The Commission Implementing Regulation establishing the standard form for the European Single Procurement Document for contracts over the EU thresholds entered into force on 18 April 2016. The European Single Procurement Document (ESPD) is a self-declaration prepared by companies or other economic operators regarding their financial status, abilities and suitability for a public procurement procedure. The purpose of the ESPD is to facilitate cross-border tendering by reducing the number of documents and forms to be completed.
ESPD questions can be asked and suppliers’ answers managed in the Cloudia Sourcing System from 30 December 2016.
Key changes in the competitive tendering process when using the ESPD
1) The person in charge of processing the notice determines in the Cloudia Sourcing which ESPD questions are asked
- The ESPD questions include
- mandatory questions, which the person in charge of processing the notice cannot remove or edit
- optional questions, from which the person in charge of processing the notice selects the relevant ones
- conditional questions, which depend on the information provided.
2) The supplier answers the ESPD questions and maintains an ESPD profile in the Tarjouspalvelu supplier portal
- For suppliers, the ESPD questions are shown on the “Exclusion and suitability” tab, where the supplier answers the questions
- The supplier has one up-to-date ESPD profile in the supplier portal
- The ESPD profile is updated when the supplier answers the ESPD questions
- The supplier can maintain its ESPD profile in the supplier portal
- If the supplier uses subcontractors, all subcontractors must also answer the ESPD questions
- The supplier sends an invitation to its subcontractors via the supplier portal
- The subcontractors fill in their answers
- The subcontractors must be registered users of the supplier portal
3) Viewing ESPD answers in the Cloudia Sourcing
- ESPD answers are checked in the “Received tenders” view after opening tenders
- When viewing received tenders, ESPD answers can be viewed in the ESPD comparison view
- If the supplier uses subcontractors, their answers can also be viewed
Using the structured ESPD
If the person in charge of processing the notice decides to use the structured ESPD function of the Cloudia Sourcing. On the “Exclusion and suitability (ESPD)” tab, the user selects “ESPD is used”.
Alternatively, the contracting entity can use the ESPD service provided by the European Commission or, during the transition period, forms available for download from Hilma. In this case, “ESPD is used” is not selected and the suitability requirements function is activated.
Structured ESPD
- Select “ESPD is used”
- The various parts can then be opened and filled in by selecting the title
Part II: Information concerning the economic operator
The questions in Part II: Information concerning the economic operator are mandatory in all calls for tenders in which the structured ESPD is used. The questions asked from suppliers also include sub-questions that appear depending on the supplier’s answers.
“In this part, the supplier fills in its contact and identification data. The supplier also provides the name and address of one person or, where necessary, the names and addresses of several persons who is/are authorised to represent the supplier in the procurement procedure. This authorisation can be based on legal authority to sign or, for example, a person’s position (sales director/manager or similar).
In this part, the supplier also states whether is uses subcontractors whose resources it needs to meet the requirements set by the contracting entity. For example, the actual supplier meets the requirements for financial status and employee qualifications, but uses other companies so as to meet the requirements for experience or technical capacity. In this case, the supplier uses the resources of another company. If the supplier meets all the requirements alone but uses subcontractors in spite of this, information on the subcontractors is provided in section D: Information related to subcontractors whose resources the economic operator does not use for benefit.” Timo Rantanen (Hansel)
Part III: Exclusion grounds
Some of the questions in Part III: Exclusion grounds are mandatory, while others can be selected 
(tick the box) or removed 
(untick the box) by the person in charge of processing the notice. The questions asked from suppliers also include sub-questions that appear depending on the supplier’s answers.“In this part, the supplier assures that the supplier itself or a member of its administrative, executive or supervisory body or a person with powers of decision or representation or supervisory authority within the supplier has not been convicted for a listed offence by a legally valid judgment. The supplier also assures that it has not breached its obligations relating to the payment of taxes and social security contributions.” Timo Rantanen (Hansel)
Part IV: Selection criteria
Some of the questions in Part IV: Selection criteria are mandatory, while others can be selected 
(tick the box) or removed 
(untick the box) by the person in charge of processing the notice. The questions asked from suppliers also include sub-questions that appear depending on the supplier’s answers.
“Selection criteria refer to suitability requirements and their fulfilment. These include information from registers, the supplier’s economic and financial standing, technical and professional ability, and quality assurance schemes and environmental management standards.” Timo Rantanen (Hansel)
Additional fields can be set to clarify the questions concerning these items (A: suitability, B: economic and financial standing, C: technical and professional ability, D: quality assurance schemes and environmental management standards).
Part V: Reduction of the number of qualified candidates
The questions in Part V: Reduction of the number of qualified candidates can be selected 
(tick the box) or removed 
(untick the box) by the person in charge of processing the notice. The questions asked from suppliers also include sub-questions that appear depending on the supplier’s answers.
“The reduction of the number of qualified candidates only applies to two-stage procedures, i.e. restricted procedures, negotiated procedures, competitive dialogues and innovation partnerships. In this part, the contracting entity states the objective and non-discriminatory rules and criteria on the basis of which it selects candidates for the next stage or stages of the procedure.” Timo Rantanen (Hansel)
Part VI: Concluding statements
The questions in Part VI: Concluding statements are mandatory in all calls for tenders in which the structured ESPD is used.
“In this part, the supplier assures that it has answered the questions properly and accurately.” Timo Rantanen (Hansel)
Open ESPD evaluation
- The person in charge of processing the notice can view the ESPD answers on the “Received tenders” tab.
- In the ESPD comparison view, answers can be viewed for an individual tender or for selected tenders.
- In the ESPD comparison view, you can write a comment for a specific tender or change the “Eligible supplier” selection.
- After saving, the view will automatically switch to the “Received tenders” tab.
Other terms of the call for tenders
- If ‘ESPD is used’ is selected when the call for tenders is created, the suitability requirements section changes to the ‘Other terms of the call for tenders’ section after saving.
- Use this section to specify other requirements for the tenderers. The functionalities are similar to those in the suitability requirements section.
In the Supplier Portal, the other terms will be filled out under ‘Exclusion and suitability (ESPD)’.
