Quick answer
If you are serious about winning public sector contracts in Europe, you need to understand TED. Tenders Electronic Daily is the official portal for European public procurement, the single largest source of tender opportunities on the continent. Every year, TED publishes over 750,000 procurement notices representing hundreds of billions of euros in contract value.
Yet for many businesses, TED is an intimidating platform. The interface is functional rather than intuitive. The search features are powerful but complex. The notices come in multiple languages. And the sheer volume of information can be overwhelming if you do not know how to filter effectively.
This guide takes you through everything you need to know about TED, from understanding what the platform is and how it works, to conducting advanced searches, setting up alerts, and using TED data for competitive intelligence. By the end, you will be able to navigate TED confidently and use it as a core tool in your business development strategy.
What Is TED?
TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) is the online version of the Supplement to the Official Journal of the EU (OJ S). It is published by the Publications Office of the European Union and serves as the mandatory publication channel for all public procurement notices above the EU thresholds.
Key Facts About TED
- Volume: Over 750,000 notices published per year
- Value: Representing approximately €700 billion in contract value annually
- Coverage: All 27 EU member states, plus EEA countries (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein), Switzerland, and candidate countries
- Languages: Notices are published in the official language(s) of the contracting authority, with summaries available in other EU languages
- Access: Completely free to use, no registration required for searching, though registration enables additional features
- Legal basis: Publication on TED is required by EU Directive 2014/24/EU for above-threshold public contracts
When Must a Contract Be Published on TED?
The EU procurement directives set financial thresholds above which contracts must be advertised on TED. The current thresholds (revised every two years) are approximately:
| Contract Type | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Supplies and services (central government) | €143,000 |
| Supplies and services (sub-central authorities) | €221,000 |
| Works contracts | €5,538,000 |
| Social and other specific services | €750,000 |
| Utilities sector (supplies and services) | €443,000 |
| Concession contracts | €5,538,000 |
Contracts below these thresholds are not required to be published on TED, though they may appear on national portals. Many contracting authorities voluntarily publish below-threshold notices on TED to maximise competition.
Types of Notices on TED
TED publishes several types of procurement notices, each serving a different purpose. Understanding these types helps you use the platform more efficiently.
Prior Information Notice (PIN)
A PIN is an advance warning that a contracting authority plans to procure. PINs give you lead time, sometimes months, to research the authority, prepare your team, and identify potential consortium partners.
Contract Notice
The formal call for competition, containing the contract description, CPV and NUTS codes, estimated value, evaluation criteria, qualification requirements, and submission deadline. This is the notice you respond to.
Contract Award Notice
Published after award, disclosing the winner, contract value, number of tenders received, and award criteria applied. A critical document for competitive intelligence.
Other Notice Types
TED also publishes modification notices (contract changes post-award), VEAT notices (proposed direct awards that can be challenged), design contest notices, and concession notices.
How to Search TED Effectively
TED's search functionality is comprehensive but requires some learning. Here is how to get the most from it.
Basic Search
The simplest way to search TED is using keywords. Navigate to ted.europa.eu and enter terms describing what you supply, for example, "IT consulting," "building maintenance," or "medical devices."
Tips for basic search:
- Use English search terms for the broadest results (many notices include English translations)
- Try multiple variations of your keywords ("software development," "software engineering," "application development")
- Use quotation marks for exact phrases
- Keep in mind that keyword search may miss notices where the description uses different terminology
Advanced Search Using CPV Codes
For more precise results, use CPV (Common Procurement Vocabulary) codes. CPV is a standardised classification system that assigns a numerical code to every type of goods, services, and works procured by the public sector.
How CPV codes work:
CPV codes follow a hierarchical structure:
- Division (first 2 digits): Broad category (e.g., 72 = IT services)
- Group (first 3 digits): Sub-category (e.g., 722 = Software-related services)
- Class (first 4 digits): More specific (e.g., 7222 = Software consultancy services)
- Category (first 5 digits): Specific type (e.g., 72220 = Systems and technical consultancy)
- Full code (8 digits + check digit): Most specific (e.g., 72220000-3)
Finding your CPV codes:
The European Commission publishes the full CPV code list. To find the right codes for your business:
- Start with the division that matches your broad sector
- Drill down through groups, classes, and categories to find the most relevant specific codes
- Note both specific codes and broader parent codes
- Check which codes are commonly used in notices for contracts similar to yours
Using CPV codes in TED search:
In TED's advanced search, you can filter by one or more CPV codes. This is far more reliable than keyword search because:
- It works regardless of language (CPV codes are universal across Europe)
- It eliminates irrelevant results from keyword ambiguity
- It captures notices that use different terminology but describe the same procurement
Filtering by NUTS Region
NUTS (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) codes identify geographical regions within the EU. If you only deliver services in specific countries or regions, NUTS filtering is essential.
NUTS code hierarchy:
- NUTS 0: Country level (e.g., UK, DE, FR)
- NUTS 1: Major region (e.g., UKC = North East England)
- NUTS 2: Sub-region (e.g., UKC1 = Tees Valley and Durham)
- NUTS 3: Local area (e.g., UKC11 = Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees)
How to use NUTS codes on TED:
In the advanced search, select the NUTS regions where you operate. You can select multiple regions, entire countries, or specific sub-regions. This dramatically reduces irrelevant results, if you only deliver services in the Netherlands and Belgium, there is no point seeing notices from Portugal.
You can also filter by notice type (contract notices for live opportunities, award notices for intelligence), by publication date, and by procedure type (open, restricted, competitive dialogue, or negotiated).
Setting Up Email Alerts on TED
TED allows registered users to create email alerts. Register at ted.europa.eu (free), conduct an advanced search with your filters, and save it as an alert with daily or weekly frequency. Create multiple focused alerts, a targeted alert for "IT consulting services in Benelux" produces more actionable results than a generic "all IT services in Europe" alert.
TED's built-in alerts are functional but basic. They lack AI-powered relevance scoring, deduplication across national portals, and CRM integration. Bidovate's intelligent tender alert system addresses these limitations, using AI to match opportunities to your capabilities and filter out irrelevant notices.
Understanding a TED Notice Structure
When you open a notice on TED, the information is structured in a standardised format. Knowing where to find key information saves time.
A TED contract notice follows a standard structure: Section I identifies the contracting authority; Section II describes the contract object, CPV codes, value, and lot structure; Section III sets out participation conditions including financial and technical requirements; Section IV details the procedure type, award criteria, and submission deadline; Section V (for award notices) names the winner, contract value, and number of bidders; and Section VI provides complementary information including review body details.
Understanding eForms
Since October 2023, TED has been transitioning to eForms, a new standardised electronic format for procurement notices. eForms replace the old TED standard forms and introduce:
- More structured data fields
- Better machine readability
- Additional information requirements
- New notice types and subtypes
For suppliers, the practical impact is that notices may look slightly different and contain more detailed structured data. The underlying information is the same, but the format is evolving.
TED's Limitations (and How to Work Around Them)
TED is indispensable but has limitations. Language barriers mean notices are primarily in the contracting authority's language, use TED's built-in translation for screening and invest in professional translation for serious pursuits. Search limitations arise from inconsistent terminology across member states, use CPV codes as your primary method, supplemented by keyword searches. Below-threshold contracts are not published on TED, search national portals directly or use Bidovate's tender search to combine TED and national portal data. And publication delays of up to five days can reduce your response time, supplement TED with direct relationships and supplier engagement events.
Complementary National Portals
Key national portals include Contracts Finder and Find a Tender (UK), eTenders (Ireland), BOAMP (France), Service.bund.de (Germany), TenderNed (Netherlands), publicprocurement.be (Belgium), and contrataciondelestado.es (Spain).
National portals matter because below-threshold opportunities are only published nationally, often the most accessible for SMEs entering the market. Full tender documents are usually downloaded from the national portal, and submission is typically through the national e-procurement system rather than TED.
Using TED for Competitive Intelligence
Beyond finding live opportunities, TED is a powerful research tool. Search award notices in your sector to discover who is winning, at what price, and how competitive the market is. Track specific competitors by name to profile their public sector activity. Aggregate award data to estimate total market size for your services in specific regions. And by noting contract durations in award notices, you can identify contracts approaching expiry, giving you advance visibility of upcoming re-tenders.
Bidovate's competitive intelligence platform automates all of this analysis, turning raw TED data into actionable insights without the hours of manual searching and spreadsheet work. For a deeper dive into this topic, see our guide on competitive intelligence in public procurement.
Getting Started: Finding Your First Opportunity on TED
If you are new to TED, start by identifying two to five CPV codes that match your products or services using the CPV code directory. Determine your target NUTS regions. Then run an advanced search on ted.europa.eu combining your CPV codes, NUTS regions, "Contract notices" as the notice type, and a date range of the last 30 days.
Review results for scope match, appropriate contract value, achievable deadlines, and proportionate qualification requirements. Access full tender documents through the link to the contracting authority's e-procurement platform. Finally, save your search as an email alert to be notified automatically of new matching notices.
Bidovate's AI-powered tender search takes this further, aggregating opportunities from TED and national portals and matching them intelligently to your capabilities, letting you focus on writing winning responses rather than searching for them.
Making TED Work Harder for Your Business
The businesses that win consistently treat TED as a strategic tool, not just a noticeboard, using CPV codes for precise targeting, monitoring PINs for early visibility, analysing award data for competitive intelligence, and supplementing TED with national portal monitoring. Whether you search manually or use Bidovate's platform to automate the process, the opportunities are there, published openly, waiting for businesses ready to pursue them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is TED free to use?
Yes, TED is completely free to access and search. You do not need to register to browse and search notices. However, creating a free account gives you access to additional features, including the ability to save searches and set up email alerts. There is no premium tier or paywall, all procurement notices published on TED are available to everyone. The platform is funded by the European Union as part of its commitment to transparent public procurement.
How often is TED updated with new notices?
TED publishes new notices every working day, typically five days per week. There can be a short delay between when a contracting authority submits a notice and when it appears on the platform, usually between one and five working days. For this reason, if you see an opportunity on TED with a tight deadline, the submission period may have already started several days before the notice appeared. Setting up email alerts ensures you see new notices as soon as they are published.
Can I bid for tenders from other EU countries on TED?
Yes, EU procurement law guarantees non-discrimination based on nationality. Any business established in an EU or EEA member state has the right to bid for any public contract published on TED, regardless of which country published it. In practice, you may face challenges such as language requirements (the tender documents and your response may need to be in the local language), local delivery requirements, and unfamiliarity with national procurement procedures. Starting with cross-border opportunities in countries where you have existing operations or language capabilities is a practical approach.
What is the difference between TED and national procurement portals?
TED publishes procurement notices for above-threshold contracts from all EU member states in a single centralised platform. National portals (such as Contracts Finder in the UK or TenderNed in the Netherlands) publish both above-threshold and below-threshold opportunities for their specific country. Above-threshold contracts typically appear on both TED and the national portal. Below-threshold contracts appear only on the national portal. Full tender documents are usually hosted on the national portal, and submission is typically through the national e-procurement system rather than through TED directly.
How do I find below-threshold tender opportunities that are not on TED?
Below-threshold contracts are published on national procurement portals rather than TED. Each EU member state has its own portal, Contracts Finder in the UK, eTenders in Ireland, BOAMP in France, and so on. You need to register on each national portal individually to search for and receive notifications about below-threshold opportunities. Alternatively, aggregation platforms like Bidovate's tender search combine data from TED and multiple national portals into a single interface, saving you the effort of monitoring dozens of separate websites.
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