TED (Tenders Electronic Daily)

TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) is the European Union's central procurement publication platform, hosting every above-threshold public contract notice from EU member states, EEA countries, and a number of associated nations. It is the single most important portal for any supplier seeking to win European public contracts.

What is TED?

TED publishes roughly 750,000 procurement notices a year, covering goods, works, and services above the EU procurement-threshold. Notices appear in all 24 official EU languages within five days of submission by contracting authorities. Each notice is coded with cpv codes, so suppliers can search and filter by sector and geography. TED is also the gateway for all four EU procurement procedures, from the standard open-procedure to more specialised processes such as competitive dialogue.

Since 2015, TED has progressively moved to structured eforms, replacing free-text notices with machine-readable XML data. This shift means award data, including winning bidder names and prices, is increasingly available via the free TED REST API at api.ted.europa.eu/v3/notices/search, with no authentication required.

Why TED matters for bidders

TED is the mandatory starting point for any EU public-sector opportunity above the relevant threshold. Contracting authorities are legally required to publish here before any national portal, so a TED alert system catches opportunities before they reach most aggregators. The free API makes systematic monitoring feasible at scale: suppliers can filter by CPV code, country, procedure type, and estimated value, then pull full notice XML for analysis. Setting up a saved search by your core CPV codes and reviewing daily digest emails is the minimum viable monitoring setup; connecting directly to the API gives you structured, near-real-time data that unlocks automated matching and deadline tracking.

FAQ

Is TED free to access?

Yes, TED is fully public and free. Both the website and the REST API require no registration or authentication, making it one of the most open procurement data sources globally.

What languages are TED notices published in?

Notices must be submitted in an official EU language and are published within five days in all 24 official EU languages, so the synopsis of any notice is readable regardless of the contracting authority's country.

How does TED relate to the OJEU?

TED is the online supplement to the ojeu, the Official Journal of the European Union. The OJEU is the official legal publication; TED is its searchable, machine-readable procurement-specific face.