Request for proposal:

Request for proposals: Legal advisory services for the implementation of the innovation programme procurement strategy

By the present procurement procedure, the EIT KIC Urban Mobility S.L., hereby being referred to as “the EIT UM” or as “EIT UM”,  aims to procure legal advisory services, hereby being referred to as “provider”,   to introduce and operationalise innovative public procurement practices within its funding mechanisms, particularly within its Innovation programmes.

The selected tenderer will support two specific calls for proposals i) RAPTOR 2026 Open Call and ii) Innovation Open Call throughout their lifecycle: from call design, evaluation, and selection to project implementation.

Such legal advisory services on innovative public procurement will focus on three main goals:

• RAPTOR Open Call: Under the RAPTOR programme framework, the aim is to align the programme with the innovation procurement framework and integrate the Design Contest in the planning and implementation of the RAPTOR 2026 Open Call. During the contract, up to five cities selected for the RAPTOR programme will receive legal support to implement such innovative public procurement mechanism, in accordance with EU directives and national regulations.

• Innovation Open Call: Under theInnovationprogramme framework, the aim is to guide the design and implementation of the Innovation Open Call to ensure future funded projects can implement innovation procurement processes within the project duration or right after the project completion.  If relevant, a minimum of 3 cities/public buyers participating in an awarded project should receive legal support to implement an innovation procurement process (Pre-Commercial Procurement [PCP] and/or Public Procurement of Innovative Solutions [PPI]) in compliance with EU directives and national regulations.

• Capacity Building: Finally, the aim is to enhance the expertise of EIT UM staff in innovative procurement processes, particularly in the Design Contest mechanism, through targeted training sessions and the development of a comprehensive, publishable report. This workstream will not only upskill staff but also showcase EIT UM’s role in promoting the uptake of innovative solutions in sustainable urban mobility.

Key activities include, but are not restricted to, delivering workshops and training sessions, reviewing documentation, and providing one-to-one advice to both EIT Urban Mobility and innovation adopters/public buyers on legal and operational aspects.

RAPTOR Open Call context  

Rapid Applications for Transport (RAPTOR) is the challenge-based, city-driven agile innovation programme created and managed by EIT UM.

RAPTOR takes the urban mobility challenges of cities and runs a competition to find the best solutions from start-ups/SMEs and then supports a period of solution development which results in an in-situ demonstration. The defining feature of RAPTOR is its agility – cities and start-ups/SMEs in the programme work collaboratively, communicatively, and swiftly to bring about and to test either a new or improved/customised product or service.

Innovation Open Call context  

The Innovation Open Call is the primary mechanism used by EIT UM to support the development and testing of new innovative solutions on sustainable urban mobility. Compared to the RAPTOR programme, it can accommodate projects with lower TRLs as starting point and that require a longer time to market and larger financial support to develop and test solutions and to set the right local conditions for the planned innovations.

The Call has two cut-off dates per year and is addressed to consortia (more than one entity) from at least two EU Members States and/or countries associated to Horizon Europe.

Check the Request for Proposals here.

To apply, please send the completed and signed the Tender’s Submission and Declaration Form