Summary
EU public procurement has an extensive technical vocabulary — acronyms, legal terms, and procedural concepts that can be bewildering for those new to the field. This glossary covers the essential terminology every bidder needs to understand when reading tender documents, completing an ESPD, or following the news about EU procurement policy. Definitions are based on Directive 2014/24/EU and common usage in EU procurement practice as of 2026.
A–C
Abnormally Low Tender (ALT)
A bid with a price so low that the contracting authority must ask the tenderer to explain it. Under Article 69 of Directive 2014/24/EU, an authority may reject an ALT if the explanation is unsatisfactory. A price is abnormally low if it appears to not cover all costs, including overheads and reasonable profit.
Accords-Cadres
The French term for framework agreements — multi-supplier contracts from which individual call-offs are placed without running a full tender each time.
Award Criteria
The criteria used to evaluate and compare compliant tenders to determine the winner. Under Directive 2014/24/EU, contracts must be awarded on the basis of the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT), which may include price, quality, technical merit, sustainability, and other factors.
CAN (Contract Award Notice)
The notice published on TED after a contract has been awarded, disclosing the winner's identity, contract value, and evaluation outcomes. Required within 30 days of award for above-threshold contracts.
CN (Contract Notice)
The notice published at the start of a procurement process, inviting suppliers to submit tenders or requests to participate. The primary document for finding new EU procurement opportunities.
Competitive Dialogue
A procurement procedure used for complex contracts where the contracting authority conducts a structured dialogue with shortlisted candidates to develop the most suitable solutions, before inviting final tenders.
Consortium
A group of companies that jointly submit a single tender for a contract. Each member of the consortium typically covers different aspects of the contract deliverable and shares responsibility for performance. Also called a "joint venture" or "grouping of economic operators."
CPB (Central Purchasing Body)
An organisation that aggregates demand and runs framework agreements on behalf of multiple contracting authorities (e.g., UGAP in France, Consip in Italy, SKI in Denmark).
CPV (Common Procurement Vocabulary)
The EU's standardised eight-digit code system for classifying public contracts by subject matter. Every TED notice includes at least one CPV code. In practice, contracting authorities sometimes use parent codes (e.g., 72000000 = IT services generally) when the more specific child code would be more accurate (e.g., 72212000 = software programming services). This matters for monitoring: if you only track child codes, you will miss opportunities published under parent codes. The safest approach is to monitor both the specific code you expect and its parent level.
D–F
Debriefing
The feedback provided by a contracting authority to an unsuccessful tenderer after contract award. Bidders have a legal right to request a debriefing under Article 55 of Directive 2014/24/EU, including their score on each criterion and the reasons for non-selection.
Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS)
An electronic process for common purchases that operates like a framework agreement but remains open to new suppliers throughout its lifetime. Any qualifying supplier can apply to join at any time, unlike a closed framework.
e-Certis
The European Commission's online database mapping national certificates and attestations across EU member states — used to identify what documentation proves qualifications in different countries.
eForms
The new standardised electronic forms for EU procurement notices, mandated under Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1780. Replaced the previous notice formats from late 2023 onwards.
ESPD (European Single Procurement Document)
The standardised self-declaration required from tenderers in above-threshold EU procurement, covering exclusion grounds and selection criteria. Introduced by Article 59 of Directive 2014/24/EU. Crucially, the ESPD is a self-declaration — you are stating that you meet the criteria, not proving it with documents. Actual certificates, financial statements, and qualifications are only required from the winning bidder before contract signature. Do not voluntarily submit supporting documents alongside the ESPD unless the contracting authority explicitly requests them — doing so can create unnecessary compliance complications.
Exclusion Grounds
Circumstances in which a supplier must (mandatory) or may (discretionary) be excluded from a procurement process. Mandatory grounds include criminal convictions for corruption, fraud, or terrorism. Discretionary grounds include insolvency, professional misconduct, and conflicts of interest.
Framework Agreement
An agreement establishing the terms governing contracts to be awarded over a period of up to 4 years, from which individual call-offs can be placed without a new full competition. The practical distinction that surprises many suppliers: winning a place on a framework guarantees you the right to compete for call-offs, not guaranteed revenue. In cascade frameworks — where the Lot 1 winner receives the first call-off and lower-ranked suppliers are approached only if higher-ranked ones decline — position on the ranking directly affects how much work you realistically receive. When evaluating whether to bid for framework inclusion, model your likely rank, not just your chances of being admitted to the framework.
G–M
GPP (Green Public Procurement)
The policy of incorporating environmental criteria into public procurement specifications and award criteria, promoted by the European Commission as a tool to advance the Green Deal.
Lot
A subdivision of a contract that can be tendered and awarded separately. Contracting authorities must consider dividing contracts into lots under Article 46 of Directive 2014/24/EU. Lots improve SME access by allowing smaller companies to bid for manageable portions of large contracts.
MEAT (Most Economically Advantageous Tender)
The award basis required under EU procurement law. MEAT evaluations consider price alongside quality, technical merit, environmental characteristics, after-sales service, social value, and other relevant criteria — not just the lowest price. Since the 2014 Directive, pure lowest-price-only award criteria are restricted: contracting authorities must apply quality elements, and the standard formulation is "best price-quality ratio." In practice, this means a technically weaker bid at a lower price can lose to a stronger bid at a higher price — which has significant implications for how you structure your bid strategy and pricing. If you are competing on price alone, you are fighting a losing battle in most above-threshold EU procurements.
Mini-Competition
A second-stage competition between suppliers already admitted to a framework agreement, used to determine which framework member wins a specific call-off contract.
N–S
Negotiated Procedure
A procurement procedure in which the contracting authority negotiates with one or more suppliers. The competitive procedure with negotiation (Article 29) requires prior publication; the negotiated procedure without prior publication (Article 32) is an exceptional direct award mechanism.
Open Procedure
The most common EU procurement procedure — any supplier can submit a full tender without pre-qualification or shortlisting. Standard minimum deadline: 35 days from contract notice publication (reduced to 30 days if the notice is submitted electronically and documents are available electronically). Because any supplier can enter, open procedure tenders tend to attract larger fields; your bid must be competitive on both compliance and quality from the outset, with no shortlisting stage to filter the field before you invest in full proposal development.
PIN (Prior Information Notice)
A voluntary advance notice published before a formal procurement begins, giving suppliers early warning of upcoming contracts. Publishing a PIN can reduce the subsequent tender deadline to 15 days. In practice, PINs are worth monitoring as strategic intelligence: a contracting authority publishing a PIN 35 or more days before the formal call-off is signalling intent and often inviting informal market engagement. Some authorities use PINs explicitly as market consultations, and suppliers who respond may have the opportunity to shape the eventual specification — a significant competitive advantage.
Restricted Procedure
A two-stage procurement procedure where suppliers first submit requests to participate, a shortlist is established, and shortlisted candidates are then invited to submit full tenders.
Selection Criteria
The criteria used to assess whether a supplier is sufficiently qualified to perform the contract — financial standing, technical capability, professional qualifications. Not to be confused with award criteria, which evaluate the quality of the tender itself.
Standstill Period
The mandatory period between notification of the award decision and contract signature, during which unsuccessful bidders can initiate a legal challenge. The minimum is 10 calendar days where communication is electronic, or 15 days where other means are used. The window is short and the practical implication is significant: once you receive an award notification, you have 10 days to decide whether to challenge before the contract becomes legally binding. After signature, challenging the award is dramatically harder — remedies are limited and costs escalate. If you believe an evaluation was conducted improperly, act immediately on receipt of the standstill notification; don't wait.
T–Z
TED (Tenders Electronic Daily)
The EU's official electronic procurement journal, supplementing the Official Journal of the European Union. Above-threshold contracts must be published on TED. Available at ted.europa.eu.
Technical Specifications
The precise description of the characteristics required of the goods, works, or services being procured — including performance requirements, functional specifications, standards, and test methods.
Threshold
The financial value above which EU procurement procedures are mandatory and contracts must be published on TED. Thresholds vary by type of contracting authority and type of contract, and are updated every two years.
Variant
An alternative solution offered by a bidder in addition to, or instead of, the requested standard solution — permitted only where the contracting authority explicitly allows variants in the contract notice.