Open call for tenders for the provision of Service Desk, Digital Workplace, other IT support services, and Stock Management for the Council of the Eur...

The General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union has published an open call for tenders (CONSILIUM/2026/OP/0018) to establish a framework contract for Service Desk, Digital Workplace, other IT support and equipment life‑cycle and stock management services for up to 72 months. Tenders must be submitted electronically via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal (eSubmission) and each participating organisation requires a Participant Identification Code; tender prices are to be expressed in € and are VAT exempt. The award will be made on the best price‑quality ratio with equal weighting for quality (50%) and price (50%), and mandatory minimum requirements in Annex II are pass/fail. The tender deadline is 10 December 2026 at 16:00 Europe/Brussels and the public opening is scheduled for 11 December 2026 at 10:00 Europe/Brussels.

What is procured

Scope in one line

A framework contract to provide Service Desk, Digital Workplace (support, installation and configuration), other IT support (specialist profiles on time-and-means) and Equipment life‑cycle and stock management for the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union.

Who may apply

Open procedure for economic operators established in the EU or in third countries eligible under the procurement rules; sole tenderers or consortia (joint tenders) are allowed; subcontracting permitted but some security‑sensitive work requires prior approval and cleared personnel.

Contract basics and duration

Important dates and practical points

Submissions must be made electronically via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal eSubmission system. Tenderers must register in the Participant Register and obtain a PIC. Security requirements apply for work that handles EU classified information (SAL and facility/personnel clearance may be required).

Full procurement documents, tender specifications, draft framework contract, annexes and the financial form are published on the Funding & Tenders Portal.

Footnotes

1. 1Tender dossier and submission are on the Funding & Tenders Portal: F&T Portal - SMARTSUP-II

Call title and reference

Open call for tenders for the provision of Service Desk, Digital Workplace, other IT support services, and Stock Management for the Council of the European Union (SMARTSUP-II). Procedure identifier CONSILIUM/2026/OP/0018. TED reference 208/2026 741791-2026.

Purpose

Conclude a framework contract to provide Service Desk (single point of contact supporting GSC users), Digital Workplace services (installation, configuration, support and logistics for workstations and devices), Other IT Support (specialist time-and-means profiles) and Equipment Life Cycle & Stock Management (asset register, stock, warranty, decommissioning) for the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union (GSC).

Key facts (procurement data)

Eligible Applicant Types

Funding Type and Nature of Support

This is a procurement tender resulting in a services framework contract. Primary financial mechanism: procurement of services (framework agreement). Nature of support: non-monetary services delivered under contract (Service Desk, Digital Workplace, other IT support, stock management). Payments are for services performed; no grants, loans or equity.

Consortium Requirement

Consortiums are permitted but not mandatory. The procedure accepts sole tenderers and joint tenders (consortia). Joint tenders must supply the Agreement/Power of attorney (Annex X) and show joint and several liability; group leader must be appointed. Subcontracting is allowed subject to prior rules and approvals described in the administrative part and Annex XI and XII.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility)

Target Sector and Technical Scope

Mentioned Countries and Locations

Project Stage / Expected Maturity

Funding Amount and Financial Scale

The contract notice did not publish a fixed estimated total value in the summary page. Tenderers must complete the mandatory Annex III Financial form. Note: out-of-warranty repair costs are borne by the contractor and invoiced to GSC but capped at 15% of total contract value per year (tender rule).

Application Type and Submission

Application Stages and Process

Success Rates

Success rates are not published in the call documents. As a high-value institutional procurement with strict minimum requirements and quality scoring, competition is expected to be strong. No quantitative success rate is available from the documentation.

Co-funding Requirement

Templates and Application Forms

Tender documentation provides mandatory templates and forms that must be used without modification: Annex I Declaration on honour; Annex II Minimum requirements questionnaire (YES/NO compliance table for each minimum requirement and for operational/organisational commitments); Annex III Financial form (Excel with scenario, fixed-price scenarios, per-action prices and time-and-means profiles); Annex IV Service Level Agreement; Draft Framework Contract; Annex X Agreement/Power of attorney (for joint tenders); Annex XI list of identified subcontractors; Annex XII model commitment letters for subcontractors and entities on whose capacity is relied. Failure to use the mandatory forms or to complete required fields may lead to rejection.

Evaluation and Award Criteria (summary)

Key Technical and Compliance Requirements

Tender evaluation practical checklist

Mandatory Compliance and Security Notes

What to expect after submission

The contracting authority conducts formal opening (virtual public opening) and then evaluation phases: administrative compliance, exclusion checks, selection checks (financial/technical capacity) and technical/financial evaluation. Clarification requests may be sent. Successful tenderer will be invited to sign the draft framework contract (Annex III draft contract) and will enter start-up phase including knowledge transfer and security briefings.

Contact and documents

All procurement documents, Annexes, the draft contract and clarifications are available on the Funding & Tenders Portal opportunity page. Technical Q&A must be submitted via the Portal Questions & answers section. For eSubmission technical help contact the eSubmission Helpdesk; for procurement queries contact tendering@consilium.europa.eu.

Risks and recommended preparation steps

Summary: What this opportunity is about and how to approach it

This is an open procedure for a multi-year, non-exclusive framework services contract to supply integrated IT support to the Council of the European Union covering Service Desk, Digital Workplace operations (installation, configuration, support and logistics), specialist time-and-means IT support profiles, and full equipment life-cycle and stock management. The procurement is service-procurement focused: bidders must propose operational delivery teams, management and governance arrangements, security and compliance measures for handling classified information where applicable, and detailed financial pricing using the mandatory forms. Tenderers must meet strict minimum requirements (skills, language, security, health & safety) and will be evaluated on a combined technical quality and price basis. Apply by preparing a compliant technical offer addressing the 23 sub-criteria and mandatory Annex II, use the Annex III financial model, ensure security and health & safety compliance for personnel and sites, and submit electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal before the stated deadline. 1

Footnotes

1. 1Official opportunity page and downloads: ec.europa.eu

SMARTSUP-II Procurement Opportunity Report

Executive summary

SMARTSUP-II is a public procurement opportunity, not a grant scheme. The General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union intends to establish a framework contract for integrated Service Desk, Digital Workplace, other IT support, equipment life cycle and stock management services. The opportunity is relevant to established IT service providers, systems integrators and suitably structured consortia with the operational capacity to deliver services in Brussels and other Council locations for up to 72 months.1

The procedure is an open procedure for services using the best price quality ratio. The framework agreement is without reopening of competition, meaning that the framework structure does not provide for a later competitive call among framework contractors for each order. The published award structure allocates 50 percent to quality and 50 percent to price.

The final tender deadline is 10 December 2026 at 16:00 Brussels time. The public opening is scheduled for 11 December 2026 at 10:00 Brussels time. The contracting authority states that it is not bound to answer questions submitted after 2 December 2026 at 23:59 Brussels time. The supplied metadata also contains a separate 1 January 2026 date, which conflicts with the detailed procurement notice and should not be treated as the operative deadline.

Opportunity identification

What the procurement is buying

The contract is intended to provide a continuing operational IT support capability for the Council. It combines front line user support, workplace technology support, on site technical services, logistics, specialist IT expertise and the management of equipment assets and stock.

Service 1: Service Desk

The Service Desk covers the handling of incoming contacts, including recording, remote resolution, dispatch and follow up. The financial model uses a reference volume of approximately 44,000 contacts per year. The bidder must provide the required Service Desk technician profile, comply with the specified opening hours and perform the ten tasks and obligations identified in the minimum requirements questionnaire.

The specifications also contemplate a possible future evolution towards an artificial intelligence driven chatbot integrated with the IT service management tool. This indicates that bidders should demonstrate an adaptable service model, suitable governance and the ability to support phased automation without compromising security, data protection or service levels.

Service 2: Digital Workplace

The Digital Workplace service covers support and maintenance, endpoint installation and configuration, logistics and moves, and related workplace technology components. The minimum requirements include nine support and maintenance tasks, six endpoint installation and configuration tasks, six logistics and moves tasks, the specified opening hours and the availability of the MR2, MR3 and MR4 technical profiles.

The financial scenario includes standard workstation installation, office moves, equipment replacement, additional equipment actions and individual device installation outside the standard scenarios. It also includes normal-hours and extended-hours services at the principal locations and off-site teleworker interventions in Belgian territory.

Service 3: Other IT Support

The other IT support service is based on time and materials profiles ordered on an ad hoc basis. The required profiles are ITSM Tool Developer, Senior ITSM Tool Developer, Digital Workplace Technician for a specific domain, Systems Administrator for a specific domain, Project Manager and Senior Project Manager.

The financial form requires five hourly rates for each applicable profile. The rates distinguish between normal and non-standard working hours, Type A and B locations, Type C locations and off-site on-call work. The tenderer must also meet the requirement for extended-hours presence for at least four Brussels Summits per year.

Service 4: Equipment Life Cycle and Stock Management

This service covers asset register and configuration management database maintenance, procurement support and refresh planning, stock and spare pool management, printer toner deliveries, warranty and vendor contract tracking, end of life management and decommissioning.

Mandatory requirements include the asset register and CMDB tasks, procurement and refresh planning tasks, and the specified buffer alert mechanism for stock and spare pool management. The scope is therefore broader than warehouse administration and requires integration with workplace support, procurement planning and asset governance.

Locations and operating model

The specifications distinguish between Type A and B locations and Type C locations, including Luxembourg and Strasbourg. The successful contractor should be prepared to provide a coordinated multi-location service, including travel and subsistence for inter-country moves involving Type C locations.

The operating environment is based on the General Secretariat of the Council, its digitalisation, information technology and cybersecurity functions, an ITIL framework and a Council Digital Workplace environment. The operational model requires service continuity, structured escalation, reporting, contract governance and close coordination with Council personnel.

Indicative commercial model

This procurement does not provide a fixed grant amount or reimbursement rate. It is a fee-for-service contract in which tenderers quote prices and rates in the mandatory financial form. The financial evaluation uses estimated volumes and scenarios, but those volumes are expressly informational and do not constitute a commitment by the Council.4

The financial form uses a monthly Service Desk and Digital Workplace price linked to contact volume. From month 15, the form provides for annual adjustment of that price according to the formula P equals P0 multiplied by v divided by v0, where v0 is the reference annual contact volume and v is the relevant volume. Tenderers should verify the precise contractual operation of this mechanism in the final specifications and draft framework contract.

The form includes indicative annual volumes of 500 newcomer workstation setups, 800 office moves, 800 equipment replacements, 200 additional equipment actions, 200 individual device installation actions, 11,700 standard move actions and two inter-country move orders. These figures are evaluation assumptions rather than guaranteed orders.

The other IT support evaluation model includes indicative annual hours of 192 for MR1, 11,520 for MR2, 1,536 for MR3, 192 for MR4, 96 for MR5, 48 for MR6, 192 for MR7, 4,224 for MR8, 1,152 for MR9 and 48 for MR10. The bidder must rely on the official spreadsheet for the precise evaluation formulas and rate fields.

Who can apply

The opportunity is open to economic operators able to meet the exclusion, selection, technical, professional and contractual requirements. A single tenderer may apply, or several entities may submit a joint tender. Each organisation participating as a tenderer or member of a group must be registered in the European Commission Participant Register and use a valid Participant Identification Code.

Consortia are expressly supported through an agreement or power of attorney. Group members are jointly and severally liable towards the contracting authority. The group leader acts as the single point of contact, submits the tender on behalf of the group, coordinates delivery and handles contractual administration and invoicing.

Subcontracting is possible subject to the procurement documents. Identified subcontractors must be listed with their roles and proportion of subcontracting, and must provide a commitment letter. A tenderer may also rely on the capacities of another entity for financial, economic, technical or professional capacity, provided the required commitment and supporting documentation are supplied.

The procurement data marks the opportunity as not specifically suitable for SMEs. This is not an express legal exclusion of SMEs, but it signals that the scale, breadth, security obligations, staffing model and multi-location delivery requirements may favour larger providers or well-integrated consortia.

Eligibility and exclusion requirements

All involved entities, including relevant group members, subcontractors and entities whose capacities are relied upon, should be prepared to demonstrate that they are not subject to exclusion grounds and that they satisfy the applicable selection criteria.6

The declaration on honour addresses the following areas:

The contracting authority may request recent judicial, administrative, tax, social security or equivalent evidence. Evidence may be reusable where it was already submitted for another Council procurement procedure, remains current and the circumstances have not changed. Tenderers should nevertheless prepare the evidence in advance because it may be requested within a short deadline.

Technical and operational requirements

The minimum requirements questionnaire is a pass or fail compliance instrument. The tenderer must indicate YES or NO against each requirement, and the form cannot be modified. Failure to address even one minimum requirement may result in rejection.5

Core mandatory commitments include:

Security, confidentiality and data protection

The services involve Council IT systems, user information, assets, operational processes and potentially classified or sensitive information. The contractor must comply with the Council decision on security rules for protecting EU classified information, including the Security Aspect Letter established under the applicable industrial security requirements.

The contractor must also comply with Regulation 2018/1725 when processing personal data for the Council or other Union institutions. The security and data protection obligations should be treated as core bid requirements rather than implementation details to be resolved after award.

Contract duration and phases

Award and evaluation considerations

The award method is best price quality ratio, with equal published weighting for quality and price. A competitive offer will therefore need more than low rates. It should demonstrate credible service continuity, staffing depth, transition readiness, ITIL-aligned processes, measurable SLA performance, security controls, incident and request management, asset governance and the ability to support multiple Council locations.

The technical offer should be built directly against the tender specifications and the requested technical offer structure. The bidder should create a compliance matrix linking every requirement to a specific section of its response, evidence, responsible role and delivery process.

Commercial evaluation is scenario based. Tenderers should model the financial form carefully, validate all formulas, complete every required field and ensure that the quoted rates are internally consistent across normal hours, extended hours, locations, on-call work, fixed-price scenarios and per-action services.

Submission requirements and process

Tenders must be submitted exclusively through eSubmission in the Funding and Tenders Portal. Email, postal delivery and other submission channels are not accepted. The submission receipt generated by eSubmission is the evidence of the official submission timestamp.3

The financial form cannot be modified, and all yellow fields must be completed. Modification of the form structure, text or formulas may lead to exclusion. The tenderer remains responsible for checking the accuracy of each price, subtotal and grand total even where formulas are embedded in the spreadsheet.4

Questions must be submitted through the Questions and Answers function of the Funding and Tenders Portal. The contracting authority is not bound to answer questions received less than six working days before the tender deadline. The practical final question deadline published for this opportunity is 2 December 2026 at 23:59 Brussels time.

Key risks for applicants

Recommended bid strategy

Overall assessment

SMARTSUP-II is a substantial, operationally intensive Council procurement rather than a conventional innovation or grant funding opportunity. It offers a potential six-year services relationship for a provider that can combine high-volume user support, workplace technology operations, field logistics, specialist IT capabilities, asset governance and strict EU institutional security compliance.

The strongest applicants are likely to be organisations with proven public sector or large-enterprise IT service delivery, mature ITIL processes, resilient staffing, multi-site logistics, strong information security, reliable transition management and the ability to present a fully compliant and commercially disciplined offer. Smaller specialist firms can still participate where they form a credible consortium or subcontracting structure, but the procurement data indicates that the opportunity is not designed as an SME-specific contract.

There is no grant funding rate, grant award ceiling or eligible cost reimbursement mechanism. Applicant revenue would arise from orders and services delivered under the framework contract, subject to the agreed prices, actual quantities, service levels, contractual deductions and the Council's ordering requirements.

Footnotes

1. 1Authoritative procurement notice and documents: SMARTSUP-II Funding and Tenders Portal notice. The general Funding and Tenders Portal is the European Commission platform for calls for tenders managed by EU institutions, bodies and agencies.Funding and Tenders Portal
2. 2The technical scope and mandatory requirements are set out in the tender specifications, the minimum requirements questionnaire, the Service Level Agreement and the related annexes available under the official procurement notice.Tender specifications
3. 3The invitation letter states that tenders must be submitted exclusively through the electronic submission system, that each participating organisation requires a Participant Identification Code, and that late tenders are rejected.Invitation to tender
4. 4The financial offer form is mandatory and must not be modified. It states that quoted prices are expressed in € and are VAT exempt, that estimated quantities are not commitments, and that all yellow fields must be completed.Financial offer form
5. 5The minimum requirements questionnaire states that noncompliance with any minimum requirement can result in rejection and that requirements must be met throughout the contract without assumptions, limitations, conditions or reservations.Minimum requirements questionnaire
6. 6The declaration on honour covers exclusion criteria, selection criteria, conflicts of interest, restrictive measures, Union debt, tender independence and related evidence requirements.Declaration on honour
7. 7The tender documents identify the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union as the lead contracting authority and provide the Council public procurement contact information.Council procurement information