Procurement glossary

Above the EU threshold

The EU sets value thresholds, revised every two years (for example around EUR 221,000 for supplies and services bought by regional authorities in 2024-2025, and around EUR 5.5 million for works). Above them the full EU rules apply, the notice goes to TED and any company in Europe may bid; below them national rules and national portals take over.

Award criteria

The award criteria say how the buyer will rank the bids: lowest price, lowest cost over the lifetime, or the best price-quality ratio, where quality points (method, team, delivery time, sustainability) are weighed against price. Reading the weights before writing a word is the difference between a bid that competes and one that fills pages.

Below the EU threshold

Most public contracts by number are below the EU thresholds: national law decides how they are advertised, and they appear on national or regional portals rather than on TED. They are smaller, closer and less contested, which makes them the natural first tenders for a small firm.

Competitive dialogue

In a competitive dialogue the buyer knows its need but not the solution, and works it out with the selected candidates in successive rounds before asking for final bids. Long and demanding, typical of large infrastructure and IT projects.

Contract award notice

A contract award notice closes the procedure: it names the winning company, the price and the number of bids received. Award notices are the raw material of market intelligence, since they show who wins what and at which price.

Contract notice

A contract notice opens the competition: it states what is bought, on what terms, and by when bids are due. It is the notice a bidder acts on; prior information notices come before it and award notices after.

Corrigendum

A corrigendum is a correction the buyer publishes to a notice already out: most often a new deadline, sometimes a changed specification or an added document. Missing one is the most common way to lose a bid without ever competing, which is why watched tenders send an alert when one appears.

CPV code

The Common Procurement Vocabulary is the EU-wide classification of goods, works and services, an eight-digit code such as 45210000 (building construction work). Every notice carries at least one, which is why searching and alerting by CPV is more reliable than by keyword.

Design contest

A design contest asks for a plan or design rather than a price, and a jury picks the winner; the reward is a prize, a contract to develop the design, or both. Common in architecture, engineering and data processing.

Direct award

A direct award (negotiated procedure without prior publication) is allowed only in narrow cases: extreme urgency, a single possible supplier, a failed earlier competition. The notice is published afterwards so the market can see it, which is why award notices of this kind are worth reading even though nobody could bid.

Dynamic purchasing system

A dynamic purchasing system (DPS) is a fully electronic framework that stays open for its whole life: any company meeting the criteria can apply to join at any time, and the buyer runs a small competition among members for each purchase. Joining early costs little and puts you in every later competition.

e-Certis

e-Certis is the European Commission's reference tool that maps the certificates and attestations each country accepts as proof of a criterion: tax compliance, insurance, registration, references. Indispensable before bidding abroad, where the document names differ but the requirements do not.

eForms

eForms are the standard electronic forms every buyer must use for EU notices since October 2023, replacing the old free-text templates. Because each field is structured, a deadline, a value or a CPV can be read by software without guessing, which is what makes precise alerts possible.

ESPD

The European Single Procurement Document is a standard form in which a bidder declares that it meets the exclusion and selection criteria; the actual certificates are only requested from the winner. It saves paperwork on every bid and can be reused from one tender to the next.

Estimated value

The estimated value is the buyer's forecast of the contract's worth, excluding VAT, used to decide which rules apply. Bids usually land below it, sometimes far below; the price actually paid appears later in the award notice, which is why the two are worth comparing.

Framework agreement

A framework agreement fixes the terms with one or more suppliers for up to four years; the buyer then places call-off orders under it, sometimes after a mini-competition among the framework holders. Getting onto a framework is the tender; the revenue arrives afterwards, order by order.

Innovation partnership

An innovation partnership lets a buyer select partners to research and develop a new product or service, and then purchase the result without a second competition. Rare, and aimed at companies with an R&D capability.

Lot

Large contracts are often split into lots by region, by trade or by product, each awarded on its own. A small company can bid for one lot only, which is frequently the realistic entry point into a big procurement.

Negotiated procedure

In a negotiated procedure (competitive procedure with negotiation) the buyer shortlists candidates, receives initial offers and negotiates them before a final round. It suits complex purchases and rewards a bidder who can explain and adapt, not only price.

NUTS region

NUTS is the EU's hierarchy of regions: countries, then large regions, then provinces. Notices state the place of performance with a NUTS code, which is what lets you follow tenders in Catalonia or Bavaria rather than a whole country.

Open procedure

In an open procedure any interested company submits a full bid by the deadline; there is no prior selection round. It is the most common procedure and the friendliest to a first-time bidder, because the whole competition is on paper and on price.

Prior information notice

A prior information notice (PIN) announces a buyer's intention to launch a procurement, often months ahead. It is not yet an invitation to bid, but it is the earliest moment to prepare, ask questions and be known to the buyer.

Restricted procedure

A restricted procedure starts with a request to participate, in which the buyer checks capacity, references and finances; only the companies it selects then receive the invitation to tender. Two deadlines, and the first one is the one that matters.

TED

TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) is the online supplement to the Official Journal of the EU where every contract above the EU thresholds must be published. Below-threshold contracts appear only on national portals, which is why Aperlena reads both.

For the process itself, country by country, see the guides: Guides