Prior Information Notice as Call for Competition

A prior information notice (PIN) has two distinct functions in EU procurement. Its most common use is to give the market advance notice of an upcoming procurement without formally starting the competitive process. Its second and more precise function is as a formal call for competition, substituting for the standard contract notice and triggering shorter minimum time limits for the subsequent procedure.

What is a Prior Information Notice as Call for Competition?

Under Article 48 of Directive 2014/24/EU, a contracting authority may use a PIN as a call for competition in a restricted procedure, competitive procedure with negotiation, or competitive dialogue rather than publishing a separate contract notice.

When used as a call for competition, the PIN must contain all the information required for a contract notice, or as much as is available at the time of publication. It must be published between 35 days and 12 months before the date on which the invitation to submit a tender or request to participate is sent. Once published, it must remain accessible and is publicly visible on TED throughout the interval.

The benefit for contracting authorities is a reduced minimum time limit for requests to participate. When a PIN has been sent as a call for competition and published between 35 days and 12 months before the invitation, the minimum period for interested suppliers to respond to a subsequent invitation can be reduced to just 15 days (compared to the standard 25 or 30 days).

This mechanism is distinct from using a PIN purely as a planning notice (sometimes called a buyer profile PIN), which does not start a procurement or reduce any time limits.

Why it matters for bidders

If you are monitoring TED and national portals, PINs used as calls for competition give you earlier visibility of an upcoming restricted or negotiated procedure than a contract notice would. The subsequent invitation to submit a request to participate may arrive with a compressed timeline (as short as 15 days), so identifying the PIN early and beginning preparation while the PIN period is running is a significant competitive advantage.

Watch for PINs published on TED with a flag indicating they are intended to reduce time limits or serve as a call for competition: the eForms and TED data fields distinguish between these notice types.

Example

A German federal agency plans to procure major enterprise resource planning software via a restricted procedure. In January it publishes a PIN on TED indicating the upcoming procurement, using it as a formal call for competition. In April it sends all interested suppliers an invitation to submit a request to participate with a 15-day response window (rather than the standard 30 days), because the PIN was published more than 35 days before the invitation. Suppliers who spotted the PIN in January have had three months to prepare their pre-qualification evidence.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a PIN as a call for competition the same as a buyer profile PIN?

No. A buyer profile PIN is an optional advance notice of planned procurements published for information purposes. It does not start a competitive procedure, reduce time limits, or obligate the buyer to proceed with a specific procurement. A PIN used as a call for competition is a formal legal step that does reduce time limits and does constitute the start of the competitive process.

Can a PIN as a call for competition be used for an open procedure?

No. This mechanism is available only for the restricted procedure, competitive procedure with negotiation, competitive dialogue, and innovation partnership. Open procedures use a standard contract notice.

How long can the interval between the PIN and the invitation be?

The PIN must be published at least 35 days before the invitation and at most 12 months before. If more than 12 months pass without an invitation being issued, the PIN can no longer be used to reduce time limits and the buyer must use a standard contract notice.

Do the same rules apply in the UK?

The UK Procurement Act 2023 retains a similar concept of a "preliminary market engagement notice" and a "tender notice," but the specific mechanism for using a PIN to reduce time limits does not translate directly. UK buyers should refer to guidance from the Crown Commercial Service and Cabinet Office on the applicable minimum periods under the new Act.