16 July 2025

Negotiated procedure for the middle value contract “Access to justice for posted third-country workers"

Closed

D-SE-25-T06
Negotiated procedure
The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA or the Agency) is looking to contract fieldwork research and in-depth analysis of access to justice among posted third-country national (TCN) workers in the European Union.

Open until :

01 August 2025 17:00
Publication date
16 July 2025

The objective of the contract is to collect and analyse the experiences of access to justice of posted third-country workers whose labour and/or social security rights have been violated, as well as of trade union/civil society/lawyers supporting them with their claims.

The contractor is expected to conduct thirty (30) interviews with TCN posted workers who have experienced labour exploitation or threats thereof as well as with fifteen (15) experts in the area of posting of TCN workers in EU Member States. The fieldwork should include interviews with workers that have been posted, genuinely or fraudulently, from three different sending Member States to at least 3 different receiving Member States. The research should focus on different case studies involving country of origin of the worker, and specific EU sending and receiving Member States (e.g. Bosnian workers posted to Germany from an undertaking in Slovenia). The three sending and three receiving Member States should include at least four of the following: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Slovenia. At least ten of the interviewed experts should have been involved in follow up actions providing legal or other support to exploited TCN posted workers in accessing justice.

The contractor is expected to conduct the following research activities:

  • thirty (30) interviews with TCN workers who have been posted, either fraudulently or genuinely, from one EU Member State to another EU Member State;
  • fifteen (15) interviews with experts on posted TCN workers, including representatives of national authorities, staff of NGOs/trade unions and lawyers providing legal support to TCN posted workers;
  • draft a final report of maximum 40 pages summarising the main results of the fieldwork research in light of relevant EU and national legislation.

Technical and professional capacity

The contractor must propose one ‘qualitative research expert’ who meets, at least, the minimum criteria below: 

  • At a minimum, an advanced university degree in social sciences (sociology, political sciences, anthropology) or law (Master or equivalent); 
  • Proven professional and/or academic experience of at least five (5) years in conducting qualitative social research of which at least two (2) years in the area of labour rights
  • Proven expertise on migrant workers, demonstrated by at least two (2) relevant publications on the subject matter covered by the research; 
  • Excellent knowledge of English (Common European Framework of Reference, level C1). The contractor must propose one ‘research coordinator’ who meets, at least, the minimum criteria below: 
  • At a minimum, an advanced university degree in social sciences (sociology, political sciences, anthropology) or law (Master or equivalent and above); • Proven professional and/or academic experience of at least five (5) years in coordinating comparative research - either legal or social; • Excellent knowledge of English (Common European Framework of Reference, level C1).

The contractor must propose any other expert, such as one or more interviewers (if these are not carried out by the above experts), as well as additional legal experts, and/or interpreters that it considers necessary to implement the activities.

No documents proving the fulfilment of these criteria are requested at this stage. Participation in this negotiated procedure for a middle value contract is open to natural and legal persons falling within the scope of the EU Treaties (this includes all economic operators established in the European Union) and to all natural and legal persons established in a third country which has a special agreement with the Union in the field of public procurement on the conditions laid down in that agreement. FRA is not part of the Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) concluded within the World Trade Organisation. Therefore, the procurement procedure is not open to candidates from GPA countries.

If you would like to participate in this negotiated procedure, please register your interest by e- mail to procurement@fra.europa.eu, including your contact details (name, organisation, address, country and e-mail) before 1/08/2025 (17:00 CEST (+02:00)) . Please note that registration of interest to participate in the above-mentioned procedure does not give rise to any legitimate expectations to be invited.