## 1. Foreword 

## 1.1. Europol Procurement 

“Public procurement” means the purchasing of works, supplies and services by public bodies at either national or European Union (EU) level. 

The objective of public procurement is to increase the choice of potential suppliers to public bodies, thereby allowing achieving a better value for money result, while at the same time developing market opportunities for companies. 

Europol must respect EU regulations on procurement and budgetary matters when contracting with economic operators. The conclusion of a contract is in principle only possible after the successful completion of a procurement procedure. 

In accordance with Article 85 of the Financial Regulation applicable to Europol, Europol complies with the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the Union 1  (FR). 

All Europol procurement procedures 2  are centrally managed by the Europol Procurement Office in order to ensure better coherence in the application of the rules and to guarantee compliance with the principles of transparency, proportionality, equal treatment and non-discrimination. 

This document is designed to help economic operators with the preparation and submission of requests to participate/tenders in response to procurement procedures issued by Europol. 

Tenderers should note that any information contained in the procurement documents can in no way be regarded as a commitment on the part of Europol to enter into any contract. 

Europol publishes information related to its procurement procedures on its website: www.europol.europa.eu. 

This guidance complements the procurement documents for each specific procedure. The ‘Invitation to tender & tender specifications’ describes the service or supply that Europol intends to purchase, the timetable, the exclusion, selection and award criteria, what the participating economic operators are required to provide as part of their submission and the resulting contractual terms. In case of any inconsistency between these guidelines and the individual ‘Invitation to tender & tender specifications’, the individual ‘Invitation to tender & tender specifications’ shall prevail. 

## 1.2. Types of procedures and terminology 

Types of procedures 

The following different procurement procedures might be used depending on the value and type of contract in accordance with the Financial Regulation 3 : 

Open procedure 

