In this guide 7 sections
The EU procurement directives apply above certain values, published every two years and explained in the thresholds guide. Above them, a contract is published on TED and follows the full rules. Below them, it is published nationally, or regionally, or on a buyer's own platform, under procedures each country writes for itself. By number of contracts, this is the larger part of European public procurement, and it is the part most companies never see.
What changes below the threshold
Three things do not change: the buyer is still a public body, the money is still public, and the EU Treaty principles of equal treatment, non-discrimination and transparency still apply wherever a contract might interest a company from another member state. The Commission said so in an interpretative communication in 2006, and the Court of Justice has repeated it since. A below-threshold contract is not a private deal.
What does change:
- No TED Tenders Electronic Daily: the EU's official journal for public contracts above the EU thresholds. Full entry publication. The notice goes to a national portal, a regional bulletin, the buyer's profile page, or in the smallest cases nowhere at all: the buyer asks three companies for quotes.
- Shorter deadlines. Ten to twenty days for tenders is common, against the thirty to thirty-five the directive requires above the threshold.
- Simpler procedures. National law defines them: Direct award A contract given to one company without a competition, published for transparency. Full entry up to a limit, a simplified procedure with fewer documents up to another, then something close to the full procedure.
- Lighter documentation. The ESPD is often replaced by a national declaration; certificates are requested from the winner only.
- Fewer remedies. The Remedies Directives apply only above the threshold; below it, national review procedures exist but vary in speed and cost.
Reference
EU thresholds, 2026-2027
| Contract | Article | Threshold |
|---|---|---|
| Public sector Directive 2014/24/EU | ||
| Supplies and services, central government Art. 4(b) | Art. 4(b) | €140,000 |
| Supplies and services, regional and local authorities Art. 4(c) | Art. 4(c) | €216,000 |
| Works Art. 4(a) | Art. 4(a) | €5,404,000 |
| Social and other specific services Art. 4(d) | Art. 4(d) | €750,000 |
| Utilities: water, energy, transport, post Directive 2014/25/EU | ||
| Supplies and services Art. 15(a) | Art. 15(a) | €432,000 |
| Works Art. 15(b) | Art. 15(b) | €5,404,000 |
| Social and other specific services Art. 15(c) | Art. 15(c) | €1,000,000 |
| Concessions Directive 2014/23/EU | ||
| Works and services concessions Art. 8(1) | Art. 8(1) | €5,404,000 |
Amounts net of VAT, in force from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2027. Set by Commission Delegated Regulations (EU) 2025/2152, 2025/2150, 2025/2151. Checked against the acts on October 1, 2026.
How the countries do it
Every country draws its own lines. A few examples, as they stand at the time of writing; the country guides carry the detail and the portals.
- Spain distinguishes the contrato menor (direct award below 15,000 euros for services and supplies, 40,000 for works), the simplified open procedure, and the ordinary procedures. Everything from the simplified procedure upward is published on the national platform or a regional one.
- France lets buyers use a procédure adaptée Below the EU threshold A smaller contract governed by national rules and published on national portals, not on TED. Full entry , with publication required from 90,000 euros excluding VAT, in the official bulletin or a legal-notices newspaper, and free choice of method below that.
- Italy allows direct award below 140,000 euros for services and supplies and 150,000 for works under the 2023 code, Negotiated procedure The buyer selects candidates, then negotiates the offers before choosing. Full entry above that, all published on the national database and the buyers' platforms.
- Germany applies a separate national regulation below the thresholds, with limits for direct awards that differ between the federation and the federal states, and publication on federal, state and municipal portals.
- Poland applies its procurement act only from 170,000 zloty; below that, buyers follow internal rules and often publish on their own sites.
The pattern is the same everywhere: a direct-award band, a simplified band, and a band that looks like the EU procedure without the EU publication.
Why these contracts suit smaller companies
- Less competition. A contract published on one regional portal is seen by the companies watching that portal. The large national bidders are not among them.
- Faster decisions. Simplified procedures are evaluated by smaller teams and awarded in weeks, not months.
- Local preference, lawfully. Buyers cannot favour local companies, but short deadlines, site visits and on-site services favour those nearby.
- A track record. Three below-threshold contracts delivered well are the references that qualify you for the first above-threshold one, and the buyer that awarded them is the buyer that will invite you next time.
Why they are hard to find
The same fragmentation that keeps competition low keeps visibility low. Spain publishes on a national platform and several regional ones. Germany has federal, state and municipal portals. Italy's buyers use their own platforms alongside the national database. France has the official bulletin, the regional press, and a "buyer profile" site per authority. A company that wants the below-threshold market in three countries would watch dozens of sources with different formats, languages and search functions.
This is the problem Aperlena was built for. The tender search draws on national and regional portals as well as TED, normalises the notices into one structure - buyer, value, deadline, CPV code, place - and shows every notice in six languages. A below-threshold notice from a Polish region and an above-threshold one from TED sit in the same results, and a saved search alerts you to both.
How to work the below-threshold market
- Pick the geography. Below-threshold work is local. Choose the regions you can serve from your base, and learn which portals their buyers use.
- Watch the buyers, not only the notices. A municipality that buys maintenance every spring will do it again next spring. Buyer pages on Aperlena show each authority's history and the rhythm of its publications.
- Register on the platforms early. Some national platforms require a registration that takes days to validate. Do it before the notice you want appears, not after.
- Keep a standing file. Company registration, tax and social security certificates, insurance, references, a capability statement in the local language. Short deadlines are only a problem if the paperwork is not ready.
- Price for the simplified rules. A short, lightly documented procedure often means lowest price wins. Know your floor and bid decisively.
- Move up deliberately. Use the award archive to see what the same buyers award above the threshold, and use your below-threshold references to qualify for it.
A first month
A company that has never bid below the threshold can be ready in four weeks:
Win or lose, request the reasons, record the winning price, and bid again the following month. The below-threshold market rewards regularity: buyers notice the company that bids every time, and after three tenders it is no longer a stranger.
One caution
"Below the threshold" is measured against the Estimated value The buyer's own estimate of what the contract will cost, before tax; a ceiling more than a price. Full entry of the whole contract, including options, renewals and all lots. Buyers may not split a contract to stay under the threshold, and a company that notices a suspiciously repeated 39,000 euro contract has, in most countries, grounds to complain. The rules are lighter below the line, not absent.
Estimate honestly on your side too. If a buyer asks you for a quote on a small contract, the same value rules decide whether a formal procedure was needed; a supplier who helps a buyer keep a contract artificially small is building on a decision that a competitor can have annulled.
Sources
- Commission interpretative communication 2006/C 179/02 (contracts not or not fully subject to the directives)
- Directive 2014/24/EU, Articles 4 and 5 (thresholds and how the value is estimated)
- Ley 9/2017, de Contratos del Sector Público, arts. 118, 159 y 347 (España)
- Service-Public.gouv.fr, Quels sont les seuils de publicité des marchés publics ? (France)
- Codice dei contratti pubblici, d.lgs. 36/2023, art. 50 (Italia)
- Unterschwellenvergabeordnung (UVgO), Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie (Deutschland)
- Bundeshaushaltsordnung (BHO), § 55 (Deutschland)
- Prawo zamówień publicznych, art. 2 (Polska)
The figures and rules in this guide were checked against these sources on October 2, 2026.