Frequently asked questions
This section covers all the questions that were asked during the Open Market Consultation (OMC). It will be updated regularly with answers to your questions.
If you still have questions or cannot find the information you are looking for in the FAQ, please do not hesitate to contact us at questions@theresa-pcp.eu
General questions
1. What is an Open Market Consultation (OMC)?
An OMC is a preliminary market engagement process used in European public procurement. It is a structured dialogue between public procurers and the market (industry, suppliers, research organisations) conducted before launching a formal procurement procedure. The OMC allows public buyers to verify availability of solutions, assess market maturity and procure-ability of innovations, understand technological possibilities, and gather market capacity insights before designing their procurement strategy.
2. Why is an OMC conducted prior to the Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP)?
- To reveal whether a solution meeting the need is already commercially available (and select the best procurement strategy).
- To reveal the feasibility of developing a solution for the proposed unmet need and the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of the components.
- To inform the market, raise awareness, and invite participation in the OMC and the future tender.
- To help forming consortia of suppliers.
- To refine the tender scope, specifications, challenge definition and procurement strategy based on market feedback.
- To identify barriers, enablers, state-of-the-art, and remaining R&D gaps.
The OMC helps public buyers understand market capabilities, identify potential solutions, and gather input to improve procurement design before launching formal procedures.
3. Who can participate in the OMC?
Anybody is welcome to participate in an OMC. Usual participants are suppliers/industry, SMEs, start-ups and research organisations.
4. What happens during an OMC?
An OMC may include some or all the following activities:
- PIN Publication: Publication of a Prior Information Notice (PIN) in the Official Journal of the EU (Tenders Electronic Daily – TED) to announce the upcoming procurement
- Questionnaires: Launch of a written Request for Information (RFI) via EU Survey to gather structured feedback from market actors
- Questions & Answers: Q&A platform published on the project website to address participant queries.
- OMC Documentation: Comprehensive documentation including challenge description, requirements, and participation guidelines.
- Events: Series of national and international workshops/webinars to present the project, explaining the PCP process.
- Company pitches: included frequently in the planned events.
- Bilateral Meetings: One-on-one consultation sessions with interested suppliers and research organizations.
- Matchmaking Tool: Platform to facilitate consortium formation among potential participants.
- OMC Dissemination: Distribution of promotional materials including FAQs and brochures about the OMC.
- Analysis: Evaluation of market responses to refine challenge definition, specifications, and procurement approach.
5. Is participation in the OMC mandatory for suppliers?
No, participation is voluntary for suppliers, though it provides valuable insights into upcoming procurement opportunities. Participation in the OMC does not guarantee participation in the upcoming tender (nor it is an eligibility consideration).
6. Are there any restrictions on what can be discussed during an OMC?
Discussions during the OMC should centre on market capabilities, technological possibilities, and high-level requirements, rather than on any procurement-specific details. Information gathered through the OMC may be used to inform the subsequent procurement process; however, this must be done in a transparent manner that avoids granting any unfair advantage to participants over non-participants.
7. What is the output or result of an OMC?
- A report summarising market capabilities, state-of-the-art, gaps, trends, and viable solution approaches.
- A refined specification or challenge description for the upcoming tender.
A list or map of interested suppliers/consortia and potential match-making
8. What is the difference between OMC and market consultation for standard procurement?
OMC in the context of innovation procurement (PCP/Publis procurement of Innovative solutions – PPI) has a proactive innovation role: exploring whether R&D is needed and feasible, shaping the procurement challenge, engaging early with the market, understanding market dynamics. In standard procurement, market consultation may be more limited to supplying specifications or testing supply capacity.
9. When should an OMC be conducted?
OMCs are typically conducted in the early planning phases, well before launching the formal procurement procedure. While there is no fixed rule, good practice suggests several months ahead of the tender to allow proper market engagement, consortia formation and specification refinement.
10. How should Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) or confidentiality be handled in an OMC?
The procuring authority should ensure that information provided by market participants is treated appropriately (careful balance between confidentiality and transparency and non-discrimination) and that future competition is not distorted. Some OMC documents include explicit IPR/confidentiality clauses.
11. What does "phase 0 - Open Market Consultation and preparation" mean in the PCP process?
In many PCP frameworks, Phase 0 is the initial preparation phase (including market consultation/OMC, needs analysis, drafting tender documents) before moving to the actual PCP which includes: Phase I (solution design), Phase II (prototype development), Phase III (pilot/validation). (procure-pcp.eu)
12. Are SMEs/start-ups encouraged to participate in the OMC and subsequent PCP?
Yes, the involvement of SMEs, start-ups and new entrants to stimulate innovation and wide participation is encouraged.
13. What information should the procurer provide to the market in the OMC?
The procurers typically provide: challenge description, objectives, expected user needs, rough timeframe, budget indications (if possible), legal/performance context as well as modes of participation; and invites market feedback on technological, organisational and commercial viability.
14. Is feedback from the OMC binding for the eventual procurement?
No. The feedback helps shape the procurement, but the procurer retains the decision-making power (e.g., what type of procurement to launch, final specifications, contract conditions). The OMC is a consultation tool and thus, not binding.
Pre commercial procurement
1. Presentations and recordings will be shared?
Yes, they will be shared and accessible through the webpage
2. Will it be possible to amend the questionary after submission?
Yes, you can submit another answer indicating that you are amending some sections
3. Is the questionnaire available as an offline version in word?
The questionnaire is based on a tool provided by the EC (EU Survey tool). It is an online tool. I.e., not available in word to fill by hand.
Procedure
1. Partners, manufacturers: are these are obliged to be from the consortium countries only or any other EU country?
From any EU country, HE associated country or from countries beloning to the EEA.
2. Are there any requeriment related to Consortia configuration like maximum or minimum number of partners, from same or different EU countries, or company type/size leading the consortium?
As long as you, your consortium partners, your subcontractors and third parties on whose capabilities you may be relying on, comply with elegibility aspects, selection criteria and are under no exclusion grounds, you are free to choose with whom you participate. This will be detailed in the to be published Request for Tenders