Learning through Experimentation for Adaptive Programming (LEAP) - Producing experimental designs for ERDF/CF/JTF investment in the field of energy ef...

The European Commission DG REGIO has published an open procurement (EC-REGIO/2026/OP/0057) seeking a service provider to design implementation-ready experimental approaches for ERDF, Cohesion Fund and Just Transition Fund energy efficiency investments, including three NRPP-ready experimental designs and a reusable LEAP Kit. The contract is for services with an estimated total value of €340,000, a maximum duration of 9 months, and strong preference for randomised controlled trials or robust quasi-experimental designs where randomisation is infeasible. Key outputs include country diagnostics, in-country workshops, three national-language experimental designs, a joint synthesis report and the LEAP Kit, with staged payments tied to deliverable approval (30% diagnostics, 30% designs, 40% final report). Tenders must be submitted electronically via the Funding and Tenders Portal by 7 December 2026 at 16:00 Brussels time and will be evaluated on a best price-quality ratio (70% quality, 30% price).

What it funds

Scope and main outputs

Service contract to prepare NRPP-ready experimental designs (RCT-preferred) and a practical toolkit (LEAP Kit) to embed experimentation in National and Regional Partnership Plans for the 2028–2034 programming period. Focus is on ERDF/CF/JTF investments in energy efficiency across building renovation, district energy, community energy, enterprise measures and area-based investments.

Footnotes

1. 1Full procurement documentation, submission instructions and Q&A are available on the Funding & Tenders Portal: LEAP tender details.

Opportunity identification

Basic facts

Scope and objectives

Context and rationale

Who can apply

Funding, payments and budget

Selection and evaluation

Application and submission

Deliverables and timeline

The contract duration is 9 months from entry into force. Deliverables are staged and must be approved by DG REGIO prior to payment. Deliverables include an inception report, country selection recommendation, three country diagnostics, workshop design notes, three in-country workshop reports, three NRPP-ready experimental designs, a joint synthesis event and report, the LEAP Kit, a draft final report and a final report. NRPP-ready designs must also be made available in the national language of each participating Member State. All deliverables in English; specified publishable summaries also in German and French where required.

Documents and compliance

Tender documents published on the Funding & Tenders Portal include the Invitation to Tender, Tender Specifications (2026CE16BAT030), Declaration on Honour template, Draft Contract and Appendix 2 Security requirements. Tenderers must consult these documents for full contractual terms, exclusion and selection evidence templates, the detailed tender specifications and annexes. The contract includes detailed security, data protection and visibility rules. The contracting authority may carry out checks and audits and recover amounts for irregularities; audits may be performed up to five years after payment of the balance.

Risk, ethics and security

Key risks and constraints for bidders

Questions & clarifications

All requests for additional information regarding the procurement must be submitted via the Funding & Tenders Portal Questions & Answers section within the time limits set in the procurement documents. The contracting authority is not bound to reply to questions submitted after the deadline given in the call. Tenderers must monitor the Portal for updates, corrigenda and Q&A.

Categorisation and structured extraction (answers)

How to prepare a competitive bid (key action points)

This opportunity is a procurement for expert services to produce policy-ready experimental designs and a toolkit (LEAP Kit) to facilitate embedding experimental methods in 2028–2034 NRPPs across three Member States, with a strong emphasis on RCTs and robust quasi-experimental designs, capacity building and practical readiness for programming by managing authorities.

Footnotes

1. 1Tender documents and submission are hosted on the Funding & Tenders Portal. The portal requires EU Login and Participant Identification Code (PIC) for electronic submission. See Funding & Tenders Portal for the full procurement package and templates.

Funding opportunity overview

This opportunity is a European Commission public procurement tender, not a grant scheme. DG REGIO is seeking a service provider to design practical experimental approaches for energy efficiency investments financed through the European Regional Development Fund, Cohesion Fund and Just Transition Fund, with a view to embedding experimentation in National and Regional Partnership Plans for the 2028 to 2034 programming period. The authoritative opportunity record is available on the EU Funding and Tenders Portal.

The successful contractor will work with three Member States, their programming and evaluation teams, and DG REGIO to develop three implementation-ready experimental designs and a reusable LEAP Kit for managing authorities across the European Union. The contract does not finance the subsequent implementation of the experiments or the analysis of experimental results.

Key procurement facts

The main procurement information is summarised below.

Strategic purpose and policy context

Energy efficiency is treated as a priority for climate action, cohesion, energy security, affordability and territorial resilience. Relevant investments may concern buildings, energy poverty, district heating, industrial and enterprise efficiency, smart energy systems, community energy and integrated territorial energy investments.

The procurement responds to an evidence gap in cohesion policy. Existing assessments often focus on outputs or qualitative case studies, while the Commission seeks stronger evidence about which delivery models produce better outcomes at lower cost and under which conditions.

The preferred methodology is the randomised controlled trial. A prospective quasi-experimental design may be accepted where randomisation is not feasible for ethical, political or practical reasons, but the tenderer will need to justify the alternative and demonstrate how causal effects can still be identified.

The designs must be usable in the early implementation cycle of 2028 to 2034 investments. Outcomes should therefore be observable within a reasonable period after implementation begins. Designs dependent on effects that can only be measured over many years are not suitable for this assignment.

Scope of energy efficiency interventions

The scope is deliberately broad. The final intervention areas will be selected with the participating Member States following diagnostics and workshops.

Expected results and deliverables

The procurement requires a complete design and knowledge transfer process rather than a standalone research report. All deliverables submitted to the Commission must be in English. The three experimental designs must also be made available in the national language of each participating Member State.

Required work programme

The contractor is expected to undertake the following activities during the nine month contract period.

Indicative implementation timetable and payments

Who can apply

The opportunity is open to economic operators able to provide the required consultancy, evaluation, experimental design and programme implementation services. The procurement documents allow a sole tenderer or a joint tender submitted by a group of economic operators. Subcontractors and entities whose capacities are relied upon may be included where permitted by the tender specifications.

The opportunity is not restricted to public authorities or Member State bodies. Suitable applicants are likely to include specialised research and evaluation consultancies, universities, public policy institutes, economic and management consultancies, and consortia combining these profiles with energy efficiency, cohesion policy and data expertise.

The procurement data indicates that the contract is not considered specifically suitable for SMEs. This does not automatically exclude SMEs from participating, including through a consortium or subcontracting arrangement, but the scale, geographical coverage, multidisciplinary requirements and compressed timetable may favour a well-resourced lead organisation or consortium.

Applicants must demonstrate legal and regulatory capacity to perform the contract, satisfy the applicable economic and financial criteria, and meet the required technical and professional criteria specified in the tender specifications. The detailed thresholds and evidence requirements must be checked in the official tender specifications before submission.

Expected applicant capabilities

Eligibility, exclusion and compliance requirements

Each involved entity must complete the required declaration on honour or provide equivalent information through the procurement process. The declaration covers the tenderer, relevant group members, subcontractors and entities whose capacities are relied upon where applicable.

Participant registration and submission conditions

Every tenderer, including each member of a joint tender, must be registered in the European Commission Participant Register and have a Participant Identification Code. An EU Login account is required to access the electronic submission process. Tenders must be submitted exclusively through eSubmission at the opportunity address. Email, postal submissions and other submission methods will be disregarded.

The tender must contain all information and documents required by the procurement documents at the time of submission. A submission receipt generated by eSubmission is the evidence of the official date and time of receipt. Applicants should allow sufficient time for registration, document validation, electronic signatures, file uploading and technical problems.

The tender invitation states that tenders may be submitted in any official language of the European Union, while the tender specifications require all deliverables to be submitted in English and the national language versions of the three experimental designs to be produced for the participating countries.

Variants are not allowed. Only one tender per tenderer may be considered, except where the tender specifications expressly allow variants, which this opportunity does not. A tender may be withdrawn or replaced before the deadline, but a replacement tender must contain all required information and documents again.

Evaluation and award

The contract will be awarded using the best price quality ratio. Quality accounts for 70 percent of the award evaluation and price accounts for 30 percent. The procurement data indicates that the financial tender form is not applicable, so applicants should follow the pricing format and instructions in the tender specifications and draft contract rather than assume a standard grant budget template.

Because quality has the dominant weighting, the tender should give particular attention to methodological credibility, operational feasibility, team composition, delivery timetable, national language capacity, risk management, data and ethics arrangements, and the ability to produce immediately usable NRPP-ready designs.

Important contract conditions

The contract will be a direct service contract. Its terms, obligations, payment arrangements, confidentiality provisions, audit rights, performance requirements and other contractual conditions are set out in the draft contract and its annexes.

The Commission is not bound to award the contract merely because tenders are submitted. The contractual obligation begins only when the contract is signed by both parties. The Commission may cancel the procedure before signature without tenderers being entitled to compensation, subject to the applicable procurement rules.

All deliverables require Commission review and approval. The Commission may request modifications or propose changes to redirect the work where necessary. The contractor must attend the specified meetings and support additional regular progress meetings, generally on a bi-weekly basis.

The contractor must organise and finance the operational aspects of the launch seminar, country workshops and joint synthesis event. The specifications provide for reimbursement arrangements for specified participating experts, including up to four experts per Member State for relevant events and up to six Evaluation Network members for the joint synthesis event. The Commission will make a venue available for the Brussels launch seminar at no cost to the contractor.

Artificial intelligence, data protection and security

If artificial intelligence is used to prepare reports or other outputs, the contractor must clearly identify the generated content, the tool name and version, how it was used and the person who verified the output. The contractor remains responsible for transparency, replicability, quality assurance and compliance with applicable EU law.

The tender includes a security requirements annex. Tenderers should assess information security, confidentiality, personal data handling, access controls and data transfer implications before proposing methods that use administrative, energy consumption or household-level information.

The Commission processes personal data in procurement procedures under Regulation (EU) 2018/1725. Tenderers should ensure that CVs, contact data, participant information and any data used in proposed methods are handled in accordance with the applicable procurement and data protection requirements.

Applicant preparation priorities

Main risks and limitations

This is a demanding analytical and implementation design contract rather than a conventional study. The successful tenderer must convert experimental methods into designs that can operate within real cohesion policy programmes, procurement arrangements, legal systems, data environments and political contexts.

The three participating Member States are not identified in the published opportunity material. The tender must therefore show flexible country coverage, adaptable language resources and a robust country selection and diagnostic methodology.

The budget is a total contract value of €340,000 for the entire assignment, including the required expert effort, travel, workshops, seminars, events, language capacity, data and analytical work. Applicants should verify the financial assumptions in the draft contract and ensure that the proposed staffing and event plan can be delivered within this value.

There is no grant funding rate, beneficiary co-financing rate or project grant amount. The €340,000 is the estimated procurement value paid by the Commission to the selected contractor under the service contract, subject to the contract terms and approval of deliverables.

Source documents and official verification

The opportunity record, invitation letter, tender specifications, declaration on honour, draft service contract and security requirements annex should be read together. The tender specifications are the primary source for detailed selection criteria, evidence requirements, evaluation methodology, document formats and contractual expectations.

Official documents include the Invitation letter, Tender specifications and Declaration on honour.

The portal record and procurement documents should be checked immediately before submission because dates, documents, clarifications and technical requirements may be updated during the procurement period.

Footnotes

1. 1The analysis is based on the European Commission Funding and Tenders Portal record and the procurement documents made available for procedure EC-REGIO/2026/OP/0057. The opportunity is a public procurement of services and should not be interpreted as a grant call.