Guides · Germany
Bidding on tenders in Germany.
How public procurement works in Germany — registration, eligibility, bid security and submission — checked against the official rules.
Bidding
How to bid for public contracts in Germany
How German public procurement (Vergabe) works in 2026: where tenders are published (oeffentlichevergabe.de, service.bund.de, TED), the 2026 thresholds and the new €50,000 direct-award limit, procedures and deadlines, eligibility and the competition register, the new federal wage law, and what non-EU companies, including Indian firms, can and can't bid on.
Read the guideBidding
Bidding below the EU threshold in Germany: UVgO, VOB/A and the rules in all 16 states
How German public contracts below the EU thresholds work in 2026: budget law, UVgO and VOB/A, the federal limits after the procurement acceleration law, and a 16-state table of direct-award, negotiated and restricted-tender limits for supplies, services and works, plus each state's wage-compliance law, where tenders are published, and which states offer a review procedure.
Read the guideGlossary
German public procurement glossary: Vergabe terms explained in English
Plain-English definitions of the German terms you meet in public tenders in 2026: Vergabe, öffentliche and beschränkte Ausschreibung, Verhandlungsvergabe, Direktauftrag, Schwellenwert, Wertgrenzen, VOB/A, UVgO, GWB, VgV, Eignung, Bietergemeinschaft, Eignungsleihe, Präqualifizierung, Wettbewerbsregister, Tariftreue, Rüge, Vergabekammer and more.
Read the guideMarket access
Can companies from outside the EU bid for EU public tenders? Country by country
Which non-EU companies have a right to bid for public contracts in the EU, EEA and Switzerland in 2026: the 22 WTO GPA parties, trade agreements with procurement chapters (CETA, Japan, UK, Singapore, Viet Nam, Chile, New Zealand, Ukraine, Mercosur), what the EU Court's Kolin ruling means for Chinese, Indian and Turkish bidders, the China medical-devices exclusion, foreign-subsidy notifications, Russia sanctions, practical steps, and the proposed EU Public Procurement Act.
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