Contract Award Notice (CAN)

A Contract Award Notice (CAN) is the mandatory publication that a European contracting authority dispatches to the ojeu-official-journal-of-the-european-union within 30 days of signing an above-threshold contract. It closes the public record of a procurement process and identifies the winning supplier, the contract value, the number of bids received, and the procedure used.

What is a Contract Award Notice?

EU procurement directives require contracting authorities to publish a CAN for every above-threshold contract that follows a competitive procedure. The notice appears on ted in structured eForms format, so every field is machine-readable and available through the TED API. A CAN typically records the name and country of the winning tenderer, the total value of the contract, the date of contract conclusion, the procurement method applied (such as the eu or restricted-procedure), and whether the contract was awarded to a small or medium enterprise.

Where a pin or cn was previously published for the same procurement, the CAN completes the three-notice sequence that gives the full public record of the competition. In some procedures, a single CAN covers multiple lots, with each lot's result listed separately. The CAN is published after any standstill period has elapsed and after the contract is signed, so it post-dates the award decision by the length of the standstill plus the time taken to execute the contract.

Why a Contract Award Notice matters for bidders

CANs are among the most valuable market intelligence sources available. They reveal who is winning in a given CPV category, at what contract values, and in which member states. A supplier that systematically reads CANs in its sector can identify which competitors are active and successful, benchmark its own pricing against awarded values, and spot patterns in which types of buyers are active in its market. The TED API provides bulk access to CAN data, making systematic analysis feasible without manual searching. Unsuccessful bidders can also use the CAN as the starting point for requesting a debrief, since it confirms the winning tenderer and value against which their own submission can be compared.

FAQ

Does the CAN always include the contract value?

For above-threshold EU contracts, the CAN must include the total contract value. For contracts below the publication threshold or where only ranges are available, the level of detail varies, though eForms requirements since 2023 have increased the consistency of what is reported.

Is the CAN published before or after the standstill period?

The standstill period (if applicable) runs before the contract is signed. The CAN is published after the contract is signed, so the notice post-dates both the standstill and the contract conclusion.

Can I use CAN data to find teaming partners or subcontractors?

Yes. CANs show which firms are winning in a given sector, geography, and procedure type. Identifying consistent winners in areas adjacent to your own capabilities is a practical way to find experienced teaming or subcontracting partners for future bids.