Concession Award Notice

A Concession Award Notice is the closing publication in a concession procurement procedure. Like the Contract Award Notice for standard public contracts, it provides public transparency about who won the competition, on what terms, and at what estimated value, fulfilling the disclosure obligations of Directive 2014/23/EU.

What is a Concession Award Notice?

Directive 2014/23/EU requires that contracting authorities publish a Concession Award Notice on TED within 48 days of awarding a concession contract. This is a notably shorter publication window than the 30 days allowed for standard contract award notices, reflecting the Commission's intent to ensure timely market transparency for concession outcomes.

The Concession Award Notice must include the name and details of the winning concessionaire, the concession duration, the estimated total value (which for concessions is typically calculated as the total revenue the concessionaire can expect to generate over the life of the contract), and information about the number of submissions received in the competition.

Because concession values are driven by projected revenue rather than a fixed contract price, the estimated value in a Concession Award Notice can be substantially larger than the comparable figure in a standard public contract notice. A 30-year motorway concession might have an estimated value in the billions of euros, reflecting the expected lifetime toll revenue, even though the authority is making no direct payment.

Under eForms, the Concession Award Notice maps to specific notice subtypes within the result notice family. The eForms SDK defines the mandatory business term fields applicable to this notice type, including fields specific to concession contract structures.

Why Concession Award Notices matter for bidders

Concession Award Notices provide several layers of commercially useful information. The winner's identity tells you which operators have successfully entered or consolidated in a specific market. The concession duration tells you when the opportunity will next be available to re-tender. The estimated value provides a benchmark for the revenue potential of similar concessions in the same sector.

For suppliers monitoring long-term infrastructure markets, Concession Award Notices are essential pipeline planning tools. A concession awarded today for 25 years sets the competitive landscape for that market for a generation, but it also creates a known re-tendering timeline that suppliers can plan around years in advance.

Example

A French regional authority publishes a Concession Award Notice for the operation of a sports complex for 15 years, awarded to a sports facilities management company. The estimated total concession value is EUR 22 million, reflecting projected user fees over the contract term. The notice records that four submissions were received and evaluated. A competing facilities management company reads the notice, notes the winner, the concession value, and the expiry date in 15 years, and files it for future pipeline planning.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is the publication deadline 48 days for concessions but 30 days for standard contracts?

The Directive 2014/23/EU imposes a 48-day publication period, which is different from (and actually longer than) the 30 days under Directive 2014/24/EU. The 48-day period reflects the recognition that concession negotiations are typically more complex and that finalising the award documentation takes longer.

Do concession sub-threshold awards need a Concession Award Notice?

No. The mandatory publication requirement applies only to concessions above the EUR 5.38 million threshold. Below that threshold, transparency requirements are governed by national rules, which vary by member state.

Is the "estimated total value" in a Concession Award Notice the price the authority is paying?

No. For a true concession, the authority typically makes no direct payment (or a minimal one). The estimated total value represents the total business value of the concession over its life, calculated from projected revenues from end users or the market.