Support to Eurostat in the domain of Purchasing Power Parities (PPP) for the implementation of the 2027 equipment goods price survey

Eurostat has issued an open procedure for a services contract to provide expert support for the 2027 equipment goods price survey under the Purchasing Power Parities (PPP) programme. The contract has an estimated value of €540000, a maximum duration of 17 months, and covers coordination, item list updates, country assistance, multi-round data validation and reporting across 41 European Comparison Programme countries. Tenders must be submitted electronically via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal eSubmission system and will be awarded on a best price quality ratio basis (50% price, 50% quality). The deadline for receipt of tenders is 12 October 2026 at 16:00 Europe/Luxembourg.

What it funds

A services contract to support Eurostat in coordinating the 2027 Purchasing Power Parities equipment goods price survey across the 41 European Comparison Programme countries. Work includes preview and pre-survey, item list updates, assistance to countries, multi-round data validation, country reports, targeted missions, organisation of meetings and input to PP P IT tools and deliverables.

Who can apply

Open procedure:any economic operator established in a country with procurement access under the EU rules (EU Member States, applicable third countries and Agreement on Government Procurement signatories). Participation requires registration in the Participant Register (PIC) and compliance with exclusion/selection criteria in the tender specifications.

Contracting authority:European Commission, DG ESTAT - Eurostat ¹

Estimated value:Total estimated amount €540 000 for a maximum 17-month contract.

1. 1Services contract (statistical and methodological support) covering tasks 1–9 as per tender specifications (preview, pre-survey, validation, reports, meetings, targeted assistance, IT advice).
2. 2Maximum duration 17 months; implementation expected to start November 2026.
3. 3Award method: best price-quality ratio (price 50%, quality 50%).
4. 4Main CPV: 79330000 Statistical services.

Tenders must be submitted electronically via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. Minimum technical and financial documentation, team CVs and evidence of relevant experience in international price comparisons/PPP work are required. See tender specifications for detailed deliverables and selection/award criteria ¹.

Footnotes

1. 1Full procurement documents, tender specifications and submission details are on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal F&T Tender EC-ESTAT/2026/OP/0033.

Title:Support to Eurostat in the domain of Purchasing Power Parities (PPP) for the implementation of the 2027 equipment goods price survey. Call identifier: EC-ESTAT/2026/OP/0033. Procedure type: Open procedure. TED reference: 169/2026 (602809-2026). Contracting authority: European Commission, DG ESTAT Eurostat. Main CPV: 79330000 Statistical services. Nature: services. Maximum duration: 17 months. Estimated total value of the procurement: €540 000. Submission method: electronic via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal (eSubmission). Deadlines and key dates: TED publication date 02/09/2026; deadline for receipt of tenders 12/10/2026 16:00 Europe/Luxembourg; public opening 13/10/2026 10:00 Europe/Luxembourg; contracting authority will not be bound to reply to questions submitted after 02/10/2026 23:59 Europe/Luxembourg. The contracting authority will provide electronic PPP tools (ILMT, DET, VT, AT, MET) and access to central PPP database for the contractor’s work.

Purpose and Scope

Objective:Provide expert implementation support to Eurostat for the 2027 equipment goods price survey under the European Comparison Programme (ECP) and to derive Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs) for gross fixed capital formation for 41 countries (EU27, EFTA/EEA countries Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, UK, EU candidate countries and Kosovo under UNSCR 1244, and enlargement participants such as Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine whose participation is progressing to full ECP status). Policy relevance: PPPs convert national accounts aggregates into comparable volume measures and enable price level comparisons. The work requires technical and market knowledge of machinery, electronic and other equipment and extensive experience in price survey design, validation and PPP calculation methodologies (Eurostat-OECD Methodological Manual on PPPs).

Core Tasks and Deliverables

The contract covers nine tasks (Tasks 1-9) with defined deliverables and milestones. The contractor must implement Tasks 1-6 for the 2027 equipment goods price survey; Tasks 7-9 are generic support and IT-related advice for PPP systems. Implementation starts 01/11/2026 (or contract signature if later) and must be completed within 17 months. Data validation must be finalised by end-February 2028 to allow March 2028 use in PPP calculations.

Summary of Tasks and Key Deliverables:Task 1 Preparation and planning: preview document, preview questionnaire, summary of preview stage, pre-survey item list, summary of pre-survey. Task 2 Item list update and survey guidelines: European item list, survey-specific guidelines, updated Excel Data Tool. Task 3 Assistance during price collection and intra-country validation: country support and report. Task 4 Data validation: three validation rounds with D4.1 (initial report), D4.2 (interim), D4.3 (final). Task 5 Final survey report (D5) documenting implementation, methodology, quality and recommendations. Task 6 Country meetings: preparation, documents, presentations and minutes for three country meetings (two virtual, one physical at Commission premises). Task 7 Input to country assessment: country-specific reports to support Eurostat assessments. Task 8 Targeted assistance missions: five missions (2 physical, 3 virtual) to priority countries including Kosovo under UNSCR1244, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, UK. Task 9 Statistical advice and testing for new data-entry functionality in PPP tools: business requirements (D9.1) and testing report (D9.2).

Operational context and tools:All country data are transmitted via eDAMIS to Eurostat and loaded into the central PPP Database. Eurostat provides the PPP tools: Item List Management Tool (ILMT), Data Editing Tool (DET), Validation Tool (VT), Aggregation Tool (AT), Metadata Editing Tool (MET). Contractor will receive country Excel files, convert and upload in SDMX format using the tools. Contractor must document all interactions with National Statistical Institutes (NSIs) and ensure traceability and quality control. The contractor is to maintain and update the Excel Data Tool for equipment goods data entry; Eurostat will develop web-based DET versions in cooperation with the contractor.

Procurement, Contracting and Administrative Details

Award method:best price-quality ratio with price 50% and quality 50%. Quality scored across four sub-criteria (technical approach & methodology 45 points, workplan & timetable 15 points, management arrangements 25 points, quality arrangements 15 points) with minimum thresholds per criterion and overall technical threshold (65% of technical score). Tenderers ranked by formula combining price and quality. Maximum contract value €540 000 for 17 months; estimated effort around 4 person-years. Framework: direct service contract (not renewable) with possibility for negotiated procedure within one year to procure similar services up to 50% of initial contract value. Contract duration 17 months; place of performance contractor’s premises; performed under Commission security and data protection rules.

Documents published on F&T Portal for tenderers include Invitation to tender, Tender specifications (Word and PDF), Contract Service draft, Annex 6 Financial Tender (Excel), Annexes and Financial Offer Form. Submissions via eSubmission require EU Login and Participant Register PIC. Tender validity period and tender submission instructions are on the Portal. Tenderers must follow eSubmission system requirements (supported browsers, file sizes, naming conventions). Maximum 200 attachments, max file size 50 MB per file. PIC required for tenderers and subcontractors as applicable.

Evaluation, Eligibility and Minimum Requirements

Procedure:open procedure, open to any natural or legal person meeting access to procurement rules (EU, third countries with procurement agreements such as GPA). Participation rules reference Financial Regulation and restrictions for entities under EU restrictive measures. Tenders may be sole or joint tenders; subcontracting allowed with identified subcontractors where share >15% or where relied upon for selection criteria. Joint tenders must appoint a group leader and provide power of attorney model (Annex 3).

1. 1Exclusion criteria: Declaration on Honour (Annex 2) required; contracting authority may request documentary evidence at any time. Candidates in exclusion situations will be rejected.
2. 2Economic and financial selection criterion F1: consolidated average yearly turnover of last two financial years above €450 000; evidence via balance sheets or bank statements may be requested (EU Validation Services).
3. 3Technical and professional selection criteria: T1 proven experience in international price comparison work: at least one similar project in last three years; T2 team composition: at least 4 team members with minimum 3-year degree in economics/statistics, at least two members with 6+ years of professional experience in international comparison of equipment goods prices; T3 project manager with minimum 3 years management experience in similar statistical project or PM² Essential or equivalent; T4 language skills: project manager English C1, other team members English B2. CVs and project lists must be submitted with the tender.

Minimum requirements:tenderers must comply with Regulation (EC) No 1445/2007 and Eurostat-OECD PPP Manual methods unless justified, must meet Commission IT and confidentiality requirements (Annex 8 of Tender Specs), provide a detailed plan demonstrating compliance with the PPP work programme timetable, describe team roles, back-ups, and continuity procedures. Non-compliant tenders will be rejected.

Award and Quality Criteria

Award weighting:Price 50%, Quality 50%. Quality sub-criteria and scoring breakdown: Technical approach & methodology (max 45 points; minimum 29) assessed on depth, clarity, expected results, methodological approach and data protection; Work plan & timetable (max 15; min 10) assessed on realism and conformity with tender timetable; Management arrangements (max 25; min 16) assessed on team composition, roles, allocation of time, project management, business continuity, security controls; Quality arrangements (max 15; min 10) assessed on monitoring, quality control and quality assurance of deliverables. Tenders failing to reach minimum thresholds for each criterion or the overall technical threshold (65/100) will be rejected.

Award ranking:the best price-quality ratio using formula R = Q / (1 + (P - Pmin)/Pmin), where Q is quality score and P is price. If tied, lower price ranks higher. Contract awarded to highest-ranked tender meeting minimum requirements and not in exclusion situations.

Meetings, Missions and Reporting

Meetings required:Kick-off meeting (online) within two weeks of contract signature; four Progress Meetings (online) including one before each Country Meeting and one during Task 4 second validation round; Final meeting (online) in last month. Three Country Meetings: virtual in Jan/Feb 2027 (1 to 1.5 days), physical in Sept/Oct 2027 at Commission premises in Luxembourg or Brussels (1 to 1.5 days), virtual Feb/Mar 2028 (1 to 1.5 days). Contractor provides agendas, documents, presentations and minutes within specified deadlines. Contractor must organize up to five targeted assistance missions: five one-day missions each by two experts; two physical visits, three virtual; deliver mission agenda and mission report.

Reporting and deliverables:Detailed list of deliverables (D1.1 to D9.2) with fixed deadlines (examples: D1.1 preview document 4 weeks after signature; D1.4 pre-survey item list no later than 15 February 2027; D2.1 European item list no later than 15 March 2027; data collection expected April-June 2027; validation rounds Aug-Sept 2027, Oct-Nov 2027, Dec 2027; D4.1 October 2027, D4.2 December 2027, D4.3 January 2028; final report D5 by 29 Feb 2028). Interim technical implementation report at eight months and final technical implementation report within 60 days of completion, to accompany invoices.

IT, Security and Confidentiality

Security and data handling:Contractor will be granted access to non-public statistical data and PPP tools. Contractor must comply with Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics and Commission security decisions and standards. Contractor personnel handling confidential statistical data must sign the commitment on statistical confidentiality (Annex IV of the draft contract). Contractor must respect Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 for processing personal data and ensure localisation of personal data in EU/EEA; transfers to third countries require compliance with Chapter V of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725. Contractor must implement appropriate organisational and technical measures and allow audits and checks by Eurostat and Commission services.

IT tools and access:Eurostat provides and maintains the central PPP database and associated tools (ILMT, DET, VT, AT, MET). The contractor maintains the Excel Data Tool for the survey. All country submissions via eDAMIS in SDMX-ML. Contractor must use SECEM/encryption for emails when required. Remote access to Commission CISs follows Commission security baseline and may require Interconnection Security Agreement (ISA) and remote access approval processes (4-6 weeks typical). Contractor must comply with baseline rules and Acceptable Use Policy for external connections (Appendix 3).

Financial Offer and Invoicing

Financial template:Annex 6 Financial Tender (Excel) is compulsory for the financial offer. Prices must be in euros, free of VAT (VAT shown separately), two decimals, all cost elements including overheads, missions, meetings and travel included in task costs. Partial or blank tables render the tender null and void. Interim payment and final payment are linked to deliverable milestones as specified in the tender specifications and the draft contract. Invoicing: invoices submitted via electronic exchange or email; invoice(s) must be accompanied by deliverables and technical implementation reports required for payment. EU budget offset rules apply for overdue debts to the Union in line with the Financial Regulation.

Eligibility, Subcontracting and Joint Tenders

Eligibility:any economic operator within the scope of the Treaties, international organisations, natural or legal persons established in third countries if covered by public procurement agreements (e.g. GPA). Entities subject to EU restrictive measures are excluded. Joint tenders: all group members assume joint and several liability; group leader must be appointed and Agreement/Power of Attorney model provided (Annex 3). Subcontracting: permitted. Tenderers must list identified subcontractors (Annex 4) if their share >15% or if relied upon for selection criteria. Commitment letters from subcontractors or other entities on whose capacities the tenderer relies must be submitted (Annex 5.1 and 5.2). Changes to subcontractors after submission require prior written approval by the contracting authority subject to checks.

Selection and evidence:the contracting authority may request documentary evidence (legal existence, financial capacity, certificates, CVs, project lists, declarations) at any time during the procedure and before award. Failure to provide requested evidence within deadlines may lead to rejection.

Risk, Audits and Fraud Prevention

Checks and audits:the contracting authority reserves the right to perform checks and audits, request documentary evidence and to require remedial measures in case of irregularities. The contractor must assist fraud prevention and detection activities, impose fraud prevention obligations on subcontractors and personnel, and provide evidence that those obligations were included in subcontractor agreements. The contracting authority may use the EU Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES) and the contractor’s personal data may be registered there if exclusion grounds exist. Environmental and equal opportunities clauses also apply in contract implementation.

How to Apply and Documents Required

Submission:tender to be submitted electronically in eSubmission via the Funding & Tenders Portal. Tenderers must be registered in the Participant Register and possess a PIC. Required tender contents are listed in Annex 1 of the Tender Specifications and include: Declaration on Honour (Annex 2), Administrative information form (Annex 7), Agreement/Power of Attorney for joint tenders (Annex 3), List of identified subcontractors (Annex 4 if applicable), Commitment letters (Annex 5.1/5.2), evidence of technical and professional capacity (CVs, list of projects), financial tender (Annex 6), technical tender, and any other required attachments. Signatures: documents may be hand-signed but qualified electronic signatures (QES) are encouraged and accepted under eIDAS.

Classification and Sector

Main classification CPV:79330000 Statistical services. Target sectors: statistics, macro-economic statistics, national accounts, price statistics, purchasing power parities, equipment goods/machinery/electrical and optical equipment, PPP methodology. Relevant thematic areas: economy, statistics, methodology, data quality, IT tools for statistical data processing.

Eligibility and Applicant Types

1. 1Eligible applicant types: legal entities (companies), research institutes and consultancies with relevant statistical experience, international organisations, universities and specialised statistical contractors. Joint tenders are allowed; consortiums must appoint a group leader.
2. 2Not eligible: entities subject to EU restrictive measures that block access to procurement, and individuals acting alone (unless the procurement procedures explicitly allow natural persons and they meet selection criteria). Subcontractors are permitted and their PICs may be required for participation.

Minimum applicant requirements:see selection criteria above (F1 economic capacity, T1-T4 technical and professional capacity). The contractor must present a project team with required profiles and back-ups, including at least two senior experts with 6+ years in international comparison of equipment goods prices, and a project manager meeting project management experience or certification requirements.

Funding Type and Financial Mechanism

Funding type:Procurement / Service contract from the EU budget. This is a public tender for purchase of services and not a grant. Beneficiaries will be paid under the contract’s financial conditions; payments are not grants or loans. The mechanism is a direct contract (service contract) with fixed-price offers and interim and final payments tied to deliverables and technical acceptance.

Consortium Requirement and Co-funding

Consortium requirement:single tenderer or consortium permitted. A consortium (joint tender) is optional, not mandatory. Joint tenders must appoint a group leader, provide joint and several liability and submit Agreement/Power of Attorney model (Annex 3). Co-funding: not required; tenderers must price all costs in their offer and price must be expressed in euros free of VAT; all costs (missions, overheads, travel) must be included in the financial tender. No own co-funding requirement specified.

Beneficiary Geographic Scope

Geographic eligibility:open to entities within the scope of EU Treaties and to entities from third countries covered by procurement access agreements (e.g. GPA). The activities cover 41 ECP countries (EU27, EFTA/EEA: Iceland, Norway, Switzerland; candidate and potential candidate countries including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Serbia, Türkiye, Ukraine; Kosovo under UNSCR 1244; and the United Kingdom under the ETH/ONS/Eurostat cooperation arrangement). Contractor’s remote service delivery sites must be located in EU Member States where required by security rules.

Project Stage and Expected Maturity

Project stage:implementation and operational quality assurance of a mature, legally mandated statistical survey process. Tenderers must provide experienced teams capable of preview, pre-survey, item list construction, country assistance, validation, aggregation, analysis and documentation. The contract expects operational implementation for 2027 reference year, with validation and reporting up to March 2028.

Target Sectors and Technologies

Target sector:statistical services and international price comparability. Technology/Tools: experience with PPP database environments, SDMX-ML data exchange, Excel-based Data Tools with embedded VBA, web-based data entry and validation tools (ILMT, DET, VT, AT, MET), Oracle relational database environments, standard statistical validation tools (Quaranta Tables), and EU secure transmission systems (eDAMIS). Knowledge of Eurostat-OECD methodological manual on PPPs and ESA2010 classifications and COICOP 2018 is mandatory. Familiarity with SECEM S/MIME and Commission IT security baseline for remote access is required.

Application Type and Submission

Application type:open call for tenders via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. Submission is electronic via eSubmission using EU Login and Participant Register PIC. Questions and answers to be submitted and monitored via the Portal’s Q&A functionality before the specified cut-off. No alternative submission methods (e.g. email, postal) accepted.

Nature of Support and Financials

Nature of support:the contracting authority purchases services (i.e. money paid for services) — the contractor will receive monetary compensation under the signed service contract. The contract is not a grant or loan but a public procurement service contract paid from the EU budget. The contractor will also receive access to non-public data and PPP tools from Eurostat.

Application Stages and Success Rates

Application stages:1 stage open tender. Tenderers submit a single combined technical and financial offer in one submission. Evaluation comprises administrative compliance, exclusion and selection checks, technical evaluation and financial ranking using the best price-quality ratio formula. Success rates: typical success rates for open EU service tenders vary widely and are not published for this single tender; success depends on meeting mandatory selection criteria and achieving competitive quality and price scores. There is no published numerical success rate for this call.

Co-funding and Financial Conditions

Co-funding:No applicant co-funding or matching funds are required or indicated. Tenderers must include all costs associated with performing the work (personnel, overheads, travel, meetings, missions) in their financial offer. Financial offers must use Annex 6 financial template and be priced in euros free of VAT; VAT must be stated separately if applicable.

Templates and Application Structure

Templates and forms:The contracting authority provides mandatory templates: Invitation to tender, Tender Specifications (Annex I), Draft Contract (Service Contract), Annex 6 Financial Tender (Excel with required breakdown), Annex 4 List of identified subcontractors, Annex 5 Commitment letters, Annex 2 Declaration on Honour on exclusion and selection criteria, Annex 3 Agreement/Power of Attorney for joint tenders, Annex 7 Administrative information form, Annex IV Commitment on statistical confidentiality to be signed by the contractor and project personnel, Annex VI Declaration on list of pre-existing rights. Tenderers must prepare a technical tender addressing all award/selection criteria, CVs for team members, project references, a detailed timetable for tasks and deliverables, quality control and security measures, a management and continuity plan and the financial tender using the Annex 6 template. The technical tender must demonstrate compliance with minimum requirements in Section 1.4 of the Tender Specifications and with Commission IT and security requirements.

1. 1Tender form content outline (technical tender): Executive summary; Detailed methodology and technical approach addressing Tasks 1-9; Detailed work plan and timetable by deliverable and milestone; Detailed team composition and profiles with CVs and back-ups; Project management and quality assurance plan; Security, data protection and confidentiality procedures; List of previous PPP/price comparison projects and references (one similar project in last 3 years minimum) and evidence; Risk assessment and mitigation; Annexes and templates filled as required.
2. 2Financial tender outline: Completed Annex 6 Excel Financial Model with breakdown by task and time periods; Prices in euros, excluding VAT; Any VAT shown separately; All costs included (missions, meetings, overheads, travel); Declaration of price.

Evidence and attachments:CVs for the specified experts; proof of turnover for financial criterion F1 if requested by EU Validation Services; list of projects showing scope/role/date/contract value/invoiced amounts; commitment letters or subcontractor agreements if relying on third-party capacities; Declaration on Honour signed; administrative evidence of legal status on request; technical annexes as required.

Technical and Delivery Standards

Standards and methodologies:Work must be compliant with Regulation (EC) No 1445/2007 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 193/2011, and follow the Eurostat-OECD Methodological Manual on PPPs. Item lists must preserve equi-representativity as defined in Article 2(m) of Regulation (EC) No 1445/2007. Countries must be supported through eDAMIS submissions and PPP tools. Quaranta Tables (QT) and Validation Tool procedures must be used for validation rounds as described in the manual. Deliverables must be provided in English and be linguistically and technically checked prior to submission.

Summary: What is this Opportunity About?

This is a public procurement (service contract) launched by Eurostat to secure external specialised expertise to plan, implement, support and validate the 2027 PPP equipment goods price survey across the 41 countries covered by the European Comparison Programme. The work requires statistical, methodological and technical expertise in international price comparison exercises, experience in equipment goods markets, strong project management, and the ability to operate within Eurostat’s IT/PPP tool environment. The contractor will deliver a full set of preparation, data collection support, validation, reporting, country assistance and IT requirements for the transition to an automated equipment goods data entry functionality, following detailed timelines and producing specified deliverables. The tender is evaluated on best price-quality ratio with strict minimum selection criteria, and tenders must be submitted electronically via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal using the provided technical and financial templates.

This is an open procedure services tender from Eurostat for expert support to the 2027 equipment goods price survey. The contract is valued at €540000, has a maximum duration of 17 months, and is awarded on a best price quality ratio basis.[1][2]

Core opportunity facts

What the contract is about

The assignment supports Eurostat in coordinating the PPP surveys on equipment goods and deriving PPPs for gross fixed capital formation across the 41 countries in the European Comparison Programme.[1] The equipment goods survey is one of the two PPP surveys for gross fixed capital formation, the other being construction, and the wider PPP framework depends on comparable price collection and validation across countries.[1][6]

The tender specifications indicate that the work is structured into multiple tasks, including preparation and planning for the 2027 survey, updates to the item list and survey specific guidelines, assistance to countries for price collection and intra country validation, and data validation.[1] The portal also states that the contractor will need to help prepare, implement and report on the survey and work closely with countries on validation.[1]

Methodology and delivery expectations

The PPP methodology uses specification pricing and a multi phase survey process, and the equipment goods survey is carried out every two years.[4][5][6] Prices are collected as mid year prices from producers, importers, distributors or actual purchasers, which makes methodological discipline and consistent cross country validation essential.[6]

Implementation is expected to start on 1 November 2026, or on the date of signature if later, and the data validation of the 2027 equipment goods survey must be completed by the end of February 2028 so that results can feed the March 2028 PPP calculation cycle.[1]

Who should apply

This tender is best suited to specialist statistical consultancies, economics firms, and consortia that can manage international price surveys, country coordination, methodological validation, and PPP calculations. Eurostat explicitly notes that the work requires technical knowledge of machinery, electronic and other equipment that is not available in house, so bidders should be able to show strong sector expertise as well as statistical capability.[1]

• Applicants must submit electronically through the Funding and Tenders Portal eSubmission system; submissions by email or post are disregarded.[2]
• The procurement documents are published in English, but tenders may be submitted in one of the official EU languages.[2]
• Economic operators need to use the EU Login system to access submission functions and related portal services.[2]
• Questions submitted after 2 October 2026 at 23:59 Luxembourg time may not receive a reply from the contracting authority.[1]
• This is a procurement contract, so bidders should focus on bid pricing and service delivery rather than grant funding rates.[1][2]

Practical assessment for applicants

For bidders, the main commercial point is the total contract value of €540000 spread over a maximum 17 month implementation window.[1][2] The main technical challenge is the coordination of a multinational price collection exercise covering a wide range of equipment goods and the validation of results to Eurostat standards.[1][4][6]