Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is your source of information?
- EuropeAidContracts.com is based on information published on the official web site
of the European Commission’s External Cooperation Programmes (http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/funding).
Using in-house developed technology and know-how, information on this site is is
converted into a database for easy access. However, information for a specific contract
on EuropeAidContracts.com may not match that of the EC's official web site when;
- a) A company or institution changed its name or acquired by or merged with another
company or institution. In that case, all contract information of the former company
or institution is transferred to the records of the new entity.
- b) The information on the European Commission’s web site does not reflect the current
status and we are informed about the up-to-date status of a contract by a member
or an expert. We update our records based on the information on the documentary
proof provided.
2. How often do you update your records?
Contract information is updated twice a day on working days.
Experts are reminded to update their profiles once a month. An expert profile which is not updated for more than 12 months is deleted.
Using in-house developed tools we do consistency check on company/institution names, check the status of their URLs and fill in missing company URL data on daily basis.
3. Which time period do the contracts in your database belong to?
Our information source (see Question 1 above) covers contract information dating back to 1999. All data provided on this site are consolidated and converted into our databases.
The Top 10 list on the home page covers last three completed years and the current year which is the time period taken into consideration for references provided in the Expression of Interest.
4. How do you ensure the quality of data?
As mentioned above, contract data is based on official announcements. Misprints in company/institution names are corrected or different language versions of a particular institution name are consolidated using in-house developed intelligent tools. Members are allowed to report inconsistent and/or incorrect information they observe. Corrections are made after examining these reports. In order to eliminate possible obsolete information and multiple entries overcrowding expert profiles, experts are advised to update their profiles every month and profiles which are not updated for more than 12 months are deleted. Expert search results are sorted by the date of last update.
5. The contract statistics (company ranking based on the number of contracts awarded) displayed on your web site does not look right to me. How can you explain that?
Some of our members state that number of contracts won by a company seems to be lower than they expected. This is, most of the time, the case when contracts are awarded to different legal entities belonging to the same group of companies. It is not possible to combine contract information of different legal entities even if they belong to the same group, especially when these companies apply to contracts together under the same consortium.
6. Do you provide company contact information?
We take special care in not to disclose personal information and therefore we re-publish only publicly available data. Therefore, we do not include contact names and details about institutions but provide link to their corporate web sites. We keep our URL links up-to-date.
Our members, on the other hand, may choose to be contacted by other members for business opportunities. In that case, the names and contact information are still not visible but other members are allowed to send messages to those members. Receiver of a message can see the name and e-mail of the contactor and is free to respond her/him in private.
7. Do I get an invoice for my subscription?
An invoice is printed for each subscription. Members receive the scanned copy of their invoices within one week. When requested, the printed copy is sent by post.
8. Is it safe to pay online?
Credit card payments are received through 3D secure payment system where the transaction directly takes place between the bank issuing your credit card and our bank. Based on the policy of your bank, you will be most likely requested to enter your 4 digit PIN code which is not visible to us. We do not store your credit card information. We also take all necessary precautions to avoid intrusion to our servers.
In spite of the above facts, if you still do not prefer on-line credit card transaction you can print out our mail order form, fill it in and fax it to us for processing.
If you choose to pay by bank transfer, all transaction charges shall be borne by the subscriber and you are advised to check international money transfer rates as the banks may apply extremely high charges.
9. Are the username and password provided valid for one user only? Can we share it with other departments in our company?
Our licence agreement states that the subscription is for single user only. We are not very strict about this rule as long as it is not used for excessive data download. It should be noted that each subscriber has a single contact name and address. All communication with other members or experts are made through the registered e-mail address. If you want multiple contact persons should be associated with your company, we charge half of the subscription price for each additional contact person.
Multiple users can not be defined for different legal entities even if they belong to the same group of companies. Each separate legal entity has to subscribe separately.