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Information from the EU
Public tenders
All public tenders exceeding specific contract values must be published in the Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union ("S series", "Official Journal S" or "OJ S") and published throughout the EU. The contract value thresholds above which an invitation to tender must be published throughout the EU are laid down in EU directives. The following table provides information on the nature of a contract, the contract value (thresholds) and the relevant EU directives.
| Nature of the contract | Threshold | EU directive |
|---|---|---|
| Public works contracts | EUR 5 000 000 | Directive on public works contracts: 93/37/EEC |
| Service contracts | EUR 200 000 | Directive on service contracts: 92/50/EEC |
| Supply contracts | EUR 200 000 | Directive on supply contracts: 93/36/EEC |
| Supplies in the water, energy and transport sectors | EUR 400 000 | Sector directive: 93/38/EEC |
| Supplies in the telecommunications sector | EUR 600 000 | Sector directive: 93/38/EEC |
| Public works contracts | EUR 5 000 000 | Sector directive: 93/38/EEC |
| Contracts coming under GATT regulations | EUR 125 000 |
The awarding authorities for tenders are the central government, local or regional authorities, bodies governed by public law, or associations consisting of one or more of these authorities or bodies governed by public law.
Each year supply and public works contracts worth more than EUR 500 billion are published by public authorities in the EU. Each day the Supplement to the Official Journal publishes over 650 tenders providing information on:
- Public works, supply and service contracts from all EU Member States.
- Supply contracts (for the water, energy, transport and telecommunication sectors).
- Public contracts of the EU institutions.
- European Development Fund contracts (ACP countries).
- Phare, Tacis and other contracts from central and eastern Europe.
- Projects funded by the European Investment Bank (EIB), European Central Bank (ECB) and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
- Contracts from the European Economic Area (Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein).
- Contracts in accordance with the government procurement agreement (GPA) concluded between the United States of America, Japan and Switzerland within the framework of GATT/World Trade Organisation (WTO).
- Foundations of European economic interest groupings (EEIG).
- Public contracts for food aid.
- Public contracts for flight services.
More detailed information on public procurement can be found in the Guide to the Community rules on public contracts on the European Union site.
© European Communities, 1995-2009
Validity of documents
Documents from the various editions of the Official Journal are valid until the deadline for receipt of tenders or requests to participate indicated in the documents has expired. These deadlines are set by the awarding authorities involved, not by the Publications Office. The table below indicates the various periods of validity, which depend on the type of document involved:
| Document type | maximum duration |
|---|---|
| Prior Information Notice | 60 days |
| Corrigenda | 120 days |
| Additional information | 120 days |
| Contract notice | 120 days |
| Prequalification notices | 60 days |
| Request for proposals | 60 days |
| General information | 60 days |
| Contract award | End of a week |
| Other | End of a week |
| Buyer profile | 60 days |
| Public works concession | 120 days |
| Design contest | 120 days |
| Works contracts awarded by the concessionnaire | 120 days |
| European economic interest grouping (EEIG) | End of a week |
| Call for expressions of interest | 60 days |
| Periodic indicative notice (PIN) with call for competition | 60 days |
| Qualification system with call for competition | 60 days |
| Periodic indicative notice (PIN) without call for competition | 60 days |
| Qualification system without call for competition | 60 days |
| Results of design contests | End of a week |
| European company | 60 days |
| Dynamic purchasing system | 60 days |
© European Communities, 1995-2009
Who can make bids
Any company located in the European Union can make bids.
Companies located in certain other countries may make bids, depending on whether the contract is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) from the World Trade Organization or not.
This information can be found at the top of each tender original text, or in section II.1.7
When the contract is not covered by the GPA, only EU companies can make bids.
When the contract is covered by the GPA, all companies from countries having signed the agreement can make bids as well.
See list below (Source: http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/gproc_e/memobs_e.htm)
If the information is missing, we recommend that you contact the contracting authority.
- Parties to the agreement (committee members)
- European Communities, including its 27 Member States
- Canada
- Hong-Kong
- Iceland
- Israel
- Japan
- Korea, Republic of
- Liechtenstein
- Netherlands with respect to Aruba
- Norway
- Singapore
- Switzerland
- United States of America
- Negotiating accession : Albania, Georgia, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Oman, Panama, Chinese Taipei
- Observer governments : Albania, Argentina, Australia, Cameroon, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Georgia, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Mongolia, Oman, Panama, Armenia, Sri Lanka, Chinese Taipei, Turkey
