Open Procedure (EU)

The Open Procedure is the standard and most commonly used method for awarding above-threshold public contracts in the European Union. Any supplier, anywhere in the EU (and in countries covered by the WTO gpa-government-procurement-agreement-wto), may request the tender documents and submit a full bid without being pre-selected.

What is the Open Procedure?

Under the Open Procedure, the contracting authority publishes a contract notice on ted inviting unrestricted participation. Every interested supplier simultaneously submits both its qualification evidence and its technical and financial offer. The authority evaluates bids against selection criteria (covering suitability to perform the contract) and award criteria (covering the best overall offer), combining the two steps into a single submission round.

The minimum deadline for submission is 35 days from the date the notice is dispatched to the ojeu-official-journal-of-the-european-union, reduced to 30 days if the authority published a prior information notice at least 35 days in advance. Suppliers submit a completed ESPD (European Single Procurement Document) to declare that they meet the selection criteria, with full supporting documents requested only from the eventual winner.

Why the Open Procedure matters for bidders

The Open Procedure is where the largest volume of EU public contracts are awarded. Because there is no pre-selection stage, any qualified supplier can compete, making it the primary entry point for international suppliers new to a member state. The discipline is to read the contract notice carefully before downloading the full tender dossier: the notice states the estimated contract value, the CPV codes, the award criteria weighting, and the submission deadline. A supplier that monitors ted by CPV code, sets calendar alerts on dispatch dates, and checks the ESPD requirements early avoids the most common failure mode of discovering a tight deadline too late to prepare a competitive submission.

FAQ

Can suppliers from outside the EU bid on Open Procedure contracts?

Suppliers from countries that are parties to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement have legal access to EU Open Procedure contracts. Suppliers from countries not covered by the GPA may be excluded at the authority's discretion.

What happens if too many bids are received under the Open Procedure?

The Open Procedure has no pre-selection stage, so the authority must evaluate all compliant submissions. For complex requirements where managing large numbers of full proposals is impractical, contracting authorities tend to use the restricted-procedure instead.

How does the Open Procedure differ from the Restricted Procedure?

In the Open Procedure, all interested suppliers submit a full bid in one stage. In the restricted-procedure, candidates first apply to be shortlisted, and only shortlisted candidates are then invited to tender.