How to bid for EU public tenders on TED: one guide for all 27…

EU procurement in one paragraph

Four directives set the rules for contracts above the EU thresholds in all 27 member states:

2014/24 for public authorities.
2014/25 for utilities.
2014/23 for concessions.
2009/81 for defence and security.

Two Remedies Directives set how bidders can challenge decisions. Each country writes these rules into its own procurement law, and adds its own portals, evidence rules and review bodies, and sometimes stricter requirements. In practice you always bid under a national law, but the core rules below are the same everywhere. A single Public Procurement Act, which would replace the directives, was proposed on 9 September 2026; it is years from applying.

TED: where every EU tender is published

TED (Tenders Electronic Daily, ted.europa.eu) is the online supplement to the EU’s Official Journal. It carries about 800,000 notices a year, worth more than €815 billion, from every member state.

What’s on it: every procurement above the EU thresholds, in the standard eForms format, mandatory since 25 October 2023.
Notice types:
- Prior information notice: an early warning, which can also shorten deadlines.
- Contract notice: the tender itself.
- Contract award notice: who won.
- Voluntary ex-ante transparency notice: announces a direct award, after which the buyer waits 10 days before signing.
Documents: buyers must make the full tender documents free and directly available online from the day the notice is published.
Language: the buyer publishes the full notice in the EU language or languages it chooses, and a summary appears in all the others.
Searching: quick, advanced and expert search, by sector (CPV code) or place. “Active” notices are tenders still open, plus recent planning and award notices. Email alerts need a free EU Login account.
Data: TED’s search API (api.ted.europa.eu) needs no key.

Contracts below the thresholds are published nationally. When they have a clear cross-border interest, EU principles of equal treatment and transparency still apply.

The thresholds in 2026

From 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2027, excluding VAT:

Contract	Threshold
Supplies and services: central government	€140,000
Supplies and services: other public buyers	€216,000
Supplies and services: utilities, and defence and security	€432,000
Social and other specific services	€750,000 (€1,000,000 for utilities)
Works and concessions	€5,404,000

Non-euro countries publish their own currency equivalents.

Procedures and minimum deadlines

Procedure	Minimum time
Open	35 days to bid; 30 with electronic submission; 15 with a prior information notice or in urgency
Restricted	30 days to apply, then 30 to bid (25 electronically, 10 with a prior information notice)
Competitive procedure with negotiation	30 days to apply, 30 for initial bids. Minimum requirements and award criteria can’t be negotiated.
Competitive dialogue and innovation partnership	30 days to apply; awarded on best price-quality ratio only
Negotiated without prior publication	Only in listed cases, such as no suitable bids, a sole supplier, extreme urgency or repeat works

Utilities use the same 35 days for open procedures, and at least 30 days (never fewer than 15) to apply in restricted and negotiated ones. Defence has no open procedure: at least 37 days to apply and 40 to bid.

Ways of buying:

Framework agreements: up to 4 years, or 8 for utilities.
Dynamic purchasing systems: fully electronic and open to new suppliers throughout. Applications are decided within 10 working days.
Central purchasing bodies, including across borders: a member state can’t stop its buyers using one in another country.
Lots: buyers must divide contracts into lots or explain why they didn’t.

How to qualify

The ESPD. Every buyer must accept the European Single Procurement Document, a standard self-declaration on exclusion and selection, as preliminary evidence. Usually only the winner then provides certificates. e-Certis shows which documents from each country count as equivalent, and buyers must primarily ask for documents listed in it.

Exclusion grounds:

Mandatory: final convictions for organised crime, corruption, fraud, terrorism, money laundering, and child labour or trafficking. Also unpaid taxes or social contributions established by a final decision.
Discretionary: insolvency, grave misconduct, collusion, conflicts of interest, serious past performance failures, misrepresentation, and breaches of environmental, social or labour law.
Self-cleaning: you can prove you’re reliable again by paying compensation, cooperating with investigators and taking corrective measures.
Time limits: exclusion can last at most 5 years from a conviction, or 3 years for discretionary grounds.

Financial standing. A buyer can’t ask for annual turnover of more than twice the contract value, unless it gives reasons.

Consortia and other companies’ capacity:

Groups of companies can bid without forming a legal entity first. The buyer can require a legal form only after award, if needed to perform the contract.
Relying on another company’s capacity is allowed, whatever the link between you. You must show you’ll have access to it. For experience or qualifications, the other company must actually do that part of the work. For financial capacity, the buyer can require joint liability.
Subcontracting: buyers can ask what share you’ll subcontract and to whom. The directives set no cap.

How bids are assessed

Contracts go to the most economically advantageous tender, which can mean the best price-quality ratio, lowest cost (including life-cycle costing), or price. Some countries ban price-only award. Abnormally low bids must be explained, and are rejected if the low price comes from breaking environmental, social or labour law.

Bidding is electronic. Where an advanced electronic signature is required, buyers must accept signatures from any member state under the eIDAS rules. All public buyers must accept electronic invoices in the European standard format (EN 16931).

Challenges.

Standstill: the contract can’t be signed for at least 10 days after the award decision is sent electronically, or 15 otherwise.
Review bodies are national, such as courts or procurement chambers, each with its own deadlines.
Ineffectiveness: a contract awarded without the required publication, or in breach of the standstill, can be declared ineffective.

Who can bid from outside the EU

Covered countries must be admitted. Companies from these countries have the same access as EU firms, but only for contracts their agreement covers:

WTO Government Procurement Agreement parties, such as the US, the UK, Japan, Korea, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Norway, Israel, Singapore, Ukraine and Chinese Taipei.
EEA countries.
Candidate countries with association agreements.
Trade-agreement partners with a procurement chapter.

Buyers check coverage with the Commission’s Procurement4Buyers tool.

Everyone else has no guaranteed right. In the Kolin judgment of 22 October 2024 and Qingdao of 13 March 2025, the EU Court ruled that companies from countries without such an agreement can’t rely on EU rules:

Each buyer decides case by case whether to admit them, at any contract value, including below the thresholds.
A buyer that admits them can adjust their scores.
Their challenges are judged under national law only.
Member states can’t pass general rules on this, so national laws that did so can’t be applied.

Companies from China, India, Türkiye and Brazil, among others, are in this group, unless a specific agreement covers them.

Two EU-wide instruments also apply:

The International Procurement Instrument: its first measure, from 30 June 2025 for five years, excludes Chinese-origin companies from medical-device tenders of €5 million or more.
The Foreign Subsidies Regulation: on contracts of €250 million or more, bidders must declare financial support from non-EU governments of €4 million or more per country over three years.

Utilities can also reject supply bids where more than half the products come from non-covered countries.

EU-funded tenders outside the member states

Two kinds of tender use EU money but aren’t member-state procurement:

EU institutions’ own tenders, such as those of the Commission and EU agencies, follow the EU’s Financial Regulation. They’re open to companies from the EU and from countries with a procurement agreement, plus local firms for contracts awarded by EU delegations abroad. They appear on TED and the Funding & Tenders portal, and have a 10-day standstill.
EU external aid (EuropeAid), for projects in partner countries, follows the PRAG rules.
- Who can bid: companies effectively established in EU and EEA countries, candidate countries, neighbourhood partners, developing countries on the OECD aid list, and others in specific cases. A letter-box company doesn’t count.
- Origin of goods: generally any country under the main programme.
- Thresholds: international open tenders apply from €300,000 for services and supplies and €5 million for works.
- Each call lists the eligible countries.

The market in numbers

Spend: EU public buyers spend roughly €2 to €2.6 trillion a year, about 15% of GDP, across more than 250,000 authorities.
Single bids were 28% of procedures in 2024, by the Single Market Scoreboard’s measure. The European Court of Auditors, measuring differently, found single-bid procedures rising from 23.5% in 2011 to 41.8% in 2021.
SMEs won 71% of contracts.
Price-only award decided 54% of procedures.
Lots: 32% of procedures were divided into lots.
Cross-border: direct cross-border awards remain rare, a few percent of procedures. Many foreign companies win through local subsidiaries instead.

What changed in 2025–2026

13 March 2025: the Qingdao judgment confirmed and extended Kolin.
May 2025: the Commission’s Q&A explained how buyers should treat bidders from non-covered countries.
30 June 2025: the first International Procurement Instrument measure (Chinese medical devices).
2025: member states began repealing national rules on third-country bidders that Kolin made inapplicable.
1 January 2026: new, slightly lower thresholds.
9 September 2026: the Commission proposed a single Public Procurement Act, including a possible European preference in strategic sectors. It is a proposal only; the directives still apply.

Questions

Can companies from outside the EU bid for EU public tenders?

It depends on the country. Companies from WTO Government Procurement Agreement parties (such as the US, UK, Japan, Korea, Canada, Australia and Switzerland), the EEA and countries with an EU trade agreement covering procurement must be admitted for the contracts those agreements cover. Since the EU Court’s Kolin ruling of October 2024, companies from other countries, such as China, India, Türkiye and Brazil, have no right to equal treatment: each buyer decides whether to admit them, at any contract value.

Is TED free?

Yes. Searching TED, reading notices and the tender documents (which must be free and directly available online from the day the notice is published) cost nothing. Email alerts need a free EU Login account, and TED’s search API needs no key.

What is the ESPD?

The European Single Procurement Document: a standard self-declaration that you meet the exclusion and selection criteria. Every buyer above the thresholds must accept it as preliminary evidence, and usually only the winner then provides certificates. e-Certis shows which documents from each country count as equivalent.

How long do I have to bid on an EU tender?

At least 35 days in an open procedure, or 30 when bids are submitted electronically, which is the norm. A prior information notice or urgency can cut that to 15 days. Restricted procedures allow at least 30 days to apply and 30 (25 electronically) to bid.

Can I bid as a consortium in the EU?

Yes. Groups of companies can bid without forming a legal entity first; a buyer may require one only after award, if needed to perform the contract. You can also rely on another company’s capacity to qualify, though for experience the other company must actually do that part of the work.

Who can bid for EU-funded projects outside Europe?

EU external aid contracts (EuropeAid) follow their own nationality rules: companies effectively established in EU member states, EEA and candidate countries, neighbourhood partners, developing countries on the OECD aid list, and some others can bid, and goods can generally come from any country. Each call states the eligible countries.

Sources

This guide explains the rules in plain English; it isn’t legal advice. Procurement rules change, and each tender document sets its own conditions — it always prevails.

How to bid for EU public tenders on TED.