IPA 2026 Multi-beneficiary statistical cooperation programme

Restricted tender by the European Commission (Eurostat) for the IPA 2026 Multi-beneficiary Statistical Cooperation Programme to procure service contracts for statistical capacity building across Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo (UNSCR 1244), Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Türkiye. Estimated budget €7,500,000, maximum contract duration 48 months, procedure is restricted two-stage with requests to participate deadline 5 June 2026 at 16:00 CET and provisional invitation to tender in July 2026. Eligible applicants include natural persons, legal entities and consortia established in EU Member States or eligible IPA III countries, with electronic submission via the Funding & Tenders Portal and mandatory PIC registration. Selection requires average turnover >= €3,000,000 (last 3 closed years), current ratio >= 1.0, and technical capacity of at least two contracts in the last 4 years each with services value >= €2,500,000 (or a statistics/economics component >= €500,000), with award on the best price-quality ratio.

What it funds

Scope

A fee-based service contract to deliver multi-country statistical cooperation and capacity-building activities under the IPA III multi-country multi-annual action for the Western Balkans and Türkiye (2025-2027). Activities relate to statistics and economics support across listed beneficiary economies.

Estimated value:Total estimated value €7 500 000; maximum contract duration 48 months; provisional start Q1 2027 ¹.

Who can apply:Natural persons, legal persons, consortia and international/regional organisations effectively established in EU Member States or eligible IPA III countries, subject to exclusion rules and selection criteria (turnover, financial ratios, staff and prior contracts) ¹.

1. 1Lead contracting authority: European Commission, ESTAT - Eurostat
2. 2Procedure type: Restricted (two-stage); 4 to 8 candidates to be shortlisted
3. 3Submission method: Electronic via Funding & Tenders Portal / eSubmission (EU Login required)
4. 4Language of procedure: English

Place(s) of performance:Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Türkiye. Award method: best price-quality ratio. Candidates must meet financial, professional and technical capacity thresholds (see procurement documents) ¹.

Footnotes

1. 1Procurement documents and the Additional information about the Contract Notice are available on the Funding & Tenders Portal: Tender documents.

Opportunity summary

This is a restricted procurement procedure launched by the European Commission (ESTAT - Eurostat) to award a service contract (framework agreement) for the IPA 2026 Multi-beneficiary statistical cooperation programme. The procurement supports the EU multi-country multi-annual action for 2025-2027 in favour of the Western Balkans and Türkiye (Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance, IPA III). The estimated total value of the contract is €7 500 000 and the maximum contract duration is 48 months. The procurement is classified under CPV 79330000 Statistical services. The procedure identifier is EC-ESTAT/2026/EA-RP/0012; TED reference 277989-2026.

Key deadlines and milestones:Deadline for receipt of requests to participate: 05/06/2026 16:00 Europe/Luxembourg. Provisional invitation to tender: July 2026. Provisional contract commencement: 1st quarter 2027. Period of implementation: 48 months.

Who can apply and how

Participation is open to natural persons (nationals) and legal persons effectively established in EU Member States or in eligible countries or territories defined under Article 11 of Regulation (EU) No 2021/1529 establishing IPA III. Participation is also open to international and regional organisations. Candidates must register in the Participant Register (obtain a PIC) and submit a request to participate exclusively via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal / eSubmission. Electronic submission via eSubmission requires an EU Login account (two-factor authentication will be mandatory in 2026). Requests to participate must follow the required request to participate form and be accompanied by a Declaration on Honour on exclusion and selection criteria.

Eligible applicant types

Eligible applicant types (explicitly permitted in the procurement documents):legal entities (companies, consultancies, NGOs), natural persons (where eligible), international and regional organisations, public bodies, universities and research institutions, national statistical offices, and consortia/groupings of the above. Sub-contracting is allowed. Applicants from countries subject to EU restrictive measures at the time of award will be excluded.

Consortium requirement and restrictions

A consortium is permitted but not mandatory. A consortium can be a permanent legal grouping or an informal grouping established for this procurement. All consortium members are jointly and severally liable. Short-listed candidates must preserve the same consortium composition between the request to participate and tender submission; changes without prior authorisation will lead to exclusion. Short-listed candidates may not form alliances with each other nor subcontract to each other for this contract.

Financial and contractual details

Funding type and nature of contract:This is a procurement/service contract (fee-based) awarded by the European Commission under the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA III). The contracting modality is a conventional procurement (restricted procedure) with award on the best price-quality ratio. Beneficiaries will receive payment for services provided under the contract (monetary compensation).

Estimated total value:€7 500 000 (excluding VAT). The contract may be awarded lot by lot if lots are defined; in the published notice there is one lot covering the multi-beneficiary programme.

Place(s) of performance / Geographic scope

The contract is multi-beneficiary and will be performed across the Western Balkans and Türkiye. Explicitly listed countries/territories for delivery or performance include: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo (UNSCR 1244/1999 designation remark), Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Türkiye. The programme is funded under the EU Pre-Accession Countries / New Member States programme and implemented by Eurostat in Luxembourg.

Programme focus and target sectors

The programme targets statistical capacity-building and related technical assistance in the domains of official statistics and economics. Core activities are expected to include support to national statistical systems, capacity building, technical assistance, project management of statistical cooperation, and possible links to policy support related to EU accession and structural reforms. Main CPV: 79330000 Statistical services. Target sector: statistics / data / public administration / external action / international cooperation.

Procedure, stages and success chances

Procedure type:Restricted procedure (two-stage). Stage 1: submission of a request to participate. Based on the requests to participate received and evaluated against selection criteria, between 4 and 8 candidates will be short-listed and invited to submit detailed tenders. Stage 2: invited tenderers submit full technical and financial tenders; award based on best price-quality ratio.

1. 1Number of application stages: 2 (request to participate short-listing; invited tender submission and evaluation).
2. 2Minimum shortlisted candidates: 4; maximum shortlisted candidates: 8.
3. 3Award method: best price-quality ratio.
4. 4Provisional invite-to-tender date: July 2026.
5. 5Provisional contract start: Q1 2027.

Success rates:the contracting authority will shortlist 4 to 8 candidates. If many eligible candidates apply the re-examination and ranking rules will reduce the pool to the 8 best; final award will be made to 1 tenderer (or to the winner(s) across lots). Indicative success probability: if 8 are shortlisted and 1 contract awarded, shortlisted-to-award success = 12.5%. Overall success vs all applicants depends on the total number of requests but will be lower; applicants should expect a competitive selection.

Selection and award criteria (detailed)

Candidates must satisfy economic/financial, professional and technical selection criteria. Documentary evidence must be provided in the request to participate. Selection is applied to each candidate/tenderer (or to the consortium as a whole unless otherwise specified).

Additional comparative ranking criteria (used only if more than 8 candidates meet the selection criteria): candidate with the highest number of qualifying contracts (as per technical capacity) will be ranked higher; if equal, the highest cumulative contract volume for the statistical/economic components will be used.

Award criteria

The contract will be awarded on the best price-quality ratio. Specific weighting of price versus quality and sub-criteria percentages are provided in the procurement documents and must be consulted by invited tenderers.

Application logistics, templates and submission requirements

Requests to participate must be submitted exclusively via the Funding & Tenders Portal (eSubmission). Registration in the Participant Register (PIC) is mandatory. Supporting documents must be uploaded into the correct attachment sections in eSubmission. The contracting authority may request PIC validation and supporting documents via EU Validation Services (REA).

Required documents and templates:Mandatory forms and documents to upload at request to participate stage: completed Request to Participate form (use the official template), Declaration on Honour on exclusion and selection criteria (official template), financial data (expressed in EUR), documents evidencing technical capacity (contracts, completion certificates, deliverables, proof of payment), and organisational data. The Request to Participate template and Declaration on Honour template are available from the Commission Annexes page indicated in the procurement notice.

1. 1Request to Participate form (upload under 'Other documents').
2. 2Declaration referred to in Point 7 of the Request to Participate form (upload under 'Other documents').
3. 3Declaration on Honour on Exclusion and Selection criteria (upload under 'Declaration on Honour').
4. 4Supporting evidence for financial, professional and technical criteria (contracts, certificates, financial statements).

Naming, file format, size and number constraints:eSubmission accepts attachments less than 50 MB per file and a maximum of 200 files per submission. Follow the eSubmission System Requirements and naming conventions in the procurement documents.

Other practical information

Language of procedure:English only. Electronic submission link and procurement documents are available on the Funding & Tenders Portal tender details page. Questions and clarifications must be submitted through the F&T Portal Questions & Answers tab at least 21 days before the deadline for requests to participate; clarifications will be published at least 8 days before the deadline. Short-list notification will be sent by email to the address provided in the eSubmission application.

Co-funding and contract financing:This is an EU-funded procurement; the contracting authority will pay fees under the contract. No co-funding by applicants is required or indicated in the procurement documents.

Risks, exclusions and compliance

Grounds for exclusion are standard PRAG/EU procurement exclusions. Entities listed in EU restrictive measures at the time of award cannot be awarded the contract. Candidates must provide signed declarations of non-exclusion and non-conflict of interest. The contracting authority reserves the right to rank and limit invitations to tender if more eligible candidates apply than the stated maximum shortlist.

Mentioned countries

Countries explicitly mentioned in the tender documents:Albania; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Kosovo (designation note as per UNSCR 1244/1999); Montenegro; North Macedonia; Serbia; Türkiye. Contract performance is explicitly indicated as being performed in Bosnia and Herzegovina as one of the locations; overall scope covers the listed Western Balkans economies and Türkiye.

Quick checklist for a compliant request to participate

1. 1Register organisation in the Participant Register and obtain PIC; ensure PIC data is accurate and prepare for potential PIC validation.
2. 2Prepare Request to Participate form using the official template and fill all required items strictly following instructions.
3. 3Prepare Declaration on Honour (exclusion/selection) using the official template and have it signed.
4. 4Assemble financial statements showing average turnover >= €3 000 000 (last 3 closed years) and current ratio >= 1 for the last closed year.
5. 5Collect evidence for technical capacity: at least 2 contracts in the last 4 years each with value >= €2 500 000 (or statistical/economic component >= €500 000) with supporting completion documents.
6. 6Document personnel capacity: evidence of at least 2 relevant personnel on average over the 3-year reference period.
7. 7Upload all documents to eSubmission in the correct attachment sections before the deadline and retain submission receipt timestamp.
8. 8Monitor the F&T Portal Q&A tab for clarifications and subscribe to the call to receive updates.

Useful links and access:procurement documents and the Request to Participate template are available on the Funding & Tenders Portal tender details page. Electronic submission portal link is provided in the notice. Candidates should consult the Additional information about the Contract Notice for full details and templates Additional information about the Contract Notice ¹.

Summary — what is this opportunity about and how to approach it

This is a restricted EU procurement to provide multi-country statistical cooperation services in the Western Balkans and Türkiye under the IPA III 2025-2027 multi-annual action. The contracting authority is Eurostat (ESTAT). The tender is competitive and follows a two-stage restricted procedure: interested organisations must first submit a Request to Participate and satisfy strict selection criteria (financial strength, professional and technical capacity). Between 4 and 8 candidates will be short-listed and invited to submit full tenders. The contract is fee-based, with an estimated value of €7.5 million over up to 48 months and will be awarded on best price-quality ratio. Prospective applicants should carefully review and use the official Request to Participate and Declaration on Honour templates, compile robust evidence for the selection thresholds (turnover, current ratio, completed contracts in statistics/economics, experienced staff), register and validate their PIC, and submit all documents via the Funding & Tenders Portal before the stated deadline. Attention to the requested documentary evidence, correct attachment placement in eSubmission and compliance with the restricted-procedure rules (consortium composition stability, exclusion rules) will be decisive for being shortlisted and allowed to compete in the invitation-to-tender stage.

Footnotes

1. 1Full procurement documentation including the 'Additional information about the Contract Notice' and the Invitation to submit a request to participate are available on the Funding & Tenders Portal tender page: ec.europa.eu and the downloadable document: Additional information about the Contract Notice (A5f) (published 23/04/2026).

Funding Opportunity Overview

This is a restricted tender procedure for service contracts funded under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA III) to support statistical capacity building across the Western Balkans and Türkiye. The programme aims to strengthen statistical systems in beneficiary countries through harmonisation with European standards, knowledge transfer, and production of comparable statistics aligned with EU requirements ¹.

Contracting Authority:European Commission, ESTAT - Eurostat (Statistical Office of the European Union)

Total Budget:€7,500,000

Contract Duration:48 months maximum

Procedure Type:Restricted procedure with two-stage evaluation

Geographic Scope and Beneficiary Countries

The programme covers seven beneficiary countries and territories:Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo (under UN Resolution 1244), Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Türkiye. Contract performance will be conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina, though activities will support statistical development across all beneficiary regions ².

Key Deadlines

Requests for clarifications must be submitted through the Funding and Tenders Portal at least 21 days before the deadline for requests to participate. Clarifications will be published at least 8 days before the submission deadline.

Eligibility Criteria

Who Can Apply

Participation is open to natural persons and legal entities (including consortia) that are effectively established in EU Member States or eligible countries as defined under Article 11 of Regulation (EU) No 2021/1529 (IPA III). International and regional organisations may also participate. Consortia may be permanent legal entities or informal groupings constituted for this specific procedure, with all members jointly and severally liable to the contracting authority ³.

Submission Rules

• Each natural or legal person may submit only one request to participate or tender, regardless of participation form
• Submission of multiple requests will result in automatic exclusion of all submissions involving that person
• For consortia, each member must be registered in the Participant Register with a valid Participant Identification Code (PIC)
• Submissions must be made exclusively through the Funding and Tenders Portal using electronic submission
• All communications must be in English

Selection Criteria

Economic and Financial Capacity

• Average annual turnover over the last 3 financial years (for which accounts have been closed) must be at least €3,000,000
• Current ratio (current assets divided by current liabilities) in the last year for which accounts have been closed must be at least 1.0. For consortia, this criterion must be fulfilled by each member individually

Professional Capacity

• Candidate or tenderer must have, on average during the current year and previous 2 years, at least 2 personnel directly employed or otherwise legally contracted on a permanent or non-permanent basis with specialist knowledge in project management and technical capacity building projects, preferably in statistics or economics and in external action or international cooperation
• Candidate or tenderer must not be subject to professional conflicting interests that may negatively affect contract performance, as examined through Declarations on Honour and supporting documents

Technical Capacity

Candidates must demonstrate completion of at least 2 contracts implemented at any time during the 4 years preceding the submission deadline. For each contract, the value of services completed must be at least €2,500,000. The completed services must be in the domain of statistics or economics. If the statistics or economics component is part of a larger cooperation project, the budget for the statistics-related component must represent at least €500,000 per project ⁴.

Candidates may refer to projects completed within the reference period (even if started earlier) or to projects partially implemented during but not yet completed within the reference period. Only the part completed during the reference period will be considered and must be supported by documentary evidence such as approval of reports, proof of payment, or certificates from the awarding entity. For consortium-implemented projects, the part successfully completed by the candidate must be clearly documented through consortium agreements and bank transfers between members.

Additional Comparative Criteria

If more than 8 eligible candidates meet the selection criteria, the contracting authority will rank them based on the highest number of contracts satisfying the technical capacity requirements (implemented during the last 4 years with contract volume of at least €2,500,000). If the number of contracts is equal, the highest contract volume (statistical or economic components only) will be ranked highest.

Short-listing and Tender Stage

Between 4 and 8 candidates will be invited to submit detailed tenders based on evaluation of requests to participate. If fewer than 4 eligible candidates meet the selection criteria, the contracting authority may invite all candidates who satisfy the criteria. Short-listed candidates may not form alliances or subcontract to each other for this contract, and any tenders with different composition than the short-listed request to participate will be excluded unless prior authorisation is obtained ⁵.

Award Criteria

The contract will be awarded based on the best price-quality ratio. Detailed award criteria weightings will be specified in the tender documents provided to short-listed candidates.

Submission Requirements and Process

Request to Participate Documentation

Requests to participate must be submitted using the official request to participate form available from the EXACT External Wiki. The submission must include: the completed request to participate form, a signed declaration on honour regarding exclusion and selection criteria, and a signed declaration confirming the candidate is not in any exclusion situations listed in Section 2.4.2.1 of the PRAG (Practical Guide). Any additional documentation beyond what is requested will not be considered.

Financial Information

All financial data must be expressed in EUR. Where amounts are originally in a different currency, conversion to EUR must use the InforEuro exchange rate corresponding to the month and year of the contract notice publication (April 2026).

Capacity-Providing Entities

Economic operators may rely on the capacities of other entities to meet selection criteria, provided they demonstrate that resources will be available for contract performance through written commitment. Capacity-providing entities must meet the same eligibility and nationality requirements as the main operator and must fulfil the selection criteria for which they are relied upon. Data for capacity-providing entities must be submitted in separate documents, not included in the request to participate form. For technical and professional criteria, capacity-providing entities must perform the tasks for which capacities are required. For economic and financial criteria, entities become jointly and severally liable for contract performance.

Sub-contracting

Sub-contracting is permitted. However, selection criteria do not apply to natural persons and single-member companies when they are sub-contractors.

Exclusion Grounds

Candidates must declare they are not in any exclusion situations listed in Section 2.4.2.1 of the PRAG. Where candidates rely on capacity-providing entities or sub-contractors, these entities must provide the same signed declaration. Candidates included in EU restrictive measures lists at the moment of award decision cannot be awarded the contract. The EU Official Journal contains the official list of entities subject to restrictive measures, which prevails over other lists in case of conflict ⁶.

Registration and Submission Process

To participate, economic operators must register in the European Commission's Participant Register to obtain a Participant Identification Code (PIC), a 9-digit unique identifier. For consortia, each member must be registered in the Participant Register. Requests to participate must be submitted exclusively through the Funding and Tenders Portal using electronic submission. Submissions made by email or letter will be disregarded. The submission receipt provided by eSubmission with the official date and time of receipt (timestamp) constitutes proof of compliance with the submission deadline ⁷.

When submitting the request to participate, documents must be uploaded to the correct sections: the request to participate form and declaration under the Other documents tab, and the Declaration on Honour on Exclusion and Selection criteria under the Declaration on Honour tab.

Evaluation and Notification

Candidates will be notified of evaluation outcomes by email to the address provided in the eSubmission application (or to the leader in case of a consortium). The same email address will be used for all subsequent communications. It is the candidate's responsibility to provide a valid email address and check it regularly. After submission, the email address can be changed in the Funding and Tenders Portal.

Withdrawal and Modification

After submitting a request to participate but before the deadline, candidates may withdraw or replace their submission. A withdrawal receipt will be provided by eSubmission as proof. To submit a new version, candidates must create a new submission in eSubmission with all required information and documents, even if some were included in the replaced request to participate.

Legal Framework and Financing

The legal basis for this procedure is Regulation (EU) No 2021/1529 establishing the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA III). The contract is fee-based and financed under budget line 15.020101.01 - ESTAT ENEST. The programme is part of the EU support to statistics under the IPA III multi-country multi-annual action in favour of the Western Balkans and Türkiye for 2025-2027, with allocation for 2026 ⁸.

The procurement is governed by Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 and applies LocalLaw procurement procedures for European Union external actions financed from the general budget of the European Union. The procurement is not covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA).

Contact Information and Further Support

For enquiries and further information, contact the European Commission, ESTAT - Eurostat at estat-calls-for-tender-directorates-a-b@ec.europa.eu. The Funding and Tenders Portal provides access to procurement documents, submission systems, and Q&A functionality. As of 30 June 2026, two-factor authentication will be required to access EU Login accounts. Users should register a two-factor authentication method in advance through their security settings.

Procurement documents are available at the Funding and Tenders Portal. The TED reference number is 79/2026 277989-2026. The procedure identifier is EC-ESTAT/2026/EA-RP/0012.

Programme Context and Objectives

Multi-beneficiary statistical cooperation programmes have proven to be particularly useful tools for harmonising methodologies and practices, ensuring coordination among countries, and facilitating knowledge transfer and respect for common standards. The programme will result in strengthened capacity in statistical production, ensuring availability of timely and good quality statistics comparable with EU Member State statistics. This complements national IPA programmes which cover country-specific actions and implementation of major statistics at national level ⁹.

Eurostat coordinates EU efforts to strengthen statistical capacity through regional programmes and supports enlargement countries in becoming compliant with EU requirements by helping them produce statistics aligned with European standards, concepts, and definitions. The programme supports evidence-based policymaking, transparency, and democratic processes in beneficiary countries.

Footnotes

1. 1Multi-beneficiary statistical cooperation programmes ensure coordination among countries and serve as instruments for knowledge transfer, respect of common standards, and production of comparable statistics. The programme aims to strengthen statistical capacity in beneficiary countries to align with the European Statistical System.
2. 2Beneficiary countries are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo (UN Resolution 1244), Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Türkiye. Türkiye may benefit fully or partially depending on the area of support. Contract performance location is Bosnia and Herzegovina.
3. 3Eligible participants include natural persons and legal entities established in EU Member States or eligible countries under IPA III, as well as international and regional organisations. Consortia members are jointly and severally liable to the contracting authority.
4. 4Technical capacity requires completion of at least 2 contracts during the last 4 years with minimum value of €2,500,000 each in statistics or economics domains. For statistics components within larger projects, the statistics budget must be at least €500,000 per project.
5. 5Between 4 and 8 candidates will be short-listed based on selection criteria evaluation. Short-listed candidates cannot form alliances or subcontract to each other. Tenders with different composition than short-listed requests require prior authorisation.
6. 6Candidates must not be in exclusion situations per PRAG Section 2.4.2.1. Candidates in EU restrictive measures lists at award decision cannot be awarded the contract. The EU Official Journal list prevails in case of conflict.
7. 7Registration in the Participant Register is mandatory to obtain a PIC. Submissions must be made exclusively through the Funding and Tenders Portal using electronic submission. The eSubmission timestamp proves compliance with submission deadlines.
8. 8The contract is financed under IPA III (Regulation EU 2021/1529) through budget line 15.020101.01 ESTAT ENEST. The procedure follows Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 and LocalLaw procurement rules for EU external actions. The procurement is not covered by the GPA.
9. 9The programme supports harmonisation of statistical methodologies, knowledge transfer, and production of comparable statistics. It complements national IPA programmes and supports beneficiary countries in aligning with European Statistical System standards and EU integration requirements.