Who can benefit from Assistance under the EAFIP–initiative?
All public procurers from EU member states are eligible to apply for assistance.
The public procurers to receive this assistance are chosen through a transparent selection procedure against the following four criteria:
- Concrete interest / commitment in starting a Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) or Public Procurement of Innovative Solutions (PPI) project project and maturity of the business case
(with business case in this context the business case for the public procurer is meant, i.e. the cost/benefit analysis that justifies the procurer’s investment in the innovation procurement)
- Potential impact of the PCP/PPI procurement, with priority to high impact ICT solutions (e.g. Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Big Data and virtual/augmented reality), innovative ICT solutions contributing to economic recovery, the European Green Deal and national digital/ICT strategies.
- Geographical balance of the cases to be assisted across the EU member states.
- Lack of experience and existence of prior cases in the implementation of PCP/PPI under the legal system of the country in question.
The selection of the procurers to receive assistance is carried out together with the European Commission Services on the basis of interest shown via the online questionnaire. All expressions of interest received via the questionnaire are assessed according to the above criteria, based on the information provided in the questionnaire, and any additional information the European Commission may have decided to request.
The European Commission can decide to support additional cases if there is a high level of interest from eligible applicants.
Please note that projects that receive EU funding for the costs related to the preparation and/or management of an innovation procurement (e.g. from Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe or ESIF programmes) are not eligible for EAFIP assistance for activities that are eligible costs under the EU funding they already receive.
Nor does the EAFIP-initiative provide assistance in the formulation/preparation of proposals/offers for Horizon Europe calls.
What does Assistance under the EAFIP-initiative comprise?
EAFIP provides local assistance to selected public procurers in the preparation and implementation of a Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) or Public Procurement of Innovative Solutions (PPI), covering support in:
- Scoping an identified procurement need that can be tackled with innovative solutions
- Preparing and conducting an EU wide published open market consultation
- Drafting tendering documents
- Launching an EU wide published call for tender
- Answering questions from potential tenderers at any time during the process
- Signature of contracts with selected vendor(s), taking into account the relevant provisions under European and national legislation governing public procurement.
The exact scope and content of the assistance to be provided to the selected procurers is determined on a case-by-case basis, in coordination with the European Commission services.
Depending on the specific need of the procurer, one or more of four categories of assistance will be provided:
- Needs assessment – including prior art analysis and scoping of the procurement need. (5 days of assistance)
- Business case development. (5 days of assistance)
- Conducting a market analysis – incl. identification of the State-of-the-Art, preparing and implementing an Open Market Consultation and possible e-pitching sessions. (5 days of assistance)
- Preparing the tender specifications, drafting the tender documents and launching the procurement. (5 days of assistance)
The assistance will cover at least one (1) day local assistance (on the sport on the premises of the procurer or online), one-to-one meetings, answers to questions by email, hands-on guidance, and individual support (including legal and IPR handling support) to prepare and launch an innovation procurement (PCP or PPI).
Assistance categories 1 & 2 (needs assessment and business case development) will be offered to public procurers that have not allocated a budget for the procurement yet, but have a concrete procurement need that needs further scoping through prior art analysis and/or budget allocation justification through business case development. The selection of procurers for these first two categories of assistance will take a simpler form as it is not necessary to fill in the fields on the budget allocation. Short one-to-one meetings will be arranged to explore if there is a basis for an innovation procurement (PCP / PPI).
Assistance categories 3 & 4 (open market consultation, preparation, and launch of procurement) will be offered to public procurers who have identified a concrete procurement need and have already allocated a budget for this purpose.
The assistance provided within the EAFIP initiative does not consist of financial support for activities carried out by the procurer. Each project selected for assistance benefits from 5 man-days of expert assistance that are provided free of charge to the procurer by EAFIP and that are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Local assistance is provided in the local language of the procurer through the EAFIP network of experts established across all the EU Member States under the coordination of Corvers. The network of legal experts consists of members located across all the EU Member States. A complete list of these local legal experts (the EAFIP Lawyers Network) is available here.
Please note that:
- Only Pre-commercial procurements (PCP) and Procurements of Innovative Solutions (PPI) with an approved budget are eligible for Assistance category 1 & 2. Innovation Partnerships are not eligible to benefit from EAFIP.
- Projects that receive EU funding for the costs related to the preparation and/or management of an innovation procurement (e.g. from Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe, COSME or ESIF programmes) are not eligible for EAFIP assistance for activities that are eligible costs under the EU funding they already receive.
However, feel free to contact us (a.jaramillo@corvers.com) for more information and to join other relevant activities.
Apply for free EAFIP-assistance
You can apply for free assistance to your innovation procurement project by filling in the online form through this link: https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/EAFIP2024
Applications will be assessed on a monthly basis
