including webinars, events, EU Space Observer articles, tutorials, Jupyter Notebooks, use case stories, feature articles, news items, social media posts and videos. The contractor must work closely with the EEA to implement selected activities and collect user feedback for continuous improvement.

The project manager role cannot be subcontracted and must come from the sole tenderer or group members in case of joint tender. The contractor is encouraged to use the PM2 Project Management Methodology for reports and project management artefacts. Quality assurance and quality control protocols must be clearly defined in the project work plan.

Tender Specifications and Supporting Documents:Auxiliary files required for this call are accessible via a SharePoint link (password: CLCplusInstances2026) and include the latest CLCplus LULUCF instances product user manual, access to 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023 LULUCF instances European datasets and metadata, extraction ruleset documentation, and user guidelines for the CLCplus Core database and online system.

Contact Information:For operational matters: contact the designated EEA operational officer. For financial matters: contact the designated EEA financial officer or invoices@eea.europa.eu. For contractual matters: procurement@eea.europa.eu. For metadata editor access: sdi@eea.europa.eu. All communications must reference the call for tenders number EEA/DTL/R0/26/003.

Timeline Summary

Footnotes

1. 1The framework contract may be extended through negotiated procedure under Financial Regulation Article 11.1.e up to maximum 50 percent of initial ceiling within three years of signature, subject to same minimum requirements, technical specifications, exclusion, selection and award criteria, and contractor agreement to maintain unaltered technical and financial offers.