Translation services for the Office of the Secretary General of the European Schools

Open tender EURSC/2026/OP/0002 by the Office of the Secretary General of the European Schools (OSGES) seeks a framework for translation services covering all 24 EU languages with emphasis on English, French and German. The estimated total value is €600,000 (excl. VAT) for a maximum duration of 48 months (initial 12 months, renewable up to three times) and up to three contractors will be awarded in cascade. Services required include 100% human translation with double revision and AI-assisted translation with mandatory human proofreading, strict delivery deadlines, mandatory use of the ESTER terminology database and ISO 9001/ISO 17100 (or equivalents) as selection requirements. Submission is electronic via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal with a tender deadline of 30 March 2026 12:00 Brussels time and evaluation by best price-quality ratio (price 40%, quality 60%).

Opportunity summary

What it funds

Framework contracts for human and AI-assisted translation services (standard 100% human translation with double revision; hybrid AI + human proofreading). Services cover all EU official languages with emphasis on EN, FR, DE and sectors: pedagogy, legal, finance and European administration.

Who can apply:Experienced translation service providers established in the EU (participation excludes entities established in the United Kingdom and Switzerland). Joint tenders and subcontracting allowed; tenderers may rely on other entities' capacities.

Contract value & form:Estimated total value €600,000. Framework agreement (up to three contractors, cascade), maximum duration 48 months. Award by best price–quality ratio.

1. 1Procedure: open tender, electronic submission via eSubmission
2. 2Key eligibility: ISO 9001 and ISO 17100 (or demonstrated equivalence) required; minimum turnover and experience thresholds apply
3. 3Evaluation: Price 40% / Quality 60% (service organisation, standard translations, hybrid translations)

Tenders must follow the tender specifications and annexes (team CVs, ISO certificates, financial statements, IT solution access). The contracting authority requires an IT ordering platform, strict confidentiality and EU data hosting. See procurement page for submission and full documents F&T Portal - tender page ¹

Footnotes

1. 1Full tender dossier, specifications, Annex 4.bis (financial scenario) and Q&A available on the Funding & Tenders Portal: access the call page and the eSubmission area to submit your offer.

The Office of the Secretary General of the European Schools (OSGES) is running an open procurement procedure to conclude a multiple framework contract in cascade for professional translation services. The contract will cover standard human translation with double human revision and AI-assisted translation with mandatory human proofreading, across all official EU languages, with a focus on English, French and German. The framework contract may be awarded to up to three contractors, ranked in cascade. Submission is exclusively electronic via eSubmission on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. The estimated total value is €600,000 and the maximum duration is 48 months (12 months, renewable 3 times). The award criterion is the best price-quality ratio (price 40%, quality 60%). EU F&T Portal – Tender page Specifications (PDF) FWC draft ¹

Essential facts and timeline

Scope of services and technical requirements

• Service models: 1) 100% human translation with double human revision (standard translation). No AI or automated replacement allowed in this model; 2) AI-assisted translation with mandatory human proofreading, offered at three levels (basic, intermediate, advanced). All hybrid outputs must be fully proofread by professional human linguists; layout/formatting must match source; final deliverables must be ready to use.
• Languages: All official EU languages must be covered. Most frequent combinations: EN↔FR, EN↔DE, FR↔DE. Statistics for 2023–2024 show large EN→DE, EN→FR, FR→EN volumes and smaller flows to ES, IT, NL, PL, LT, HU, SV, SK etc. Annex 6 – Statistics
• Subject domains: pedagogy and curricula, legal (including complaints board procedures and judgments), finance and budgeting, European administration. Absolute obligation to use the ESTER terminology database for European Schools. ESTER terminology
• Delivery time standards (from valid order to delivery): Up to 1,750 words: urgent 6h, standard 12h; up to 3,500 words: urgent 12h, standard 24h; up to 20,000 words: urgent 2 days, standard 5 days; up to 40,000 words: urgent 4 days, standard 10 days; more than 40,000 words: urgent 10 days, standard 15 days.
• Quality obligations: direct translations preferred (no relay language). Final texts must be accurate, fluent, consistent, and formatted as required; no tracked changes or highlights. Contractors must consider and validate 100% matches and pre-translated segments unless otherwise instructed.
• Mandatory certifications (selection criterion T3): ISO 9001 (or equivalent) and ISO 17100 (or equivalent). Equivalents must be demonstrated in the tender.
• Quality control and penalties: OSGES operates a points-based quality credit starting at 100. Defined error categories deduct points (e.g., terminology errors: −3; misinterpretations: −2; omissions: −2; style: −2; layout: −2; grammar/spelling: −0.5 per error; unrevised machine translation in standard service: −5 per document). Falling to 50 points may trigger termination and cascade to the next-ranked contractor. Unsatisfactory quality may require free remedy and can result in price reduction; late delivery may also reduce payment (cumulative reductions capped at 100% of assignment).
• Confidentiality: highest standards are required; breaches may trigger immediate termination and proceedings.
• Use of ESTER: binding for translators and their ICT tools; consistency and naming conventions must be adhered to.

IT platform, security and compliance

• Contractors must provide an accessible, user-friendly IT solution for ordering, quotation, approval and delivery, with: language parameters; document type; translation mode; word/character counts; standard/urgent deadlines; multi-document/multi-language requests; translation memory and glossary import; accounting for pretranslated segments in quotes/invoices; secure upload/download; statistics; refusal workflow; budget cap setting and notifications; quotation approval to order; order/invoice tracking; super-user view; approx. 80 OSGES users.
• Response time to RFQs: standard requests within 12 hours; urgent within 2 hours. Quotations valid for 7 calendar days, VAT-free and all-inclusive. Only quotations addressing all requirements are admissible.
• Cascade ordering: OSGES sends RFQ first to the top-ranked contractor. If no response, unacceptable proposal, unreasonably high fee/deadline, conflict of interest, or unacceptable quality (even after remedy), OSGES may address the second, then third-ranked contractor.
• Invoices: only for fully finalized translations; to be emailed to OSG-INVOICES@eursc.eu; status visibility must be provided in the platform. VAT exemption rules apply per European Schools regime.
• Security and hosting: all data hosted exclusively in the EU by ISO/IEC 27001-certified providers; where possible, SecNumCloud or equivalent EU-recognized schemes. TLS 1.2+ in transit; AES-256 at rest; SSO/MFA; access logging; BCP/DRP; incident notification within 72 hours.
• AI component: closed, private NMT environment with linguistic customization; must fully integrate European Schools terminology. Performance: AI < 60 seconds/page; service availability ≥ 99.5% monthly; support response ≤ 4 business hours.
• Compliance deliverables: full technical documentation; GDPR/hosting/certification reports; list of accredited translators; annual compliance and security audit report; ISO 27001/17100/9001 (where applicable).
• GDPR and AI compliance: appoint a DPO; DPIA upon request; data not used for AI training without explicit OSGES authorization. Ability to describe AI purposes, personal data categories used, any fundamental rights impact inputs, and user instructions; assist controllers with AI Act obligations.

Eligibility, selection, and award

• Access to procurement (geographic): open to natural and legal persons established in the European Union only. OSGES clarified participation is not open to companies established in the United Kingdom or Switzerland.
• Who may apply: any EU-established economic operator providing translation services, including single applicants or joint tenders (consortia). Subcontracting is allowed for translation tasks; critical tasks (project management/SPOC, contract administration, coordination, budget follow-up) may not be subcontracted and must be carried out by the contractor (or, in a joint tender, a group member).
• Selection criteria (must be evidenced): Legal capacity (registrations and representation). F1: average yearly turnover of the last two financial years above €200,000. F2: positive average pre-tax annual profit over the last three financial years. T1: at least three similar contracts completed in the last three years, each with minimum value €50,000, and at least three different client references. T2: resource capacity including 1 project manager/SPOC (on payroll; degree ≥ 3 years; ≥ 5 years coordinating teams of ≥ 5 translators); at least 5 translators (CVs together must cover EN, FR, DE and at least two of the other 21 EU official languages; ≥ 3 translators must be on tenderer’s payroll; each translator has degree in translation or other degree + 2 years full-time translation; ≥ 3 years’ experience in translation overall; at least one translator with ≥ 3 years’ legal translation experience). T3: valid ISO 9001 and ISO 17100 (or equivalent).
• Exclusion: Declaration on Honour required for tenderers, each consortium member, and for subcontractors performing >20% or whose capacities are relied upon; judicial records and tax/social certificates required upon request; exclusion grounds per the Financial Regulation apply.
• Award criteria and weighting: Price 40% (assessed via GRAND TOTAL from Annex 4/4.bis scenario); Quality 60% split into three sub-criteria (Service organisation 20; Standard translation quality 20; Hybrid translation quality 20). Scoring uses verbal scales mapped to percentages; the best overall score ranks first; up to 3 contracts awarded in cascade order.
• Ordering and cascade: orders are placed via quotation acceptance. Repeated failure to respond (more than 5 times) or repeated late replies may constitute breach. Repeated late deliveries (more than 3 times during the FWC) may lead to termination and cascade to the next contractor.

Contract model and financial conditions

• Framework contract: multiple FWC in cascade; identical contracts with up to three contractors. No obligation to award specific contracts. The framework ceiling is published in the contract notice (estimated total €600,000). Within three years after signature, OSGES may negotiate up to +50% of the initial ceiling for repetition of similar services under EU Financial Regulation provisions.
• Duration: initial 12 months, automatically renewable up to 3 times (max 48 months).
• Payments: no pre-financing or interim payments foreseen. Payment of balance per finalized orders/invoices, typically within 30 days, subject to acceptance. European Schools VAT exemptions apply; invoicing must reflect exemption rules.
• Price revision: conditions set in the draft FWC (indexation via HICP after first year, if applicable).
• Liability, reductions and liquidated damages: defined in FWC; late delivery LDs and quality-based price reductions can be applied, including cumulative up to 100% cap for an assignment.
• Intellectual property: Union acquires ownership of results and rights on newly created materials; pre-existing rights are licensed to the Union as specified in the FWC; use may include publication and reuse; moral rights and image/sound rights must be managed.

Submission package and templates

• Annex 1 – Checklist: identification (Annex 1.1), joint tender questionnaire and power of attorney (Annex 1.2), subcontracting questionnaire and commitment letters (Annex 1.3), reliance on capacities commitment letter (Annex 1.4).
• Annex 2 – Declaration on Honour on exclusion and selection criteria: to be signed separately by the tenderer, each consortium member, and relevant subcontractors (>20% share or capacities relied upon).
• Annex 3 – Quality of the offer: structured responses covering A) minimum technical compliance (including ESTER, language coverage, ICT, deadlines, and acceptance of contract conditions), functional checks for the IT solution, and B) qualitative narratives for three award criteria (service organisation; standard translation quality; hybrid translation quality).
• Annex 4 – Financial offer: completed and signed form plus Annex 4.bis (Excel) including price list per word by source/target language for standard human translation with double revision; unit prices per word for hybrid translations at three proofreading levels; percentage surcharge for urgent translations; and the financial scenario sheet computing the GRAND TOTAL.
• Draft Framework Contract and Invitation Letter: binding terms and procedural guidance, including eSubmission instructions, opening session arrangements, and data protection.

Application method and portal

Tenders must be submitted exclusively via eSubmission through the EU Funding & Tenders Portal; paper or email submissions are not accepted. Each participating organisation must have a PIC (Participant Identification Code). Drafts can be edited until the deadline; maximum 200 attachments; file size limits apply; supported browsers and technical requirements are published in the Portal guidance. EU F&T eSubmission Guide

Detailed answers to categorisation questions

Eligible Applicant Types:EU-established economic operators providing translation services, including SMEs, large enterprises, language service providers (LSPs), and potentially other legal entities such as universities, research institutes or nonprofits if they demonstrably provide the required services and meet selection criteria. Natural persons established in the EU may apply if they meet all capacity and certification requirements. Joint tenders are permitted; subcontracting is permitted for translation tasks. Critical tasks (project management/SPOC, coordination, administrative and financial management) cannot be subcontracted and must be performed by the contractor (or a group member).

Funding Type:Procurement — services. Multiple framework service contract in cascade with specific contracts placed during implementation.

Consortium Requirement:Single applicant or consortium (joint tender) is allowed. No obligation to form a consortium; joint and several liability applies to group members; a group leader must be appointed with a power of attorney.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility):Participation is open to natural and legal persons established in the European Union. The contracting authority specified that, due to its status, participation is not open to companies established in the United Kingdom or in Switzerland.

Target Sector:Professional translation services with strong orientation to legal, pedagogical, finance/budget, and European administration texts; ICT-enabled service delivery; data protection and information security compliance; use of NMT with mandatory human revision where hybrid model is requested.

Mentioned Countries:European Union (eligibility region); Belgium (contracting authority location); United Kingdom and Switzerland (explicitly excluded from participation).

Project Stage:Commercial service delivery. Applicants must be operational providers able to demonstrate prior similar contracts, certified quality systems (ISO 9001) and translation process standards (ISO 17100), with staffing and IT solution already in place.

Funding Amount:Framework ceiling indicated in the contract notice; the portal shows an estimated total value of €600,000 for the framework. Within three years, repetition of similar services may be procured up to 50% of the initial ceiling via negotiated procedure.

Application Type:Open call (open procedure). Single submission via eSubmission, followed by evaluation (access, administrative, exclusion, selection, compliance with minimum requirements, and award). Public opening session after the deadline.

Nature of Support:Money. Payments for services delivered under specific contracts; no grants, loans, equity or pre-financing are foreseen.

Application Stages:One-stage submission and evaluation. Post-award, ordering via RFQs and specific contracts in cascade.

Success Rates:Not disclosed. The procedure can award up to three framework contracts based on ranking by overall score.

Co-funding Requirement:No co-funding is required. This is a procurement of services; contractors are paid for accepted deliverables. European Schools VAT exemption applies; quotations and invoices are VAT-free with separate indication where applicable.

Technical and compliance highlights (science/technology and requirements)

• Mandatory use of the ESTER terminology database for consistency across educational and administrative terms of the European Schools.
• Quality assurance framework with quantified error typology and contractual consequences; emphasis on accurate legal and pedagogical terminology; preference for direct translations without relay language.
• Human-in-the-loop for all hybrid translations; three proofreading tiers clarifying depth from terminology checks to full bilingual style revision.
• IT platform capabilities include TM and termbase import, CAT segment accounting in quotes/invoices, secure exchange, and budgetary controls to avoid overruns.
• Security stack aligned with ISO/IEC 27001 and strong cryptography (TLS 1.2+, AES-256), with access control and incident reporting SLA.
• GDPR alignment with processing localization in the EU/EEA, DPO designation, DPIA on request, and explicit prohibition on using data for AI training without authorization.
• AI transparency in line with the EU AI Act direction: purposes, personal data inventory, and support to controllers for compliance duties; performance thresholds for NMT responsiveness and service availability.

Templates and structure of the submission

1. 1Annex 1 – Checklist: Fill and attach all listed identification and legal documents; for joint tenders include Agreement/Power of Attorney; for subcontracting include identified subcontractors and commitment letters; for reliance on capacities include commitment letters (Annex 1.4).
2. 2Annex 2 – Declaration on Honour: To be signed by each involved entity as applicable (tenderer, each consortium member, and subcontractors over 20% or relied upon).
3. 3Annex 3 – Quality of the offer: a) Confirm minimum compliance items (ESTER usage, language coverage, deadlines, ICT, acceptance of contract terms); b) Provide the live or test access link to your IT solution using OSG-procurement and OSG-CALL-FOR-TENDERS-TRANSLATION-2026@eursc.eu; c) Check all functional capabilities; d) Provide comprehensive narratives for each award criterion: 1) Service organisation (QA measures; staffing model; SPOC; quotation/invoicing workflows; complaint handling and corrective actions); 2) Standard translation quality processes (CAT tools, TM policy, relay language policy, document safety, surge capacity, handling urgent 600-word late-evening request, and 600-page high-volume assignment within deadlines); 3) Hybrid translation quality processes (ICT specifics, NMT integration with ESTER data, human revision policy, platform security).
4. 4Annex 4 and Annex 4.bis – Financial offer: Provide per-word tariffs by source/target pair for standard human translation with double revision; unit prices for hybrid translation with basic, intermediate, and advanced proofreading; urgent translation percentage; complete the financial scenario sheet to compute the GRAND TOTAL used for price scoring.
5. 5Evidence for selection criteria: Legal capacity documents; turnover and profitability documents (last 2–3 financial years as specified); T1 list of similar contracts with values, scope and invoiced amounts; T2: current org chart, accounting document evidencing FTEs, and anonymised CVs (1 coordinator + ≥ 5 translators) meeting language and experience thresholds; valid copies of ISO 9001 and ISO 17100 or demonstrated equivalences.
6. 6Compliance confirmations: Acceptance of confidentiality regime; agreement to deliverables and timelines; ICT security, hosting, and GDPR/AI compliance statements and supporting documentation, as relevant.

General summary: what this opportunity is about and how to explain it

This is an open EU procurement by the European Schools’ central administration (OSGES) to create a pool of up to three translation service providers for four years. The framework will cover all official EU languages, with high demand in EN/FR/DE, supporting both legally sensitive and education-focused content. Quality and timeliness are central: standard services require full human translation and double human revision, and where AI assistance is used it must be complemented by mandatory human proofreading at a clearly specified level. Contractors must employ a stable core team: a project manager on payroll and at least three of the five proposed translators on payroll, with combined coverage of EN, FR, DE and at least two additional EU languages, and demonstrable legal translation expertise. Certified quality systems (ISO 9001) and translation standards (ISO 17100) are compulsory, reflecting the authority’s emphasis on robust processes. The IT solution provided by contractors must allow secure, EU-hosted, and GDPR-compliant end-to-end management of requests, quotes, orders, and deliveries, integrate terminology (ESTER) and translation memories, and enforce budget controls, with strong security controls and high availability. Orders will be issued in cascade starting from the top-ranked supplier; response times to quotations are tight (2 hours urgent, 12 hours standard), and late deliveries or substandard quality can lead to price reductions or termination. Tenders are evaluated on best price-quality ratio, with a weighted scenario-based price assessment and qualitative narratives on organisation and processes. Applications are submitted electronically via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, with set templates and documentary evidence for legal, financial, and technical capacity. In brief, this is a high-compliance, quality-focused framework for professional translation services adapted to the European Schools’ multilingual, legal, and pedagogical context, suited to EU-established LSPs and providers with proven track records, certified processes, robust security, and an operational platform ready to serve approximately 80 internal requesters under demanding deadlines.

Footnotes

1. 1Core documents: Specifications and annexes (PDF and DOCX versions), Financial offer tables (XLSX), Invitation letter, Draft Framework Contract (all accessible from the EU F&T Portal tender page). Links: Tender page; Specifications (DOCX); Invitation letter.

This is an open tender (EURSC/2026/OP/0002) for the renewal of translation services contract for the Office of the Secretary General of the European Schools (OSGES), which provides administrative, pedagogical, financial, legal, and HR support to the European Schools system. The tender seeks highly qualified providers for human and AI-assisted translation services covering all 24 EU official languages, with emphasis on English, French, and German.

Key Dates and Procedure

• TED Publication Date: 18 February 2026
• Deadline for Questions: 20 March 2026 23:59 Brussels time
• Deadline for Tenders: 30 March 2026 12:00 Brussels time
• Public Opening: 30 March 2026 14:00 Brussels time
• Procedure Type: Open procedure, electronic submission via EU Funding & Tenders Portal
• Award Method: Best price-quality ratio (Price 40%, Quality 60%)
• Framework Agreement: Multiple (up to 3 contractors) in cascade, without reopening competition, maximum 48 months (initial 12 months, renewable 3x)

Contract Value and Duration

Estimated Total Value:€600,000 (excluding VAT) over 48 months. Actual volumes based on historical statistics (Annex 6: ~€1.7Mwords in 2024, primarily EN/FR/DE combinations). Possible extension up to 50% of initial ceiling via negotiated procedure.

Duration:Maximum 48 months from signature. Services performed at contractor's premises.

Eligibility and Access to Procurement

Open to natural and legal persons established in the EU. Companies from UK or Switzerland explicitly excluded due to OSGES specific status. Joint tenders, subcontracting (limited to translation tasks), and reliance on third-party capacities allowed, with joint/several liability.

Services Required

Translation into/from all 24 EU languages, focusing on EN-FR-DE. Domains:pedagogy, legal, finance, EU administration. Mandatory use of ESTER terminology database (ester.eursc.eu). Services include:

• 100% Human Translation with Double Revision (standard): Full human process, layout/formatting included.
• AI-Assisted + Human Proofreading (hybrid): Basic/Intermediate/Advanced levels, all with mandatory human review.
• Strict deadlines: Urgent (e.g., 6h for <1750 words), standard (e.g., 12h for <1750 words). Layout matching source.
• Quality assurance: ISO 9001 & 17100 (or equivalent) mandatory. Points-based quality scoring with penalties/reductions.

Technical Requirements

Contractor must provide user-friendly IT platform (business days availability, up to 80 OSGES users) with functionalities for requests, quotations, ordering, budget tracking, statistics, secure file handling (DOCX/XLSX/PPTX/PDF/HTML/XML/TXT). EU-hosted (ISO 27001), GDPR/AI Act compliant, ESTER integration. Active demo link required in tender.

Selection Criteria (Mandatory - Pass/Fail)

Criteria apply to tenderer as whole (combined capacities). Q&A clarifies:Equivalents for certs acceptable if demonstrated; freelancers not payroll staff; CVs for selection only, not award scoring.

Award Criteria (Price-Quality Ratio)

Financial Offer Details

Per-word prices (VAT excl) for all 24x24 EU lang pairs (standard translation). Separate sheet for hybrid (basic/intermediate/advanced proofreading) + urgent surcharge %. Scenario totals based on Annex 6 stats (~€1.3M-€1.7Mwords/yr). Excel templates: Annex 4.bis.

Quality Control and Penalties

• 100-point credit system; deductions for errors (e.g., 3pts/terminology error, 5pts/unrevised AI). <50pts: possible termination/cascade.
• Late delivery: reductions up to 100%; >3 repeats: termination.
• Confidentiality breach: immediate termination.
• Verification rights: OSGES may check human involvement anytime.

Cascade Implementation

Up to 3 FWCs signed (ranked by score). Requests go to #1; if unavailable (no/late quote, high price/deadline, quality issues), cascade to #2/#3. Repeated refusals (>5): breach.

Submission and Documents

1. 1Electronic via F&T Portal (eSubmission). PIC registration required.
2. 2Annexes: Checklist (Annex1), DoH (Annex2), Quality form (Annex3), Financial (Annex4/4bis), IT demo link.
3. 328 Q&As published (e.g., certs for groups combined; CVs min 5 translators; subcontracting allowed but critical tasks not; ISO equiv OK with proof).

Primary source:EU Funding & Tenders Portal. Documents downloadable (specs, annexes, draft FWC). Q&A Excel available. TED ref: 34/2026 115793-2026.

Key Risks and Tips for Applicants

• Mandatory certs/equivalents + proof; payroll staff requirements strict (no freelancers).
• IT platform demo critical; must meet all listed features.
• Cascade risk: responsiveness key to avoid exclusion.
• Historical volumes high (~€1.7Mwords/yr); price competitively across all langs.
• Quality heavily weighted (60%); detailed Annex3 responses essential.

Footnotes

1. 1All data from official EU F&T Portal scraping and docs (19/02/2026 versions). Q&A up to 13/03/2026. Volumes from Annex6 (2023-2024 stats).