Provision of Research Support Services to the European Investment Fund

Purpose of the Call for Tenders

In order to enhance

(i)  the visibility of the EIF’s outstanding position in the European market of SME finance,

(ii)  the visibility of the EIB Group in the field of providing financing to support relevant EU policy topics (e.g. related to climate and the environment), and

(iii)  the know-how of the EIF about these fields,

(iv)  the know-how about the economic impact of the EIF’s activities,

the EIF’s Research and Market Analysis Division (hereinafter: “RMA”) performs research related to European SME financing and disseminates related results internally and externally.

RMA’s current staffing resources do not allow to perform all ongoing tasks, nor to address additional ad-hoc requests in full. To compensate for the lack of internal resources and also to benefit from external know-how, RMA requires support from external Service Providers.

The EIF therefore intends to conclude Framework Agreements for the provision of support and con- sultancy services to assist the Research and Market Analysis Division of the EIF in various business areas and activities. The EIF is launching this procurement procedure to find multiple Service Pro- viders in four separate lots that will be able to deliver the required services according to the require- ments described in this Terms of Reference.

The EIF will conclude multiple Framework Agreements across four (4) Lots:

Lot 1: Research support services for surveys in the area of Private Equity and other areas related to EIF’s business

(a) Consultancy services to support surveys conducted by RMA;(b) Consultancy services to provide data analysis and research support in the field of SMEs’ access to finance to support survey results analysis and applying empirical research methods of the highest academic standard.

Lot 2: Research support services in the area of Climate and Green Finance

Consultancy services to support RMA’s research activities in the area of climate and green finance.

Lot 3: Research support services in the area of Economic Impact Assessment

Consultancy services to support RMA’s research activities in the area of economic impact assessment.

Lot 4: Research support services in other areas

Consultancy services to support RMA’s research activities in other areas not covered by the other three lots of this tender.

Tenderers may respond to one, multiple or all Lots: Tenders will be evaluated separately for each Lot.