Quality Assurance to Monitoring & Evaluation Systems for the EU External Action

The European Commission DG INTPA has launched a restricted tender EC-INTPA/2026/EA-RP/0043 to procure external quality assurance services for monitoring and evaluation systems across DG INTPA, DG ENEST, MENA and FPI with an estimated value of €3,000,000 and a maximum duration of 36 months. Requests to participate must be submitted electronically via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal and the deadline for requests to participate is 30/04/2026 16:00 Europe/Brussels, with a provisional invitation to tender in May 2026 and provisional contract start in December 2026. Eligible natural and legal persons and consortia may apply but organisations currently providing ROM services to the named DGs are excluded; selection requires minimum average turnover of €1,500,000 over the last three years, average staffing of at least eight M&E specialists, and multiple technical contract references each of at least €200,000. The award will be made on the basis of the best price-quality ratio following short-listing of between four and eight candidates.

Tender — EC-INTPA/2026/EA-RP/0043

Summary

Service contract to provide external, independent quality assurance and to support improvements of Monitoring & Evaluation systems for EU external action under DG INTPA and related DGs (ENEST, MENA, FPI).

Estimated total value:€3 000 000 (fee-based, framework agreement, maximum duration 36 months) ¹

1. 1What it funds: independent quality assurance services and system-level improvements for M&E of EU external assistance.
2. 2Who can apply: any eligible natural or legal persons, consortia, or international organisations; consortium members jointly and severally liable.
3. 3Key technical/selection highlights: minimum average turnover €1 500 000 (last 3 years); technical references required (at least 3 relevant contracts ≥ €200 000 each), staffing of minimum 8 specialists.
4. 4Restrictions: current contractors providing ROM services to DGs INTPA, MENA, ENEST and FPI are excluded due to conflict of interest.

Procedure type:restricted two-stage tender. Between 4 and 8 candidates will be short-listed and invited to submit full tenders. Candidates must register in the Participant Register (PIC) and submit requests via the F&T Portal. Contact email for procedural queries: intpa-tenders-0043@ec.europa.eu ¹

Footnotes

1. 1Procurement documents, additional information and submission instructions are available on the Funding & Tenders Portal: Tender details.

Opportunity summary

What this contract is for

The European Commission, Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) has published a restricted tender to establish a fee-based framework contract to provide external and independent quality assurance services to Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) activities and to contribute to improvements of M&E systems under DG INTPA mandate. The contract will also cover related activities for DG ENEST, MENA and FPI. The contractor (or consortium) will form a Quality Assurance (QA) team to carry out QA activities worldwide in support of EU external action monitoring, evaluation and related quality assurance systems.

Procurement reference and type:EC-INTPA/2026/EA-RP/0043. Procedure type: Restricted procedure. Nature of contract: services (management-related and evaluation consultancy services, CPV 79420000 / 79419000).

Estimated total value and contract duration:Estimated total value: €3 000 000. Maximum contract duration / period of implementation: 36 months ¹.

Deadlines and milestones:TED publication date / Invitation to submit request to participate published: 01/04/2026. Deadline for receipt of requests to participate: 30/04/2026 16:00 Europe/Brussels. Provisional invitation to tender: May 2026. Provisional commencement date of the contract: December 2026.

Eligibility, selection and practical rules

Eligible Applicant Types

The procurement is open on equal terms to all natural and legal persons falling within the scope of the Treaties. Participation is also open to international organisations. Both single economic operators and groupings/consortia (permanent or ad hoc) are eligible. Sub-contracting is permitted. Entities registered and validated in the Participant Register (PIC) will be required for submission. Organisations currently contracted for ROM services in DGs INTPA, MENA, ENEST and FPI are considered professionally conflicted and are excluded from this call.

List of typical eligible applicant types:Examples: SMEs, large enterprises, consultancies, evaluation firms, research institutes, universities, NGOs, international organisations, public bodies and consortia composed of any of these legal entities.

Funding Type

This is a procurement / tender (fee-based service contract) using a framework agreement. The contracting authority will award based on best price-quality ratio. Payment is fee-based under the contract; this is not a grant, loan or equity instrument.

Consortium Requirement

Not mandatory to be a consortium; single applicants may apply. Consortia are allowed and commonly used to demonstrate complementarities (technical capacities, geographic coverage). If participating as a consortium, all members are jointly and severally liable. Short-listed candidates must keep the composition declared in the short-list; forming new alliances after short-listing is prohibited without prior authorisation.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility)

Open to entities falling within the scope of the EU Treaties and international organisations. Place(s) of delivery / performance: All Countries (worldwide). The procurement is financed by EU external action programmes covering Pre-accession, Sub-Saharan Africa, Overseas Countries and Territories, Asia and the Pacific, and America and the Caribbean.

Target Sector

Thematic focus:monitoring and evaluation of official development assistance and external action interventions. Relevant sectors for demonstrated experience include democracy and rule of law, human rights and gender, public administration reform and public financial management, private sector development and trade, education, health, social protection, agriculture and rural development, migration, border management and security, water and sanitation and environment, energy, climate change, civil society and local authorities, sustainable cities and transport, and nuclear safety.

Mentioned Countries

No specific beneficiary countries are mandated. The place of performance is All Countries (worldwide). The procurement references regions/programmes: Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Pacific, America and the Caribbean, Cooperation with Overseas Countries and Territories, and Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (pre-accession regions). The contracting authority is based in Brussels, Belgium.

Project Stage (Expected maturity)

This contract is implementation-focused:activities relate to quality assurance of operational M&E work, improvements to M&E systems, review of monitoring and evaluation deliverables and processes, and capacity-strengthening. It assumes mature operational programmes and completed or ongoing evaluations and monitoring exercises (demonstration/implementation stage rather than basic research).

Funding Amount

Estimated total value of the framework contract:€3 000 000 (excluding VAT). This is the procurement estimated value for the duration of the framework (36 months) ¹.

Application Type and Submission Method

This is a restricted tender following a two-stage process. Stage 1:Requests to participate must be submitted via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal (F&T Portal) / eSubmission. Only shortlisted candidates (between 4 and 8) will be invited to submit full tenders in stage 2. Submission method: electronic; EU Login account and PIC registration required. All communications and submissions must be in English.

Nature of Support

Successful bidder(s) will receive monetary compensation under a service contract (fee-based payments). Non-financial outputs include provision of QA services, reports, recommendations, guidance and capacity building delivered to DG INTPA and associated DGs.

Application Stages

Two-stage procurement:Stage 1 Request to participate (short-listing) and Stage 2 Invitation to tender (detailed tenders and award). Candidates passing stage 1 will be invited to stage 2. The documents state successive stages with potential elimination at each stage.

Success Rates

Short-listing:between 4 and 8 candidates will be invited to the second stage. Success rate to proceed to stage 2 depends on number of eligible applicants; if many apply, only up to 8 will be short-listed. Final award: typically a single contractor or a small number if by lots, selected on best price-quality ratio from shortlisted tenders. Exact historical success rates are not provided in the procurement documents; competitors should expect significant competition and selective short-listing.

Co-funding Requirement

No co-funding from applicants is required. This is a fee-based procurement funded from the EU budget (OPSYS) under budget line 14200404.

Selection Criteria and Minimum Requirements (summary)

Candidates must demonstrate economic/financial capacity, professional capacity and technical capacity. Key minimum thresholds and documentary evidence requirements apply and must be provided in the Request to Participate form.

1. 1Economic and financial capacity: average annual turnover of last 3 financial years must be not less than €1 500 000.
2. 2Professional capacity: during the current and previous two years, candidate must have on average at least 8 personnel directly employed or legally contracted in specialist areas related to the contract; candidate must not be subject to professional conflicting interests.
3. 3Technical capacity: provision of services under at least 3 contracts in the last 4 years whose main objective was monitoring and/or evaluation of official development assistance interventions in non-EU countries, with at least one monitoring and one evaluation contract; services must cover interventions in at least two of the listed domains (see thematic list earlier).
4. 4Additional technical requirements: at least two contracts relating to quantitative or qualitative data collection and analysis; at least one contract relating to training/consulting on introducing quality assurance or management systems; for each cited contract the value of services completed must be at least €200 000.
5. 5Short-list re-ranking criteria (if > 8 eligible): highest number of qualifying contracts, then highest cumulated value of qualifying contracts.

Application Templates and Documents

Requests to participate must be submitted using the official Request to Participate form available from the Commission Annexes repository (ExactExternalWiki/Annexes). A Declaration on Honour on Exclusion and Selection criteria template must be used and included. Supporting documentary evidence should be uploaded in the specified sections of the F&T Portal attachment area (Other documents and Declaration on Honour). Additional documentation beyond requested items will not be considered.

How to apply and process steps (practical)

1. 1Register organisation in the Participant Register to obtain a PIC. All consortium members must have PICs.
2. 2Prepare Request to Participate form and supporting documents: company financials, declarations, evidence of relevant contracts (reports, approvals, proof of payment), staffing evidence, CVs if required and subcontractor commitments if used.
3. 3Submit Request to Participate electronically via the F&T Portal / eSubmission before the deadline (30/04/2026 16:00 Brussels time).
4. 4If shortlisted (expected May 2026), prepare and submit a full tender in response to the Invitation to Tender following the provided timetable and instructions.
5. 5Award will be made based on best price-quality ratio; contractual negotiations and signature will follow the award decision with provisional contract start in December 2026.

Other important administrative and contractual details

Language of procedure:English. Financial amounts in submissions must be in EUR (use InforEuro exchange rate of February 2026 if converting). Up to one request per entity (or one per lot) is permitted. Entities included in EU restrictive measures lists at award cannot be awarded. If fewer than four eligible candidates meet selection criteria the contracting authority may proceed with fewer invitees. Short-listed candidates cannot change composition without prior authorisation. All submissions are encrypted by the system; eSubmission technical rules (file sizes, browser requirements, maximum files) apply and must be followed.

Checklist for applicants

1. 1Register (or confirm) organisation PIC in the Participant Register and ensure PIC data is up to date and validated as needed.
2. 2Ensure no professional conflict of interest (e.g. currently contracted to provide ROM services to the specified DGs) and prepare signed Declaration on Honour.
3. 3Prepare and complete the Request to Participate form using the exact template and attach all mandatory supporting evidence in the correct attachment sections.
4. 4Demonstrate the minimum turnover, staff and technical contract references (each contract referenced must have value >= €200 000 and cover required domains and tasks).
5. 5If relying on capacity-providing entities, include commitments and required declarations from those entities and ensure they meet eligibility rules.
6. 6Submit the Request to Participate electronically via the F&T Portal before the deadline and retain the eSubmission timestamp receipt.

Contact and publication sources:Lead contracting authority: European Commission, INTPA - International Partnerships. Contact email for the tender: intpa-tenders-0043@ec.europa.eu. Procurement documents, Request to Participate form and Annexes are available on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal opportunity page. Electronic submission URL is provided in the contract notice via the F&T Portal.

Full summary — What is this opportunity about and how to explain it

This procurement invites qualified organisations or consortia to provide a dedicated, multi-disciplinary Quality Assurance team to support the European Commission's external action Monitoring & Evaluation systems under DG INTPA remit and related DGs (ENEST, MENA, FPI). The contractor will deliver external and independent QA services across the globe, covering QA of monitoring and evaluation activities, capacity building on QA and management systems, data collection and analysis support, and recommendations to strengthen M&E systems and performance. The contract is fee-based and implemented via a 36-month framework agreement with an estimated value of €3 million. The procurement follows a restricted, two-stage procedure: interested operators must submit a Request to Participate via the F&T Portal by the April 30, 2026 deadline demonstrating minimum turnover, staffing and substantial technical experience in monitoring, evaluation and QA-related training/consultancy work in non-EU contexts. Between 4 and 8 candidates will be shortlisted and invited to submit full tenders; the award will be made on the basis of best price-quality ratio. Applicants must follow the exact Request to Participate template, provide evidence for all selection criteria (including contract references with minimum service value and domain coverage), register with a PIC and ensure no conflicts of interest with existing ROM service contracts to the named DGs. The contract will operate worldwide and is intended to strengthen the quality and reliability of EU external action monitoring and evaluation outputs and to improve M&E systems across multiple policy domains.

Footnotes

1. 1Estimated total value and contract duration referenced in the contract notice and Additional Information to the Contract Notice a5f_additional_information_contract_notice_en.R6_V1.pdf available from the Funding & Tenders Portal opportunity documents.

This is a restricted tender procedure (EC-INTPA/2026/EA-RP/0043) launched by the European Commission, DG INTPA - International Partnerships, to provide external and independent quality assurance services to monitoring and evaluation (M&E) activities under DG INTPA, DG ENEST, MENA, and FPI mandates. The overall objective is to improve the performance of M&E systems supporting EU external action worldwide.

Key Opportunity Details

Estimated Total Value:€3,000,000 (excluding VAT).

Contract Duration:Maximum 36 months, with provisional commencement in December 2026.

Nature of Contract:Fee-based services (CPV 79420000 - Management-related services), deliverable worldwide (All Countries).

Award Method:Best price-quality ratio.

Procedure Type:Restricted procedure: Submit request to participate first; 4-8 candidates short-listed for full tender invitation (provisional May 2026).¹

Timeline and Deadlines

1. 1TED Publication Date: 01/04/2026
2. 2Deadline for Requests to Participate: 30/04/2026 16:00 Europe/Brussels
3. 3Provisional Invitation to Tender: May 2026
4. 4Provisional Contract Start: December 2026

All submissions must be electronic via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. An EU Login account and Participant Identification Code (PIC) are required. Register at EU Funding & Tenders Portal.

Eligibility and Who Can Apply

Open to all natural and legal persons within the scope of EU Treaties and international organisations. Consortia allowed (permanent or ad hoc; all members jointly liable). No more than one request per entity or per lot. Sub-contracting permitted. Exclusion for EU restrictive measures, PRAG grounds, or professional conflicts (e.g., current ROM services contracts with INTPA, MENA, ENEST, FPI).²

Selection Criteria

Economic and Financial Capacity

• Average annual turnover >= €1,500,000 over last 3 closed financial years.

Professional Capacity (last 3 years)

• Average of at least 8 personnel in specialist M&E-related areas.
• No professional conflicting interests.

Technical Capacity (last 4 years)

• At least 3 contracts (min. €200,000 each) on monitoring/evaluation of official development assistance in non-EU countries, covering at least 2 domains (e.g., democracy, migration, climate change; full list in docs), with >=1 monitoring and 1 evaluation contract.
• At least 2 contracts on quantitative/qualitative data collection/analysis (min. €200,000 each).
• At least 1 contract on training/consulting for quality assurance/management systems (min. €200,000).

If >8 eligible candidates, ranked by number and cumulated value of qualifying contracts. Capacity from other entities allowed with commitments. Reference period details apply; partial contracts considered with evidence. No breach/termination references allowed.³

Submission Requirements

• Use official Request to Participate form and Declaration on Honour (Annexes: Exact External Wiki).
• Upload under correct tabs: form/declaration in 'Other documents', Honour in 'Declaration on Honour'.
• English only. Financials in EUR (InforEuro Feb 2026 rates). PIC validation may be requested.
• Questions via F&T Portal Q&A (min. 21 days before deadline). Check for updates.

Primary documents:Invitation to submit request ('a5f additional information contract notice en.R6') available at Tender Details. TED Notice: TED 222884-2026.

Additional Notes

Funded via OPSYS ACT-63087, budget line 14200404 (programmes:IPA, Sub-Saharan Africa, OCTs, Asia-Pacific, Caribbean). Short-listed candidates cannot change composition or subcontract each other without approval. Outcomes notified by email.

Footnotes

1. 1Between 4-8 short-listed; less than 4 may proceed if qualified.
2. 2Legal basis: Article 58(2) Reg (EU,Euratom) 2018/1046. See PRAG for full exclusions.
3. 3Evidence required (e.g., reports, payments, certificates). Consortia assessed as whole.