TED Europa: How to Win European Union Government Contracts

Tenders Electronic Daily (TED) is the official EU supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) — the mandatory publication platform for all public procurement notices above EU threshold values across all 27 member states plus Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and other EEA countries. With over 700,000 contract notices published annually and a combined market value exceeding EUR 2 trillion, TED is the world's second-largest public procurement market after the US federal system.

Most North American suppliers have never engaged with it. That is an asymmetric opportunity. GPA membership (the WTO Government Procurement Agreement) gives Canadian and US businesses legal access to most above-threshold EU procurement — if they know the system well enough to use it. This guide covers the CPV code classification system, OJEU thresholds, notice types, the eNotices platform, evaluation frameworks, and the specific eligibility requirements for non-EU suppliers.

How TED and the OJEU System Work

EU public procurement is governed by two primary directives: Directive 2014/24/EU (public sector procurement) and Directive 2014/25/EU (utilities sector). Member states transpose these directives into national law, which means the specific procedures vary slightly by country — but the mandatory OJEU publication requirement is uniform. Any contracting authority in an EU member state must publish contract notices in the OJEU (via TED) when the contract value exceeds the applicable EU threshold.

TED operates at ted.europa.eu. As of 2024, the EU began transitioning procurement publication to the eNotices2 platform (enotices2.ted.europa.eu), which will eventually replace TED as the primary interface. Both are currently active. All historical notices remain on TED; new notices are published on both platforms during the transition period.

GPA Access — How Canada and the US Qualify to Bid

The WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) is a plurilateral trade agreement that opens signatory countries' government procurement markets to each other. Both Canada and the United States are GPA members. The EU, as a GPA signatory, has committed to opening its above-threshold procurement to suppliers from all other GPA member countries — including Canadian and US businesses.

In practice, GPA access means:

• Canadian and US businesses can legally submit bids on EU procurement notices above the applicable GPA threshold — contracting authorities cannot exclude them on the basis of nationality alone
• The GPA thresholds for EU procurement apply — currently approximately EUR 135,000 for central government services, EUR 209,000 for sub-central government services, and EUR 5.35M for works contracts
• Exclusions exist — certain sectors (defence, some utilities, below-threshold contracts) are not covered by GPA commitments
• Canada also has CETA (Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement) with the EU, which provides additional access beyond GPA for Canadian businesses, including sub-central government procurement in many member states

CPV Codes — The EU's 9-Digit Commodity Classification System

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) codes are the EU's mandatory commodity classification system for all OJEU-published procurement notices. Unlike business category codes (NAICS — North American Industry Classification System, 6-digit) or GSIN (7-character Canadian commodity codes), CPV codes are 9-digit numeric with a specific check digit structure: 8 meaningful digits plus a verification digit separated by a hyphen (e.g., 72212000-4 = Software programming services).

The CPV hierarchy:

Level	Digits	Example	Description
Division	2	72	IT services
Group	3	722	Software-related services
Class	4	7221	Software programming services
Category	5	72212	Programming services for application software
Full CPV code	9 (incl. check digit)	72212000-4	Programming services for application software

The authoritative CPV lookup is at simap.ted.europa.eu/web/simap/cpv. The CPV 2008 vocabulary is still current — no major update since 2008, though the EU Commission has proposed a new CPV revision. Search by keyword or browse the hierarchy. Each CPV code links to a standardised definition.

High-volume CPV codes for North American SMEs

CPV code	Description	Typical buyers
48000000-8	Software packages and information systems	All member state ministries, agencies
72000000-5	IT services: consulting, software, internet, support	EC institutions, national IT agencies
85000000-9	Health and social work services	National health ministries, hospitals
80000000-4	Education and training services	Universities, vocational agencies, EC
33000000-0	Medical equipments, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products	Health ministries, hospital networks
38000000-5	Laboratory, optical, precision, measuring equipment	Research agencies, universities, EC labs
73000000-2	Research and development services	European Commission, Horizon Europe
79000000-4	Business services: law, marketing, consulting, accounting	EC DGs, member state agencies

OJEU Thresholds — When EU Procurement Law Applies

EU procurement directives only apply above specific contract value thresholds, which are reviewed every two years by the European Commission. Current thresholds (effective January 2024, in EUR):

Contract type	Central government	Sub-central government	Utilities
Supplies (goods)	EUR 143,000	EUR 221,000	EUR 443,000
Services	EUR 143,000	EUR 221,000	EUR 443,000
Works (construction)	EUR 5,538,000	EUR 5,538,000	EUR 5,538,000
Light-touch services (social, health, education)	EUR 750,000	EUR 750,000	EUR 1,000,000

Below these thresholds, contracting authorities may — but are not legally required to — publish on TED. Many publish voluntarily. Below-threshold procurement is governed by national rules and may appear on national portals (Contracts Finder in the UK, PLACE in France, Vergabe.de in Germany) rather than TED.

Notice Types — PIN, CN, and CAN Explained

Notice type	Abbreviation	Purpose	Action required
Prior Information Notice	PIN	Advance warning — the buyer announces an upcoming procurement. Not an invitation to tender yet. Can be used to reduce minimum time limits for subsequent CN.	Flag for monitoring. If the PIN includes a call for expressions of interest, submit one. Otherwise, wait for the Contract Notice.
Contract Notice	CN	The actual invitation to tender or pre-qualification. Contains CPV codes, estimated value, time limits, and procedure type. This is the notice that starts your response clock.	Download tender documents immediately. Response deadlines under Directive 2014/24/EU: minimum 35 days for open procedure, 30 days for restricted (after pre-qualification), 25 days where electronic means are used throughout.
Contract Award Notice	CAN	Post-award publication. Names the winner, contract value, and award date. Must be published within 30 days of award.	Use for competitive intelligence — identify who is winning in your CPV codes and at which agencies. FPDS-NG equivalent for EU market research.
Modification Notice	MOD	Publishes contract modifications during execution exceeding 10% of original value or introducing new conditions.	Monitor for incumbents whose contracts are being modified — may signal an upcoming re-competition or dissatisfaction.

eNotices — The New Platform Replacing TED ~20 min to register

The European Commission launched eNotices2 (enotices2.ted.europa.eu) as the successor to TED for both publication and search. As of 2024, all new eForms-format notices are published on eNotices2, with a simultaneous feed to TED. By 2027, eNotices2 is expected to be the primary platform.

Key differences between TED and eNotices2:

• eForms — new structured notice format with 178 mandatory fields replacing the old PDF-based notices. More machine-readable; better API access for procurement intelligence platforms.
• Better search — eNotices2 offers improved full-text search, saved searches with email alerts, and CPV code browsing with suggested related codes.
• Direct document access — eNotices2 increasingly links directly to procurement documents rather than requiring registration on separate buyer portals.

For search purposes, use both platforms during the transition period. TED's historical database goes back to 1998 and remains the authoritative source for CAN data used in competitive intelligence research.

The Five EU Procurement Procedures

Procedure	Article (Dir. 2014/24/EU)	When used	Response time (minimum)
Open procedure	Art. 27	Standard — any interested operator can submit a tender	35 days from CN publication (25 days if fully electronic)
Restricted procedure	Art. 28	Two-stage: pre-qualification EOI, then invitation to shortlisted firms only	30 days for EOI; 30 days for tender invitation
Competitive procedure with negotiation	Art. 29	Complex contracts where initial tenders may be negotiated — defence, specialised IT, R&D	30 days for EOI; negotiations follow
Competitive dialogue	Art. 30	Particularly complex contracts where buyer cannot define specification without market input	30 days EOI minimum; dialogue may take months
Innovation partnership	Art. 31	Development + procurement of innovative products/services in a single process	30 days EOI minimum

For non-EU suppliers, the open procedure is the most accessible — no pre-qualification stage, full documents available to all, and a single submission deadline. The restricted procedure requires a strong pre-qualification submission to be shortlisted, after which you receive the full tender documents. Both procedures are equally common in EU procurement above threshold.

How EU Tenders Are Evaluated — The MEAT Criterion

EU procurement directives require evaluation on the basis of the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) criterion. Since the 2014 directive, price-only evaluation is explicitly discouraged for services and complex goods. MEAT evaluation must include at least one qualitative criterion — technical quality, after-sales service, sustainability, or similar.

In practice, EU tender evaluation uses one of three MEAT approaches:

1. Best price-quality ratio — weighted criteria combining price and quality factors. The contracting authority must state the weightings and sub-criteria in the contract notice. Example: 40% price, 30% technical approach, 20% team qualifications, 10% implementation timeline.
2. Fixed price, quality only — price is fixed; tenders compete solely on quality criteria. Common for research, creative services, and consultancy where value matters more than cost reduction.
3. Cost approach (life-cycle costing) — total cost of ownership over the contract life cycle, including energy costs, maintenance, end-of-life disposal. Increasingly used for equipment, vehicles, and infrastructure.

Practical Steps for a Non-EU Supplier Week 1–2

TED vs SAM.gov vs CanadaBuys — Comparison

Factor	TED / eNotices2 (EU)	SAM.gov (US)	CanadaBuys (CA)
Annual market size	EUR 2T+ (27 member states)	USD 700B+ (federal)	CAD 22B+ (federal)
Notices per day	500–1,000+	1,000–2,000	50–150
Commodity codes	CPV — 9-digit (45,000+ codes)	NAICS — 6-digit (~1,000 codes)	GSIN — 7-character (~8,000 codes)
Non-domestic access	GPA + CETA — broad	GPA — broad for GPA members	CETA, CPTPP, CFTA — broad
Evaluation standard	MEAT — quality required in scoring	LPTA or Best Value Tradeoff	LCB or Point-Rated (70/30)
Registration required to bid	ESPD self-declaration; no central vendor registration	SAM.gov entity registration — mandatory	CanadaBuys SRI — mandatory
Language	24 official EU languages; notices in buyer's language	English only	English and French (bilingual)
Document access	Via national e-procurement portals — separate registration per country	SAM.gov — unified	CanadaBuys — unified