Letters of Commitment for European Union Tenders

The problem:	When a company is shortlisted and proposes experts in a bid, it generally has to include in its tender dossier a so-called “Letter of Commitment” in order to prove that the proposed expert is really available and interested. A unsane method used by far too many companies consists in asking to as many experts as possible to sign such a letter of commitment for the same position for one specific assignment.
Consequences:	This is a very common method with the following results: The very high risk that even after signing the Letter of Commitment, you are not put in their proposal and, as you signed a Letter of Commitment, you are no more free to propose your CV to any other competitor for the same tender; The advantage for the company using this method is to very significantly limit the number of good experts still available for its competitors. AIC has already identified several companies presently sending mailings to a large number of experts asking them to sign ASAP such Letters of Commitment, without even mentioning fees and per diem (see AIC Blacklist and AIC Watchlist.
AIC Recommendations:	Do not sign any Letter of Commitment when the company is only preparing an Expression of Interest. Wait to get the confirmation that the company is really shortlisted; Get confirmation from the company that a Letter of Commitment is really demanded by the fund provider; Add the following sentence to any Letter of Commitment. “My commitment for the present tender is valid only if I receive by return a written commitment from your company stating that my CV will effectively be included in the tender, and, in the event your company win the contract, that I shall be really asked to do the scheduled assignment"; Do not sign any Letter of Commitment without having in writing (by e-mail for example) clear indications concerning Fees and Per Diem / Housing Allowance; Inform at your earliest convenience AIC about problems encountered. The highest level of confidentiality is always guarantied

Example of a Letter of Commitment / Statement of Exclusivity and Availability (SOE)
for an EU Framework contract tender

Statement of exclusivity and availability

FRAMEWORK CONTRACT REQUEST
No. 2005/112707 – Version 1

I, the undersigned, hereby declare that I agree to participate exclusively with the framework contractor _______________________ in the above-mentioned request for services for the framework contract consultation.

I further declare that I am able and willing to work:

• for the period(s) foreseen in the Specific Terms of reference attached to the above referenced request for the position for which my CV has been included in the offer of the framework contractor and
• within the execution period of the specific contract which runs from January 20061 to April 2006

By making this declaration, I understand that I am not allowed to present myself as a candidate to the other framework contractor consulted for the above mentioned request. I am fully aware that if I do so, I will be excluded from this consultation, the offers may be rejected and I may also be subject to exclusion from other tender procedures and contracts funded by the EC.

Furthermore, should this offer be accepted, I am fully aware that if I am not available at the expected start date of my services for reasons other than ill-health or force majeure, I may be subject to exclusion from other tender procedures and contracts funded by the EC and that the notification of award of specific contract to the framework contractor may be rendered null and void.