Monitoring and analysis services of the Croatian media

The European Parliament's Directorate-General for Communication is tendering a framework contract (EP-COMM/2026/OP/0022, TED 87/2026) for daily monitoring and quantitative analysis of Croatian print, online, radio and television media to be delivered via the EPMM platform. The maximum value of the framework contract is €250,000 including all renewals, with an initial 12-month term and tacit annual renewals up to 48 months, and the submission deadline is 10 June 2026 at 16:00 Europe/Brussels. Eligible bidders must demonstrate technical and financial capacity, including at least three years' relevant experience, a minimum yearly turnover of €125,000 for the last three closed years, editorial staff fluent in English and Croatian, and compliance with exclusion and restrictive measures. Award will be based on the best price-quality ratio following qualitative thresholds for simulation and methodology and proportional scoring of price.

What is funded

A framework contract to provide daily media monitoring (print, online, TV, radio) and monthly/ ad‑hoc quantitative media analysis for Croatia. Deliverables include English summaries, metadata tags, and copies or links to full‑text clippings via the European Parliament’s media monitoring platform (EPMM).

Who can apply

Open to natural or legal persons and public entities established in EU Member States and in third countries having public‑procurement access to EU contracts; tenders may be submitted by single operators or groups/consortia. Subcontracting is permitted subject to prior declaration and approval.

Key commercial facts

Estimated value:Maximum total value €250,000 (all renewals included); budget split indicative: media monitoring €200,000 and media analysis €50,000 ¹.

1. 1Procedure type: open procedure; framework agreement, without reopening of competition
2. 2Award: best price‑quality ratio (qualitative thresholds apply before price evaluation)
3. 3Nature of contract: services (CPV 92400000 — News‑agency services)

Important operational details

Daily delivery times, metadata and file formats are specified in the technical specifications. The contractor must upload items to the EP platform (EPMM) using EU Login accounts; PDFs should be OCR‑readable and met technical constraints. The EP requires editorial quality (human checks) and compliance with copyright/licensing for clippings.

Selection and minimum requirements

Tenderers must meet exclusion and selection criteria in the specifications. Minimum financial requirement: yearly turnover of at least €125,000 (last three closed years). Technical requirements include at least three years’ relevant experience and a team with an editorial coordinator with at least three years’ relevant experience; staff must be fluent in English and Croatian (or languages of monitored sources).

How award is decided

Evaluation follows two stages:pass qualitative thresholds (quality and methodology), then price scoring. Quality criteria include a simulation and methodological demonstration described in Annex C. Price scoring gives maximum points to the lowest price; final ranking uses combined quality + price points.

How to apply:Submit an electronic tender via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal/eSubmission (EU Login and PIC required). Ensure you attach the tender specifications, simulation deliverables and requested annexes and complete Annexes (financial data, declarations, subcontractor list as applicable). See the procurement documents for full instructions and templates ¹.

1. 1Prepare EU Login/PIC; register your organisation in the Participant Register
2. 2Complete tender dossier per Invitation to Tender and Annex I (Technical Specifications)
3. 3Provide simulation deliverables (Annex C), financial sheets (Annex VII) and declarations (Annex III, VI, VIII as applicable)
4. 4Submit electronically before the deadline via eSubmission

Questions during the submission phase must be posted through the Portal’s Questions & Answers area by the deadline indicated in the procurement documents.

Footnotes

1. 1Procurement documents, full technical specifications, annexes and submission are available on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal F&T Portal.

Key facts and deadlines

Procuring authority:European Parliament, Directorate-General for Communication, Directorate for Media. Procedure: open procedure to award a framework service contract. TED reference: 87/2026 309999-2026. Estimated total maximum value of the framework contract: €250,000 (all renewals included). Maximum contract duration: 48 months (initial 12-month duration renewable annually up to 4 years). Milestones and important dates: TED publication date 06/05/2026, deadline for receipt of tenders 10/06/2026 16:00 Europe/Brussels, public opening 11/06/2026 10:00 Europe/Brussels. Questions to contracting authority not guaranteed to be answered after 02/06/2026 23:59 Europe/Brussels.

Tender Reference:EP-COMM/2026/OP/0022. Full procurement documents, specifications and annexes are published on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal F&T Portal ¹.

What the European Parliament is buying

Subject:Daily media monitoring and monthly media analysis of Croatian media covering written press (national and regional print), online main media, radio and TV; delivery of daily press reviews and audio-visual summaries in English; upload of metadata and clippings into the European Parliament’s global media monitoring and analysis platform EPMM; ad-hoc special event monitoring and media analysis. Services must include full metadata tagging, human-edited English summaries, provision or licensing of clippings (PDF or direct hyperlinks), and quantitative tagging for media analysis requests.

Scope and deliverables

Core services to be provided by the contractor:daily national press review delivered before 08:00 CET containing on average 20 English summaries and 20 clippings per weekday; daily national audio-visual review delivered before 08:30 CET containing on average six audio-visual English summaries per day (monthly average); weekend/holiday aggregated reviews delivered before 09:00 CET the next working day; upload and delivery of items and metadata to EPMM via manual or API methods; upload of clippings in PDF (OCR) or delivery of publisher hyperlinks consistent with copyright rules; quantitative media analysis (tagging/tone/role/visibility/quoted speakers and other parameters) delivered via EPMM; ad-hoc special monitoring and event reports; technical and editorial training on EPMM; helpdesk support (07:00–18:00 CET). Performance metrics, accuracy and penalties are specified in the technical specifications (Annex I) including monthly service credits for missed SLAs and per-item penalties for missing or erroneous items.

Budget split (estimated):Total maximum value €250,000 all renewals included. Indicative split in tender documents: Media monitoring activities €200,000; Media analysis €50,000.

Who can apply (eligibility and applicant types)

Participation is open to natural or legal persons and public entities established in EU Member States and in third countries granted access under applicable international public procurement agreements. Tenderers must indicate country of establishment and provide evidence as required by national law. Groups of economic operators (consortia) are permitted. Subcontracting is allowed subject to prior information and possible authorisation by the European Parliament.

1. 1Eligible applicant types: SMEs and large enterprises, media monitoring and news-agency service providers, research institutes and universities offering media analysis services, nonprofits and NGOs with relevant capacity, public entities with permitted legal form, consortia (groups of economic operators).
2. 2Excluded / restricted: entities or persons subject to EU restrictive measures (Regulation 833/2014 and subsequent amendments) are prohibited from being awarded the contract; tenderers must submit the declaration on restrictive measures (Annex VIII).
3. 3Consortia: permitted; groups must provide joint and several liability arrangements and evidence of members’ roles; Annex V information sheet must be included.
4. 4Subcontracting: permitted but the European Parliament reserves the right to verify subcontractors’ compliance with exclusion and selection criteria and to accept or reject subcontractors (Annex VI).

Selection, award and evaluation

This is an open procurement procedure to award a framework agreement. Award is by best price-quality ratio. Selection requires documentary evidence for exclusion and selection criteria prior to award. Minimum financial capacity: minimum yearly turnover of €125,000 for the last three closed financial years (Annex VII financial data sheet and financial statements required). Minimum technical capacity: at least three years’ experience in similar services; a team including an editorial coordinator with at least three years proven experience in media monitoring/analysis; staff fluent in English and in monitored media languages; availability of keyword-search electronic program and news database. Tenderers must provide proof of language ability (CVs, diplomas, certificates or signed declarations for native speakers), list of principal services in past three years and client statements upon request.

1. 1Qualitative evaluation: two qualitative criteria totalling 100 points: 1) Quality and consistency of proposed simulation (70 points, threshold 35); 2) Methodology proposed (30 points, threshold 15). Minimum combined threshold 65 points to proceed to price evaluation.
2. 2Price evaluation: lowest-priced tender receives 100 price points; others scored proportionally. Final ranking = quality points + price points. Maximum contract value fixed at €250,000.

Financial and contractual details

Contract form:framework service contract, without reopening of competition. Order forms will be used for specific assignments. Framework duration is 12 months with tacit annual renewal up to 4 years. Payment: monthly invoicing on accepted deliveries. Invoices must be electronic via eInvoicing/PEPPOL or the Commission platform. Invoices in EUR exclusive of VAT. Price revision: annual revision based on HICP (euro area) index formula stated in the draft contract. Penalties and service credits for SLA non-compliance apply as specified in Annex I (performance metrics and penalties table).

Estimated contract value and method:Total framework maximum value €250,000; award method: best price-quality ratio; framework agreement without reopening of competition.

Contract duration and order execution

Initial contract duration 12 months. Tacit renewal annually up to four years total. Services are delivered under specific order forms referencing the framework contract. Order forms may not be signed before the contract enters into force; no performance prior to signature. Contract law: EU law complemented by Belgian law for interpretation; disputes to the General Court of the Court of Justice of the European Union as provided in the draft framework contract.

Submission and procedural requirements

Submission method:electronic only via eSubmission in the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. A EU Login account and Participant Identification Code (PIC) are required. Tenderers may submit in any official EU language. eSubmission requirements (file types, size, browsers, 2-step verification from 30 June 2026) must be observed. Late or non-electronic submissions will be rejected. Tender validity and rules for withdrawal and replacement are described in the invitation letter.

1. 1Required documents to submit with the tender include: Invitation letter requirements, tender specifications (Annex I and its annexes: Methodological aspects, Example press clipping, Simulation brief, Quantitative analysis guide, Content provider interfaces, Price list), Annexes II–VIII, financial data, declarations on exclusion and restrictive measures, declaration on subcontractors (if any), completed price tables.
2. 2Simulation requirement: tenderers must provide a monitoring and analysis simulation (Annex C). The simulation and its cost must be annexed to the offer and will be used in qualitative scoring. The simulation requires creation of a sample press review and audio-visual review for a specific date and quantitative tagging exercise for a specified monitoring period; detailed deliverables and evaluation criteria are in Annex C and Annex D.
3. 3Training: Contractor’s staff must attend EPMM training before starting operational uploads. EPMM accounts and two-factor EU Login access required and controlled by the EP.

Technical and IT interface requirements

Uploads to EPMM may be manual via document upload or automatic via the Content Provider interfaces (Annex E). The Annex E defines XML/RSS formats, mandatory metadata fields, enclosure handling, API endpoints, and status polling. The contractor must test and ensure compatibility; if API is used, implement new interface versions within 15 days of publication. PDFs must follow size and formatting requirements (example in Annex I.B). The contractor must provide OCR-capable PDFs or publisher hyperlinks where clipping delivery is restricted by copyright. Helpdesk support hours and responsibilities are defined in Annex I.

Performance targets, quality and penalties

Performance metrics are specified in Annex I point 4 and include delivery timeliness target (90% on-time delivery per month), accuracy and completeness targets, metadata accuracy (98%), and quality of written summaries (no more than 5 errors/month). Remedies include monthly invoice service credits, per-item penalties for missed/erroneous items, and reductions for repeated quality failures. The European Parliament may apply additional remedies for breach including price reductions or contract termination in defined cases.

1. 1Timeliness: daily press reviews before 08:00 CET, audio-visual before 08:30 CET, weekend/holiday delivery before 09:00 CET on the next working day.
2. 2Metadata accuracy: mandatory fields and codebook must be followed. The codebook and methodological changes by contracting authority must be respected to preserve consistency.
3. 3Intellectual property: summaries are transferred in ownership to the European Parliament; clippings are licensed for EP use and distribution to restricted recipients; contractor responsible for licensing and copyright clearance and must supply licensing limitations to EP if any.

Geographic and sectoral scope

Geographic scope:Croatia (media sources listed in Annex A). Sector: media monitoring, news-agency services, media analysis, communications and public affairs. Languages: primary delivery in English; summaries must be in English; contractor must monitor original-language sources (Croatian) and provide original-language metadata and optional original summary where required by specifications.

1. 1Mentioned country: Croatia (explicit list of core and non-core Croatian media outlets provided in Annex A).
2. 2Target sectors: media monitoring, media analysis, communications, public affairs, press agencies.

Eligibility, exclusion and regulatory compliance

Tenderers must comply with exclusion criteria of the Financial Regulation (Articles 138 to 143) and submit the declaration on honour (Annex III). Tenderers must declare compliance with restrictive measures relating to Russia/Ukraine (Annex VIII) and may be required to deliver proof. Tenderers must provide financial data for the last three financial years (Annex VII) and evidence of technical capacity (CVs, references, list of services). Tenderers must register for a PIC and, if asked, provide documentary evidence within specified time limits (5 or 10 days as noted).

Scoring and success rates

Success is based on combined qualitative and price scoring. Tenderers must meet thresholds on qualitative criteria (minimum 35/70 on simulation quality; minimum 15/30 on methodology; minimum combined 65/100) to be evaluated on price. Price scoring gives up to 100 price points to the lowest priced tender and proportional points to others. Overall ranking combines quality and price points. The Contracting Authority does not publish a fixed historical success rate; competition level depends on market and the number of bids received for the open procedure.

Application process and templates

Applications must be submitted electronically via eSubmission in the F&T Portal using the standard tender forms. Required attachments: Invitation-letter conditions to tender, Tender specifications and Annexes (I to X), Invitation letter, Draft Framework Contract, Annexes III–VIII declarations and forms, Financial data sheet (Annex VII), Simulation deliverables (Annex C). The price form template: Annex F Price list. Financial Identification Form (Annex IVb) to be provided for payments. Declarations for subcontractors (Annex VI) and restrictive measures (Annex VIII) must be signed and included if applicable.

Templates and application structure:Tenderers should structure their submission to include: 1) Administrative forms and signed declarations (Annex III, Annex VI if subcontractors, Annex VIII); 2) Technical offer including Methodology, Team CVs (editorial coordinator with ≥3 years experience), Simulation deliverables (Annex C), technical facilities description, sample clippings and processed metadata; 3) Financial offer using Annex F Price list and Annex VII Financial Data Sheet with supporting financial statements; 4) Legal documents and copies of registration, insurance and required licences. Use the annex numbering provided in the procurement documents for attachments.

Risk, IP, data protection and compliance

Data protection:processing of personal data by the Contractor on behalf of the European Parliament is governed by Regulation (EU) 2018/1725; Contractor acts as processor and must implement technical and organisational measures and provide breach notifications to the controller. Servers and equipment must be located in the EEA or in a third country covered by an EU adequacy decision. Intellectual property: summaries become EP property; clippings are licensed to EP for specific internal use and delivery to restricted recipients; Contractor must ensure copyright clearance and include licensing costs in their price. Environmental policy: the Contractor must respect EP environmental policy (Annex II) and apply sustainability practices where relevant.

How to prepare a competitive bid — technical checklist

1. 1Follow Annex I technical specifications and Annex I.A methodological aspects and Annex E interfaces exactly.
2. 2Complete the Simulation (Annex C) deliverables and cost breakdown and attach as part of the technical offer.
3. 3Provide CVs evidencing the editorial coordinator ≥3 years’ experience, other staff ≥1 year and language proofs (C2 level or equivalent for non-native; signed native speaker declaration where appropriate).
4. 4Provide references and list of similar services (last 3 years) and client statements where possible.
5. 5Complete Annex F price list and ensure fully inclusive pricing including copyright/licensing for clippings, OCR, API/IT integration, helpdesk and training.
6. 6Provide financial statements and Annex VII financial data sheet demonstrating minimum turnover requirement (€125,000/year average as specified).
7. 7Include Annex III declaration on honour and Annex VIII restrictive measures declaration, and Annex VI on subcontractors where relevant.
8. 8Test API compatibility with EPMM (if using automatic upload) and document technical approach to integrate with EPMM; provide timeline for implementation and fallback email delivery procedure for EPMM unavailability.
9. 9Include evidence of insurance, environmental policy compliance, and planned technical and editorial quality control procedures.

Summary: what this opportunity is about

The European Parliament seeks a supplier to deliver daily monitoring and media analysis services of Croatian national, regional and online media and of audio-visual media in Croatia. The awarded contractor will supply daily English press reviews and audio-visual summaries, deliver full-text clippings compliant with copyright rules, upload items and metadata into the Parliament’s EPMM platform (API or manual upload), and provide quantitative tagging and analysis on demand. The framework agreement has a maximum value of €250,000 for up to four years. Selection is based on quality (simulation and methodology) and price. Tenderers must demonstrate media monitoring and analysis experience, editorial capacity, IT capability to integrate with EPMM, appropriate licensing for clippings, financial capacity, and compliance with exclusion and data protection requirements.

Quick reference — essential documents to download

• Invitation letter and conditions to tender (published 06/05/2026)
• Tender specifications and Annex I technical specifications (Annexes A–F including Methodological aspects, Simulation brief, Price list)
• Annex II European Parliament environmental policy
• Annex III Declaration on the tenderer’s honour (exclusion and selection)
• Annex IV Financial identification form and Guide
• Annex V Groups of economic operators information sheet
• Annex VI Declaration on subcontractors
• Annex VII Financial data sheet
• Annex VIII Declaration on restrictive measures (Russia/Ukraine-related)
• Draft framework contract and model order form

Footnotes

1. 1Procurement documents, specification annexes and downloads are available via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal opportunity page: ec.europa.eu

Opportunity Overview

The European Parliament's Directorate-General for Communication is launching an open tender procedure to award a framework contract for comprehensive daily monitoring and analysis of Croatian media. The contract aims to provide timely, up-to-date information about how topics relevant to the European Parliament and the European Union are reported across Croatian print media, audio-visual outlets (radio and television), and online sources. The services will be delivered through the European Parliament's global media monitoring and analysis platform (EPMM) to support the institution's communication strategy and better inform EU citizens about European policies.

Procedure Identifier:EP-COMM/2026/OP/0022

TED Reference:87/2026 309999-2026

Contracting Authority:European Parliament, Directorate-General for Communication (COMM), Directorate for Media

Key Dates and Deadlines

All deadlines are expressed in local time at the contracting authority's location (Brussels). Tenders received after the submission deadline will be rejected. The submission receipt provided by the electronic submission system (eSubmission) with its official timestamp constitutes proof of compliance with the deadline. ¹

Funding and Contract Value

Maximum Contract Value:€250,000 including all renewals

Budget Allocation:Media monitoring activities: €200,000; Media analysis: €50,000

Contract Duration:Maximum 48 months (12 months initial term with tacit annual renewals, not exceeding four years total)

Pricing Requirements:Prices must be quoted in euros excluding VAT. Tenderers from non-euro zone countries must select an exchange rate and accept risks or benefits from any variation. The price quoted must be all-inclusive.

Nature of the Contract

This is a framework agreement without reopening of competition for services. The contract covers two main service categories: daily media monitoring and monthly media analysis. The framework agreement structure allows the European Parliament to call off services as needed throughout the contract period without conducting additional competitive procedures.

Who Can Apply

Eligible Participants

Participation is open on equal terms to all natural and legal persons and public entities established in European Union Member States and to natural and legal persons and public entities from third countries that have concluded specific public procurement agreements with the European Union providing them access to this contract. Tenderers must indicate their country of establishment and provide supporting evidence normally acceptable under their national law.

Consortium and Subcontracting

Groups of economic operators may submit joint tenders. Each member of a consortium must provide proof of eligibility and compliance with exclusion and selection criteria. Subcontracting is permitted. Tenderers using subcontractors must complete the Declaration on Subcontractors (Annex VI) and provide details of the subcontracted parts and their value. The European Parliament reserves the right to request information on the financial, economic, technical and professional resources of proposed subcontractors and may reject any subcontractor not complying with exclusion or selection criteria.

Selection and Eligibility Criteria

Legal and Regulatory Capacity

Tenderers must fulfil at least one of the following conditions:be enrolled in a relevant professional or trade register (except for international organisations), or for service contracts, hold a particular authorisation proving they are authorised to perform the contract in their country of establishment or be a member of a specific professional organisation. In the case of groups of economic operators, each member must furnish proof of authorisation to perform the contract.

Financial and Economic Capacity

Tenderers must have sufficient economic and financial resources to perform the contract. The European Parliament requires a minimum yearly turnover of €125,000 for the last three years for which accounts have been closed. ² Financial capacity will be assessed based on a completed financial data sheet (Annex VII) and financial statements (balance sheets, profit and loss accounts and related financial information) for the last three years. Tenderers unable to provide the requested references may prove capacity through other documents the European Parliament considers appropriate. Tenderers may also rely on the capacity of other entities by providing assurance of their undertaking to make resources available.

Technical and Professional Capacity

Tenderers must demonstrate sufficient technical and professional capacity to perform the contract. Required qualifications include: at least three years' experience in services or deliveries similar to those required by the contract; a team of experts in media monitoring with the editorial coordinator having at least three years' proven experience in the field covered by the invitation and other team members having at least one year experience; all team members must be fluent in English and in the language of the media sources monitored (Croatian); and availability of technical facilities including keyword-search electronic programs and news databases. ³

Evidence of technical and professional capacity must include a list of principal services provided in the past three years with sums, dates and clients (public or private) accompanied by client statements upon request. Professional and educational qualifications of the editorial coordinator and staff must be proven through CVs with evidence of proficiency in English and Croatian at minimum C2 level (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) and university diplomas. Acceptable forms of evidence for language proficiency include diplomas or certificates from recognised language institutions, language proficiency certificates, proof of professional experience confirming regular use of the relevant languages, or for native speakers, a signed declaration attesting native speaker status with supporting documentation such as evidence of education completed in the relevant language.

Exclusion Criteria

Tenderers must not be in any of the exclusion situations established under Articles 138 to 143 of the Financial Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509. These include situations such as bankruptcy, insolvency, breach of tax or social security obligations, grave professional misconduct, fraud, corruption, criminal offences, money laundering, terrorist financing, child labour, trafficking in human beings, significant deficiencies in implementing previous EU-funded contracts, irregularities, creation of entities to circumvent legal obligations, and resistance to investigations or audits. ⁴ All tenderers must submit a declaration on the tenderer's honour (Annex III) duly dated and signed. Before award, the contracting authority will request documentary evidence from the tenderer to whom the contract is to be awarded, with a deadline of 5 working days to provide valid evidence.

Restrictive Measures Compliance

Tenderers must ensure that they, their subcontractors, suppliers or entities whose capacities are relied upon are not subject to restrictive measures adopted under Article 21 TEU or Article 215 TFEU. Specifically, under Regulation 833/2014 concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia's actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine (as amended by Regulation 2022/576), tenders will be rejected if the tenderer or relevant entities are Russian nationals, entities established in Russia, entities with more than 50 percent Russian ownership, entities acting on behalf of Russian entities, or publicly controlled Russian entities with substantial economic relationships to Russia. Subcontractors, suppliers or entities whose capacities are relied upon accounting for more than 10 percent of the contract value are subject to the same restrictions. All tenderers must submit the declaration on the tenderer's honour concerning restrictive measures (Annex VIII) duly dated and signed.

Services Required

Media Monitoring Services

The contractor must provide daily monitoring of written press (national and regional), audio-visual media (radio and television), and main online media in Croatia. The service focuses on news items mentioning the European Parliament and MEPs, delivered in English. Monitoring must occur on weekdays with deliveries on the next working day for weekends and public holidays.

National Press Reviews:Must be delivered before 8:00 AM CET daily and contain on average 20 summaries in English and 20 press clippings per day of relevant news articles identified in printed press of the same day and online sources from the last 24 hours prior to sending. Each summary must be maximum 800 characters including title and spaces, delivered in English with accurate translation of the title and original version. Each summary requires final human editorial control to ensure accuracy.

National Audio-Visual Reviews:Must be delivered before 8:30 AM CET daily and contain an estimated average of 6 audio-visual summaries per day in English language. Each summary must be maximum 1600 characters including title and spaces. Audio-visual news broadcasts must be monitored 24/7 covering the last 24 hours prior to sending.

Weekend and Holiday Reviews:Must be delivered before 9:00 AM CET on the next working day after a weekend or holiday and contain on average per weekend the same number of summaries and clippings as the two weekday newsletters combined.

The contractor must monitor news under specified themes in the following priority order:European Parliament (decisions, debates, events, activities of the President, EPLO activities, Parlamentarium, House of European History, Europa Experience, EYE, Youth Events, Europe's Day, European Elections); Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) only in European context (speeches, opinions, letters, editorials, columns, interviews, statements); and European context (selection of representative articles related to the European Union or which could influence the EU, delivered only at specific request of the contracting authority).

The contractor must deliver press clippings in PDF format with OCR (Optical Character Recognition) readable on computer screens and when printed, or via hyperlinks directly from the publisher's platform pointing to specific full text. PDF characteristics must include maximum 500KB per single PDF, output all text in black or RGB (not CMYK or grey), either portrait or landscape pages in a single PDF (not both), and avoid multilayered PDFs containing excessive metadata. The chosen delivery format must comply with applicable national copyright legislation and relevant licensing agreements.

The contractor must upload media items either manually via the Documents Upload tool or automatically via API (application programming interface) to the EPMM platform. If the contractor uses API, it must implement any new version of specifications within 15 days from publication without interruption to service delivery. The contractor's editorial team members will connect to EPMM via EU Login and two-factor authentication after receiving European Parliament approval for each individual team member. The European Parliament will provide training on EPMM use, and the contractor has maximum one week to practice in a test environment before starting production delivery.

The European Parliament retains final editorial authority for daily reviews and may request the contractor to add, modify or remove items before or after the newsletter is sent to recipients. The contractor must correct, adapt and resend newsletters in the same day or following day without additional cost. The European Parliament may request the contractor to resend the same product without clippings (without copies of the article's original text), which is facilitated through a technical feature in EPMM and does not require re-uploading items already available on the platform.

Special ad-hoc reporting following an EP event or EPLO activity, MEPs mission or delegation, or a visit of the President of the EP or a MEP in institutional role may be requested. The EP will send in advance the topic(s), selection of media outlets to be monitored, and monitoring period. Special newsletters should be sent the following day after the monitoring period ends with the same structure and metadata as regular newsletters, accompanied by a one-page executive summary. The contracting authority estimates a yearly average of three such reports.

The provisional list of media sources to be monitored is provided in Annex A and includes core sources (online, print, radio, TV) and non-core sources. This list may be adapted during the contract duration due to changes in the media landscape without additional costs. The European Parliament can request that during certain periods the contractor delivers only news items detected from a subset of the full list of sources.

Media Analysis Services

The contractor must provide quantitative media analysis services on a predefined list of media items. The contracting party could envisage requesting on average 1.5 analyses per month on a yearly basis. Media analysis involves sorting and tagging written and online media coverage of EP-related topics and providing quantitative analysis by tagging media items according to specific criteria based on the media list in Annex A.

Sorting involves identifying and selecting media items belonging to the media list that mention topics of interest for analysis. For each story, subject or topic, the Parliament will decide on the set of keywords and/or period used to perform sorting. The contractor must select only relevant items for a certain story, subject or topic using EPMM. If EPMM is unavailable, the contractor must send to the EP service a document in English providing the results of sorting (how many articles belong to each topic) accompanied by the list of references to media items and their metadata.

Tagging consists of manual coding of media items by a media analyst. Media items will be tagged with parameters defined for the analysis, including topic, type of news (front page, articles, editorial, in brief, others), tone of news (positive, negative, neutral, mixed), visibility, mentions of EP or MEPs in the title, place of the EP in the news (primary, secondary, simple mention), role of the EP (as decision maker, venue for debate), and reported speakers (President, rapporteurs, national MEPs, other MEPs). The list may be adjusted by EP services during the contract lifetime. Tagging must be done and presented in English. The contractor must be ready to deliver tags no later than 24 hours after the end of the monitored period.

When a media item includes an opinion and is not tagged as neutral, the contractor must add a comment box with one to two sentences in English to justify the tone assessment, indicating why the analyst evaluated the item that way. The contractor will provide support for both editorial and IT aspects of analyses undertaken and transmission of data.

Technical Requirements and Helpdesk

The contractor must provide a helpdesk service for technical issues with delivery and availability of products and services or for updates and upgrades needed for service compatibility with EP systems. The helpdesk service must be available between 7:00 AM and 6:00 PM CET on weekdays. The contractor must strictly adhere to agreed-upon deadlines for service delivery. The European Parliament will manage the list of recipients and EPMM user accounts. The contractor must work with the EP to ensure that data input responds to specified criteria and enables its exploitation by EP staff.

Submission Requirements

Submission Method and Format

Tenders must be submitted exclusively via the electronic submission system (eSubmission) available through the Funding and Tenders Portal at Link Title. Tenders submitted in any other way (email, letter, etc.) will be rejected. Economic operators must register in the European Commission's Participant Register to obtain a Participant Identification Code (PIC), a nine-digit unique identifier. Tenderers already registered should reuse their existing PICs.

Tenders may be submitted in any official language of the European Union. The system supports all 24 official EU languages. File types, attachment sizes and other system requirements are specified in the eSubmission system requirements documentation. Maximum file size per attachment is 50 MB. Maximum number of documents per tender is 200 files. Supported file types depend on the type of submission and are specified within the system requirements linked to the procedure.

Tenderers must ensure that submitted tenders contain all information and documents required by the contracting authority as set out in the procurement documents at the time of submission. After submitting a tender but before the deadline, a tenderer may definitively withdraw its tender or withdraw and replace it with a new one. A withdrawal receipt will be provided by eSubmission as proof of withdrawal. No more than one tender can be considered per tenderer. If the same tenderer submits more than one tender and none is withdrawn, only the latest tender will be considered.

Required Documents and Declarations

Tenders must include the following documents and declarations:Declaration on the tenderer's honour concerning exclusion and selection criteria (Annex III); Financial identification form - supplier (Annex IV); Information sheet concerning groups of economic operators (Annex V) if applicable; Declaration concerning subcontractors (Annex VI) if applicable; Financial data sheet (Annex VII); Declaration on the tenderer's honour concerning restrictive measures (Annex VIII); and a price list (Annex F of Technical Specifications).

The Financial Identification Form must be completed with accurate legal entity type, VAT number (if applicable), legal entity information, natural person information (if applicable), registered address, bank information (bank name, account holder name, IBAN, SWIFT/BIC code, currency), and supporting documents including proof of banking information (RIB or bank statement dated within the last six months) and identification documents (for natural persons, copy of ID card or passport; for entities, copy of official document with company name, VAT and address such as certificate of incorporation, business registration certificate, extract from commercial register, or VAT/tax registration certificate).

The Financial Data Sheet must include total turnover for the last three financial years, total net profit after tax for the last three financial years, total assets available within one year, and total debt due within one year. All information must be certified as true and accurate and signed by an authorised representative.

Award Criteria and Evaluation

The contract will be awarded to the tender offering the best price-quality ratio. Tenders will be evaluated based on qualitative criteria and a price criterion. To be selected for the price evaluation stage, tenderers must obtain at least 35 points for the first quality criterion, at least 15 points for the second quality criterion, and at least 65 points combined for both quality criteria.

The evaluation committee will award a maximum of 100 points for the price criterion. The lowest-priced tender will receive the maximum points. Other tenders will be awarded points in proportion to their divergence from the lowest-priced tender using the formula: (Pm / Po) * 100, where Pm is the price of the lowest-priced tender and Po is the price of the tender being evaluated. The number of points obtained for the price criterion is added to the number of points obtained in the evaluation of qualitative criteria. The tender obtaining the highest total number of points will be ranked first and recommended for award.

Intellectual Property and Copyright

Compliance with copyright and other intellectual property legislation is of utmost importance. The contractor must ensure compliance with applicable copyright and other intellectual property legislation and that the European Parliament will have all necessary rights to use the services described in the tender. The European Parliament will obtain ownership of summaries of media items and will have the right to freely use summaries for reproduction, copying, distribution in any digital format or on paper, and storage for an unlimited period. The European Parliament will also have rights to modify, translate summaries and use them to feed its own Artificial Intelligence modules for training and reworking purposes at its own initiative and to share them with other EU institutions.

The European Parliament will not obtain ownership or exclusive rights on copies of full text articles (clippings) from print or online media. However, the contractor must obtain a licence for the European Parliament for all necessary rights related to use of clippings as described in the tender, including the right to upload and store clippings into the European Parliament's media monitoring platform and to send them by all means of communication to the European Parliament's restricted list of recipients. The contractor is responsible for obtaining and maintaining necessary licences from relevant copyright management organisations to ensure lawful provision of press clippings and must provide clear information regarding any licence limitations.

Performance Requirements and Penalties

The contractor must meet delivery times and quality standards that form part of binding contractual obligations. Failure to meet performance requirements may lead to application of penalties under the contract. ⁵

Environmental and Equality Policies

Tenderers must undertake to comply with environmental legislation in force in the field of the contract. The European Parliament applies the EMAS environmental management system in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009. The successful tenderer will be required to ensure that information provided by the European Parliament on the EMAS programme and implementation of environmental measures is known by all staff working for the European Parliament. At the European Parliament's request, the successful tenderer may be required to certify that anyone assigned to work under the contract has received appropriate professional training concerning compliance with safety rules and correct handling of equipment and products.

Tenderers must undertake to observe a policy on promotion of equality and diversity in performance of the contract by applying principles of non-discrimination and equality set out in the Community Treaties in full and in their entirety. The tenderer awarded the contract must establish, maintain and promote an open and inclusive working environment respecting human dignity and principles of equal opportunities based on equality between men and women, employment and integration of disabled persons, and removal of all obstacles to recruitment and potential discrimination based on sex, race or ethnic origin, religion or convictions, disability, age or sexual orientation.

Data Protection

If processing a reply to the invitation to tender involves recording and processing of personal data (such as name, address and CV), this data will be processed in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 on protection of natural persons with regard to processing of personal data by Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies. Unless indicated otherwise, personal data will be processed solely for evaluation purposes in the context of the call for tenders by the European Parliament, which acts as the data controller. Tenderers' personal data may be registered in the Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES) if the tenderer is in one of the situations mentioned in Article 138 of the Financial Regulation.

Contact and Communication

There must be no contact between the contracting authority and tenderers during the procedure except in exceptional circumstances and under specific conditions. During the submission phase, the contracting authority may provide additional information upon request for the sole purpose of clarifying procurement documents. Any request for additional information must be made in writing by clicking 'Create question' in the 'Questions and answers' section at the Funding and Tenders Portal (EU Login registration required). The contracting authority is under no obligation to reply to requests for additional information received fewer than six working days before the deadline for receipt of tenders. Any additional information will be published at the F&T Portal and it is the economic operator's responsibility to check for updates and modifications during the submission period.

Tenders will be opened in a virtual opening session on 11 June 2026 at 10:00 Europe/Brussels. A maximum of two representatives per tenderer may attend. Tenderers may ask to attend the opening by sending an email to media-tenders@europarl.europa.eu as quickly as possible and no later than one working day before the scheduled start of the virtual opening session. The request must include full names and email addresses of the tenderer's representatives, the name of the tenderer being represented, and the submission receipt generated by eSubmission. The contracting authority reserves the right to refuse access if the information is not provided.

Tenderers will be notified of the outcome of the procurement procedure by email. If a tender is rejected, the tenderer will be informed of the grounds for rejection. All tenderers will be informed of the standstill period. Notification will be sent to the email address provided by the tenderer (group leader for joint tenders) in the eSubmission application when the tender was submitted. It is the tenderer's responsibility to provide a valid email address and check emails regularly.

Additional Information

All costs incurred in preparing and submitting tenders and in attending the opening session are to be borne by tenderers and will not be reimbursed. The invitation to tender is in no way binding on the contracting authority. The contracting authority's contractual obligation commences only when the contract with the successful tenderer is signed by both parties. The contracting authority may cancel the procurement procedure at any time until the contract is signed without tenderers being entitled to claim any compensation. Any such decision must be substantiated and tenderers must be notified.

The validity period of the tender, during which tenderers may not modify the terms of their tenders in any respect, is indicated in the contract notice. Submission of a tender implies that the tenderer accepts all terms and conditions set out in the procurement documents and waives its own general or specific terms and conditions. The submitted tender is binding on the tenderer to whom the contract is awarded for the duration of the contract.

Variants are not permitted. Prices shall be revised in accordance with terms set out in the contract. Financial guarantees are not applicable. For detailed instructions on how to submit a tender, see the eSubmission Quick Guide available at eSubmission Quick Guide. System requirements including supported browsers, file types, attachment sizes and other technical information can be found at System Requirements. In case of technical problems, contact the eSubmission Helpdesk as quickly as possible.

For more information about the European Parliament's environmental policy, see Annex II to the tender specifications. For guidance on completing the financial identification form, see Annex IVb. All procurement documents are available on the Funding and Tenders Portal at the link provided above and are published in English only.

Footnotes

1. 1Tenderers who do not receive a submission receipt within a reasonable time after submitting their tenders should contact the eSubmission Helpdesk as quickly as possible. It is not possible to submit a tender through eSubmission after the deadline indicated in the contract notice or on the F&T Portal. Tenderers are invited to familiarise themselves with the system and system requirements well in advance to ensure timely submission.
2. 2If the tenderer is unable to provide the references requested, they may prove their economic and financial capacity by any other document which the European Parliament considers appropriate. Tenderers may also rely on the capacity of other entities by providing assurance of their undertaking to make resources available. A consortium may rely on the capacity of members of the group or other entities. Tenderers may also rely on the economic capacities of one or more subcontractors in so far as they undertake to take part in performing the contract.
3. 3All members of the team are required to be fluent in English and in Croatian (the language of the media sources monitored). Language proficiency must be demonstrated at minimum C2 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Acceptable forms of evidence include diplomas or certificates from recognised language institutions, language proficiency certificates, proof of professional experience confirming regular use of the relevant languages, or for native speakers, a signed declaration with supporting documentation.
4. 4The full texts of Articles 138 to 143 of the Financial Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 are available in the Official Journal of the European Union, N° L 2024/2509 on 26 September 2024, pages 1-239. Tenderers should review these articles carefully to understand all exclusion situations. The European Parliament may not exclude a person or entity in certain circumstances if they have taken sufficient remedial measures to demonstrate reliability, if exclusion would be indispensable to ensure continuity of service for a limited duration, or if exclusion would be disproportionate.
5. 5These penalties are without prejudice to flat-rate penalties for late service delivery under Article I.10.2 a) of the contract and any other remedies provided for in the contract. The contractor must meet delivery times and quality standards set out in the technical specifications. Performance metrics are measured monthly and penalties are applied accordingly. The contractor should ensure adequate resources and quality control processes to meet all performance requirements.