Call: Provision of graphic design services
Buyer: European Parliament, COMM – Directorate-General for Communication, Belgium, Brussels
Estimated value excluding VAT: €2,000,000
Duration: 48 months
Deadline for submission of tenders: postponed to 22 September 2026
Case study – YES, they ask for…

It looks like quite a large contract, BUT: they would like to conclude 3 framework agreements (in a cascading arrangement): ranked in descending order following the evaluation of the tenders submitted… when an order is placed and before the relevant specific contract is issued, the EP will approach the company in first place and, if that is unavailable, the company in second place, and then, under the same conditions, the company in third place if necessary.
You may refuse 4 orders per year without incurring any penalties. So you can largely determine the volume of work yourself.

Requirements:

• financial: minimum turnover of €500,000 per year
• technical and professional competence:

• at least 3 years’ experience with services/supplies similar to those required by the contract in question;
• a team of experts in the fields of art direction and graphic design, comprising at least the following roles:
  o A project manager, who will also act as the contact person for the contractor and who must have at least 7 years’ demonstrable experience in project management.
  o A project manager’s assistant with at least 3 years’ demonstrable experience in project management.
  o At least 3 professionals for each of the following roles: Art Director, Graphic Designer, Illustrator and Motion Designer, all of whom must hold a degree in art or graphic design. Graphic designers, illustrators and motion designers must have at least 3 years’ demonstrable experience in their field. The Art Director must have 5 years’ experience in graphic design and/or visual communication and demonstrable experience in developing or collaborating on the development of creative concepts, either independently and/or in collaboration with clients.

• References: The applicant must demonstrate:
• A proven ability to deliver high-quality design solutions for all the above-mentioned types/formats of materials
• A proven ability to deliver, within set deadlines, large volumes of graphic materials and their versions/variants in various formats
• A proven ability, where relevant, to collaborate with subcontractors to ensure the timely delivery of the materials described above
• Experience in delivering multilingual/locally adapted graphic products
• Experience in delivering graphic products/solutions for different target groups (e.g. adults, teenagers)
• Proven ability to deliver graphic products that fully comply with European accessibility standards.
  The tenderer should demonstrate that they possess extensive knowledge and experience in areas such as corporate graphic design; the development of innovative graphic products for various online and offline platforms; the development of graphic products in multilingual versions/formats; and the development of graphic products that comply with European accessibility standards.