Appendix ANNEX 4

The following restricted procurement procedure shall be applied to all survey research and survey development services where the benefits accrue to the entire scientific community and which are wholly remunerated by the SHARE-ERIC.

Survey research and survey development services include those research and development services that are necessary to maintain and advance the state of the art in survey technology. They include, but are not confined to, the development of survey software, research on survey methodology, and the development of innovative interview techniques and their application in the field.

The description of the services to be procured shall be made publicly available in a contract notice before the beginning of the procurement process. The contracting parties shall indicate in such notice the objective and non-discriminatory criteria or rules they intend to apply, the minimum number of candidates they intend to invite and, where appropriate, the maximum number.

Competition can be limited to three potential providers. If there are three or less providers in the market for the services to be contracted, all providers in the market must be included in the competition.

The selection among bidders shall be based on the lowest offer price and the highest service quality. Service quality shall be defined by the description in (1).