How we manage Framework Contracts

The EU’s Directorate for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) uses FWCs as a procurement tool for service contracts to facilitate formulation and implementation of EU’s international partnership and development policy, with the ultimate goal to reduce poverty, ensure sustainable development, and promote democracy, human rights, and the rule of law across the globe. 

The FWCs set out the terms under which specific contracts can be awarded during a project’s lifecycle and allows the EU to mobilise expertise at short notice. Such expertise may be required at any stage of the project cycle and may cover any sector(s) within a technical lot.

Replacing the EU FWC Services for the Implementation of External Aid (SIEA) 2018, the EU’s Framework Contracts for Services for External Aid (SEA 2023) is divided into 17 “lots” covering different technical sectors. Groups of contractors form consortia to deliver contracting services for each lot with one firm as the designated lead, coordinating proposals once the contracting process has begun.  

NIRAS received an approval rating of 100% in our contractual outputs for SIEA 2018. For the current SEA 2023, we are part of 13 of the 17 awarded lots (scroll down for more detail). 

SEA 2023 - how we work

NIRAS has a dedicated team of 30 professionals working exclusively with framework contracts. We have been a FWC contractor with EU since 2001. The Unit’s staff are specialised in Project Cycle Management, and its Management Team has many years of experience managing EU framework contracts (FWCs). As a result, we are extremely agile and experienced in finding and mobilising the right expertise in a very short time. 

Based in our offices around the globe, NIRAS’ dedicated team for the management of FWCs works 24/7 to secure that contracting authorities have a flexible and efficient access to the wide expertise required to achieve their results. The team works together with our network of experts, in order to identify and make the needed expertise available for the contracting authorities.  

A few members of our FWC team

Our approach based on transparency and fairness towards clients, partners and experts, allows us to provide the best quality within the very short timeframes of the FWCs. We prioritise working with experts with whom we have worked before and who have thorough knowledge, not only of the topic, but also of the country and region which ensures that the inception phase in our implemented projects is well-informed and efficient. 

We manage FWCs with a systematic and detailed but dynamic approach, where our well-established and tested bidding procedures guarantee that we can deliver the best quality available at the market at very short notice. Our dynamic approach and adaptability furthermore ensures that we can provide our services in an ever-changing world. 

Over the years, we have implemented more than 350 assignments in over 100 countries, and we have mobilised more than 1000 experts - many of whom choose to work with us again and again. 

SEA 2023 - the lots NIRAS leads*

LOT 2 – SUSTAINABLE NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT: Estimated value: €25M

Sub-sectors:

1. Sustainable Natural Resources Management
2. Sustainable Land Management
3. Sustainable Water Management
4. Sustainable Forestry Management & Conservation
5. Sustainable Waste Management

LOT 3 – FOOD SYSTEMS, SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND NUTRITION: Estimated value: €30M

Sub-sectors:

1. Sustainable Agriculture
2. Livestock
3. Fishery and Aquaculture
4. Food Security and Nutrition
5. Nutrition
6. Extension/Training/Human Resources Development/Institutional Development

LOT 9 – DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, RULE OF LAW, GENDER EQUALITY AND HRBA: Estimated value: €45M

Sub-sectors:

1. Human Rights-Based Approach (HRBA)
2. Human Rights
3. Support to Democratisation
4. Reinforcement of the Rule of Law and Administration of Justice
5. Public Administration Reform and Organisational Development of Public Institutions
6. Elections
7. Social Inclusion and Protection (formal and informal)
8. Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment

LOT 10 – CIVIL SOCIETY AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES: Estimated value: €25M

Sub-sectors:

1. Civil Society Organisations Empowerment
2. Decentralisation and Local Authorities Empowerment

LOT 11 – SECURITY, CONFLICT PREVENTION, SUSTAINING PEACE AND BUILDING RESILIENCE: Estimated value: €15M

Sub-sectors:

1. Mediation, Conflict Prevention, Resolution and Reconciliation
2. Support to Demobilisation, Disarmament and Reintegration (DDR)
3. Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) control; arms disseminated within civil population
4. Removal of land mines and explosive remnants of war and related activities
5. Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) nexus
6. Security Sector Reform (SSR)
7. Transitional justice
8. Post-conflict transition plans
9. Risk mitigation, including CBRN, explosives and its precursors
10. Logistical support to operations

LOT 15 – MONITORING: Estimated value: €45M

Sub-sectors: Monitoring Services (other than results-oriented monitoring)

*NIRAS A/S leads lots 2, 3,9, 10 and 11. NIRAS OY Finland leads lot 15.

SEA 2023 - the lots in which NIRAS is a partner

LOT 4 – SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT, INFRASTRUCTURES, GREEN CITIES, CONNECTIVITY AND SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY: Estimated value: €40M

Sub-sectors:

1. Sustainable Transport and Infrastructures
2. Urban Development and Cities
3. Rural Infrastructure

LOT 7 – MICRO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS, INVESTMENT CLIMATE, PRIVATE SECTOR, TRADE AND EMPLOYMENT: Estimated value: €30M

Sub-sectors:

1. Public Policies
2. Statistics and Indicators
3. Financiers/Risk Takers (serving EFSD+)
4. Legal, Institutional and Procedural Issues
5. Private Sector
6. Employment Creation and Labour Standards (Labour Market and Employment - formal and non-formal)
7. Trade

LOT 8 – SUSTAINABLE FINANCE AND BLENDED FINANCE: Estimated value: €30M

Sub-sectors:

1. Financial market Products, Instruments and Structures (different forms, different objectives) (including serving EFSD+)
2. Markets and financing needs/gaps (including serving EFSD +)
3. Policy Issues
4. Statistics and indicators

LOT 12 – EDUCATION, CULTURE AND YOUTH: Estimated value: €25M

Sub-sectors:

1. Education (formal and non-formal)
2. Human Resources Development
3. Vocational Education and Training - VET (formal and non-formal)
4. Culture
5. Youth

LOT 14 – MIGRATION AND FORCED DISPLACEMENT: Estimated value: €20M

Sub-sectors:

1. Support to legal migration and mobility
2. Addressing irregular migration
3. Response to forced displacement
4. Addressing root causes of irregular migration and forced displacement
5. Support to migration governance / migration management
6. Migration and development
7. Protection of migrants
8. Collection, analysis and dissemination of migration/forced displacement-related data

LOT 16 – EVALUATION AT INTERVENTION LEVEL: Estimated value: €120M

Evaluations of Interventions (Projects & Programmes)

LOT 17 – STRATEGIC EVALUATION: Estimated value: €40M

Strategic Evaluations of EU External Action