Support contract for the management of the quota system and reporting

This is an EU public procurement by the European Commission DG CLIMA (procurement ref EC-CLIMA/2026/OP/0102) for a services contract to provide IT maintenance and development, quota calculations, reporting and helpdesk and compliance support for F-gas and ODS regulations. The contract duration is up to 36 months and the maximum initial contract value is €400,000 with a possible option to increase up to €600,000 if additional services are purchased. Key tasks include maintaining the F-gas Portal and ODS licensing system, calculating HFC reference values and annual quotas, and operating an email helpdesk and compliance follow-up. Electronic tenders must be submitted via the EU Funding and Tenders Portal by 10 November 2026 at 16:00 Brussels time.

What it funds

Summary

Service contract to provide technical support, IT maintenance and development, quota calculations, licensing/reporting system support and helpdesk services to implement the F-gas Regulation and the Ozone (ODS) Regulation and ensure compliance with the Montreal Protocol.

Who can apply

Any economic operator (sole tenderer) or a group of economic operators (joint tender). Subcontracting permitted; entities on whose capacities a tenderer relies are allowed. Participants must be registered in the EU Participant Register and use EU Login/PIC for eSubmission.

Eligibility and key requirements

Practical facts & deadlines

Interested organisations should consult the full procurement documents and submit tenders through the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. Technical specifications, draft contract and financial tender form are published with the call 1.

Footnotes

1. 1Opportunity and procurement documents: F‑gas quota system and reporting tender

Opportunity summary

Deadlines and key dates

Background and objectives

Scope of services and tasks (detailed)

Deliverables and reporting

Place of performance and inputs

Primary execution at the contractor’s premises. DG CLIMA will provide relevant data, access to F-gas Portal, ODS licensing system and BDR reporting system (EEA-hosted) during contract and will provide previous studies and reports. Contractor must treat all data as confidential and apply appropriate security and data protection measures. Electronic exchange systems (Portal / EES) will be used for delivery and communication where required.

Procurement, submission and administrative requirements

Evaluation and award

Award is on best price-quality ratio. Eligibility and compliance checks, exclusion and selection criteria verification performed before full evaluation. Only tenders meeting minimum technical thresholds proceed to financial evaluation. Technical scoring maximum 100 points (Quality methodology 60 points, Organisation and resources 30 points, Quality control 10 points). Minimum technical thresholds: Criterion 1 ≥ 30, Criterion 2 ≥ 15, Criterion 3 ≥ 5 and overall technical ≥ 60. Rank by price-quality ratio (price divided by technical score); lowest ratio wins. Detection and handling of abnormally low tenders apply.

Eligibility, selection and minimum requirements

Open to natural and legal persons established under the EU Treaties and to entities from third countries covered by relevant public procurement agreements (e.g. GPA). Tenderers must not be subject to EU restrictive measures. Selection criteria include legal/regulatory capacity, economic and financial capacity (average annual turnover last two years > €250,000) and technical & professional capacity. Technical minima: at least two similar projects ≥ €60,000 in last 3 years (fluorinated gases/ODS/related guidance) and at least two projects working with data across at least 20 Member States in last 5 years. Team minimum profiles: project manager (≥ 3 years project management experience), two senior experts in EU/international fluorinated gas policy (relevant degree and ≥ 3 years), one junior expert (relevant degree and ≥ 3 years). CVs required.

Contract value and financial arrangements

Consortium and subcontracting

Both sole tenderers and group (joint) tenders are allowed. Joint tenderers must appoint a group leader and provide an Agreement/Power of Attorney (Annex 3). Subcontracting is permitted. Identified subcontractors (those contributing to selection criteria or >20% of contract) must be listed (Annex 4) and provide commitment letters (Annex 5.1). Entities on whose capacities the tenderer relies (but are not subcontractors) must provide commitment letters (Annex 5.2). All involved entities must comply with exclusion and selection criteria and provide documentation when requested.

IT, security and data protection

Access to F-gas Portal, ODS licensing system and BDR reporting system will be provided. Contractor must ensure confidentiality, appropriate technical and organisational security, compliance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 and, where applicable, GDPR obligations. Data processing location: personal data shall be processed within the EU/EEA unless otherwise authorised. Security appendices and baseline (Appendix 2 and where applicable Appendix 3) are part of the contract and must be complied with.

Templates and application structure

Eligible applicant types

Categorisation answers (structured)

How to apply and practical pointers

Register a PIC in the Participant Register and obtain EU Login. Subscribe to the call page in the Funding & Tenders Portal to receive updates. Prepare and upload in eSubmission: Declaration on Honour (Annex 2), technical tender addressing the three tasks and award criteria, CVs for key personnel, project references evidencing required experience, financial statements (last two closed years) evidencing turnover > €250,000 on average, Annexes for subcontractors and commitments where relevant, and the completed Annex 6 financial tender form. Ensure file formats and sizes comply with Portal system requirements and eSubmission limits (attachments < 50 MB per file; max 200 files per submission). Use qualified electronic signature (QES) where possible for signed documents. Maintain originals of hand-signed documents for five years and provide on request.

Tenderers should ensure the proposed methodology addresses all tasks, provides a robust roadmap to replace manual Excel workflows for quota calculations before Q2-Q3 2029, demonstrates experience with large multisource reporting datasets (covering at least 20 Member States), shows capacity to operate a high-volume email helpdesk and compliance follow-up, and proposes an operation and resourcing plan aligned with the award criteria and minimum team composition.

Documents published on the portal

Public Q&A and help

Questions must be submitted via the Funding & Tenders Portal Questions & Answers section. The contracting authority is not bound to reply to questions submitted after 30 October 2026, 23:59 Europe/Brussels. No public Q&A were present at the time of the scraped data. For technical eSubmission support consult the Portal System Requirements and the eSubmission Quick Guide and contact the eSubmission Helpdesk if needed.

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

This is an EU public procurement to appoint a contractor to provide specialised technical and IT services to DG CLIMA to operate, maintain and further develop the F-gas Portal, ODS licensing and reporting tools and to perform the regulatory quota calculation work, compliance follow-up and company guidance to implement the F-gas and Ozone Regulations and to ensure compliance with the Montreal Protocol. The contract is a services contract for up to 36 months with an estimated total value of €400,000. The work combines IT development and maintenance, complex regulatory data calculations (requiring robust migration from spreadsheet-based workflows to resilient calculation solutions), regulatory and compliance expertise in fluorinated gases and ozone-depleting substances, and operational helpdesk and company support. Interested suppliers should be registered in the Participant Register, prepare a technical proposal demonstrating relevant experience and team composition, submit a financial offer using the provided template, comply with the exclusion and selection criteria (including turnover and reference project minima), and submit the full tender electronically via eSubmission before the 10 November 2026 deadline. The award will be based on best price-quality ratio with strict minimum technical thresholds.

Footnotes

1. 1Data protection notice and information for procurement procedures are available at ec.europa.eu

Support contract for the management of the quota system and reporting

This is a public procurement opportunity, not a grant scheme. The European Commission, Directorate General for Climate Action, intends to award a service contract for technical, analytical, information technology, reporting, helpdesk and compliance support connected with the EU fluorinated greenhouse gases framework and ozone layer protection framework. The successful contractor will support implementation of Regulation (EU) 2024/573 on fluorinated greenhouse gases, Regulation (EU) 2024/590 on substances that deplete the ozone layer, and the EU obligations under the Montreal Protocol 1.

The opportunity is intended to ensure continuity after the current technical assistance contract, identified as service contract 090203/2022/897677/SER/CLIMA.C.1, which is available until 7 June 2027.

Opportunity Identification

Official procurement documents and portal entry are available at Official Funding and Tenders Portal opportunity.

Purpose and Policy Context

The contract will provide operational support to DG CLIMA for the administration and enforcement of EU controls on fluorinated greenhouse gases and ozone depleting substances. The work combines regulatory interpretation, quota calculations, reporting data management, software and portal support, licensing system support, company assistance and compliance analysis.

For fluorinated greenhouse gases, the work will support the F-gas Portal, annual reporting, company registration, reference value calculations, quota allocation, quota payments, reporting verification, compliance checks and links with customs and other EU systems.

For ozone depleting substances, the work will support the ODS licensing system, reporting interfaces, company registration, customs system links, compliance activities and related guidance under the Ozone Regulation and the Montreal Protocol.

The policy environment is technically and legally demanding because quota calculations must reflect reported market data, beneficial ownership, quota transfers, legal succession, quota reductions, payments, exemptions, EU enlargement and possible access to the EU single market by candidate countries.

Scope of Services

Task 1: Development and maintenance of systems

The contractor will support the maintenance, updating and further development of the F-gas Portal, the ODS licensing system and BDR reporting sheets during the expected 2027 to 2030 implementation period. The work includes electronic links to reporting tools, licensing functions, guidance, customs related interfaces and links to the Montreal Protocol system.

Expected outputs include conceptual approaches, technical recommendations, technical notes, support through meetings and correspondence, and recommendations for improving portal functionality, compliance history information, reporting sheets and interconnections with BDR, Single Window and CERTEX systems.

The budget allocated to Task 1 should not exceed 30 percent of the total contract budget.

Task 2: Reference values and quota calculations

The contractor will calculate HFC reference values for the 2030 to 2032 period, expected during the second and third quarters of 2029, and provide ad hoc support for later corrections or adjustments.

The contractor will calculate the maximum quota for quota years 2028, 2029 and 2030. The expected timing is September 2027, September 2028 and September 2029 respectively.

The contractor will calculate final quotas after taking account of payments and other relevant information. These calculations are expected between October and December in 2027, 2028 and 2029.

The contractor must propose and implement more robust methodological and technical solutions to reduce reliance on complex manual spreadsheet calculations. The final quota outputs must nevertheless be delivered in an electronic spreadsheet format agreed with DG CLIMA.

The contractor may also be asked to assess the consequences of EU enlargement or access to the single market by candidate countries, including market data, HFC demand, quota mechanisms, trade, environmental effects and required adaptations to the quota system.

The budget allocated to Task 2 should not exceed 40 percent of the total contract budget.

Task 3: Helpdesk, compliance and guidance

The contractor will provide an email based helpdesk for companies on reporting, verification and compliance questions outside the scope of the BDR Helpdesk ETC service. Demand is expected to peak between February and April, with lower demand during the rest of the year.

The contractor will identify potentially non compliant companies, support follow up of incomplete or inaccurate verification reports, assess consistency between importers and suppliers or purchasers, and analyse relevant reporting and customs information.

The contractor will update guidance for importers of equipment and products pre charged with fluorinated gases. The guidance must be in English, user friendly and understandable to readers without specialist knowledge, and should not exceed 20 pages.

Limited dissemination materials such as guidance documents, flyers and brochures may also be requested, subject to budget availability.

The budget allocated to Task 3 should not exceed 30 percent of the total contract budget.

Contract Deliverables and Reporting

Deliverables are expected electronically, including Word documents, spreadsheets, PDF documents and presentations.

Key deliverables include the following:

The first interim report is due by the end of month 12, the second interim report by the end of month 24 and the final report by the end of the 36 month contract period.

Budget and Commercial Parameters

Contract Duration and Place of Performance

The maximum contract duration is 36 months. The substantive work is planned around the 2027 to 2030 regulatory and reporting cycles, subject to the actual contract signature date and the terms of the draft contract.

Services will be performed at the contractor's premises. Physical meetings are expected to be minimised and video conferences will generally be preferred for coordination with DG CLIMA.

Who Can Apply

Any interested natural or legal person offering services may submit a tender, either individually or as part of a joint tender. International organisations may participate. Organisations established in third countries may participate where the relevant EU, World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement or other applicable access rules permit participation.

Participation is open to sole tenderers, groups of economic operators and tenderers using subcontractors or other entities whose capacities are relied upon. Joint tender members assume joint and several liability for performance of the contract as a whole.

The opportunity is marked as not specifically suitable for SMEs in the procurement data. This does not prevent an SME from applying if it meets the required capacity and evidence requirements, either independently or through a consortium.

A tenderer may not participate simultaneously as a sole tenderer and as a member of another group, or as a member of more than one group in the same procedure. Cross subcontracting arrangements between competing tenderers are prohibited.

Eligibility and Access Conditions

Required Capacity

Legal and regulatory capacity

Tenderers must demonstrate legal and regulatory capacity through evidence such as enrolment in a relevant trade or professional register and proof that they are authorised to perform the contract in their country of establishment.

Economic and financial capacity

The tenderer must have an average annual turnover above €250,000 for the last two closed financial years. This criterion is assessed on a consolidated basis across the involved entities contributing to the capacity.

The required evidence is a copy of the profit and loss accounts for the last two closed financial years for each relevant entity, or appropriate bank statements where accounts are not available. The most recent financial year must have closed within the previous 18 months.

Technical and professional capacity

The tenderer must demonstrate experience in fluorinated gases, ozone depleting substances, their alternatives at EU or Montreal Protocol level, and the preparation of relevant technical notes and guidance.

At least two similar projects or assignments must have been completed during the three years before the tender deadline, with a minimum value of €60,000 each. The references must identify dates, value, client, activities, scope and relevance.

The tenderer must also demonstrate at least two relevant data related projects completed or ongoing during the last five years. The references must show experience collecting, managing, analysing, processing or reporting data covering at least 20 EU Member States.

The proposed team must include at least one project manager with three years of relevant project management experience, two senior experts in EU or international fluorinated gas policies with a relevant higher education degree and at least three years of professional experience, and one junior expert with a relevant higher education degree and at least three years of professional experience in the field.

CVs for the project manager and participating experts must be submitted with the tender.

Exclusion and Integrity Requirements

The tender must include the required declaration on honour covering exclusion and selection criteria. The declaration addresses insolvency, tax and social security debts, grave professional misconduct, fraud, corruption, criminal organisations, money laundering, terrorism, trafficking, significant contractual deficiencies, irregularities, circumvention of legal obligations, conflicts of interest and independence of the tender.

The contracting authority may request recent judicial, administrative, tax, social security or other supporting evidence. Evidence may not be required where it has already been submitted in a recent procedure of the same contracting authority, remains valid and the circumstances have not changed, or where it is accessible through a free national database.

Entities declaring an exclusion situation may provide evidence of remedial measures, but the contracting authority retains discretion to assess whether those measures demonstrate sufficient reliability.

Award Method and Evaluation

The contract will be awarded using the best price quality ratio. The evaluation includes checks of procurement access, administrative compliance, exclusion, selection capacity, compliance with the technical specifications, price and quality, restrictive measures and other possible rejection grounds.

The exact weighting and detailed quality subcriteria must be taken from the tender specifications and their annexes. The published metadata identifies quality and price as the award dimensions but does not state their numerical weighting in the available extract.

The financial offer must not exceed €400,000. A technically strong tender should demonstrate a credible delivery model, robust quota calculation methodology, high quality data controls, continuity during annual reporting peaks, sufficient specialist staffing and practical knowledge of the F-gas and ODS regulatory systems.

Submission Requirements and Deadlines

Required submission package

Operational and Compliance Considerations

The contractor will receive access to relevant data and systems from DG CLIMA, including the F-gas Portal, the ODS licensing system, the BDR reporting system, reporting data, quota information and payment information. All such information must be treated as confidential, with suitable organisational and technical safeguards.

The successful contractor must support fraud prevention and detection and must impose relevant obligations on subcontractors and personnel. The contractor must also observe EU data protection requirements and comply with applicable environmental, social, labour, equality and diversity obligations.

Any debt owed by the successful tenderer to the European Union, Euratom or an executive agency may be offset against payments due under the contract.

Tenderer Strategy Assessment

This opportunity is most suitable for organisations or consortia combining environmental policy expertise, fluorinated gas and ozone regulation knowledge, regulatory data analysis, quota modelling, software and reporting system experience, helpdesk capability and EU procurement compliance capacity.

A competitive bid should allocate clearly identified experts to each task, explain how annual quota calculations will be validated, describe quality assurance for company and payment data, demonstrate capacity during the February to April reporting peak, and provide practical arrangements for confidentiality and access-controlled processing of Commission data.

The strongest reference projects will be closely comparable in regulatory complexity, EU geographic coverage, environmental reporting, quota or licensing administration, and stakeholder or company support. Generic information technology or general environmental projects may be insufficient unless their relevance is clearly evidenced.

The financial model should demonstrate that the bidder can deliver within €400,000 while covering the required expert days, quality assurance, helpdesk capacity, travel, overheads, system support and reporting. The bidder should not rely on the potential additional services as part of its base financial planning because that option is discretionary.

Key Risks for Applicants

Recommended Applicant Preparation

Overall Assessment

This is a specialised, technically focused European Commission service tender with a relatively modest maximum value but demanding regulatory, analytical and operational requirements. It is not an open call for project grants and does not provide co financing. The successful tenderer will be contracted to deliver defined services for up to 36 months, with performance assessed against technical requirements, quality, price, capacity, compliance and deliverables.

The principal eligibility barriers are the minimum turnover requirement, the two qualifying regulatory references, the two data references covering at least 20 EU Member States, and the required specialist team. Applicants that can satisfy these requirements and present a credible integrated approach to quota calculations, information systems, reporting, helpdesk and compliance support should consider the opportunity strategically relevant.

Sources and Document Set

The authoritative opportunity record and its published documents are available through the European Commission Funding and Tenders Portal Official opportunity record.

The published document set includes the invitation letter, tender specifications, draft contract, declaration on honour on exclusion and selection criteria, and financial tender form. The tender specifications are the controlling source for detailed technical requirements, evaluation provisions, evidence requirements and contractual conditions 1.

Footnotes

1. 1Official European Commission opportunity record and procurement documents: Funding and Tenders Portal tender details.