Suitability to Pursue Professional Activity

Suitability to pursue professional activity is the foundational pillar of selection criteria under EU procurement law. Before assessing whether a supplier is financially sound or technically capable, a contracting authority must confirm that the supplier has the legal right to operate in the relevant sector at all. This criterion ensures that public contracts are not awarded to suppliers lacking the basic legal authorisation to perform them.

What is Suitability to Pursue Professional Activity?

Article 58(2) of Directive 2014/24/EU permits contracting authorities to require suppliers to be enrolled in a relevant professional or trade register, or to provide a declaration on oath or a certificate as required by the laws of the member state where they are established. The specific registers and authorisations that may be required vary by country and sector.

Trade register enrolment. In most European jurisdictions, commercial entities are required to register in a national or regional trade register (for example, the German Handelsregister, the French Registre du Commerce et des Sociétés, or the Belgian Crossroads Bank for Enterprises). Contracting authorities may require evidence of this registration to confirm that the supplier is a legally constituted entity authorised to trade.

Professional register membership. Many regulated professions require practitioners to be enrolled in a statutory professional register in order to practise. See professional register membership for detailed coverage of this overlapping concept.

Sector-specific regulatory authorisations. Some sectors require specific licences or authorisations beyond trade registration. Financial services firms require authorisation from financial regulators; healthcare providers require registration with health regulatory bodies; waste management companies require environmental permits; certain construction activities require builder registration with national construction authorities. A contracting authority procuring services in a regulated sector may require evidence that the bidder holds the relevant authorisation.

Cross-border issues. A supplier established in one EU member state bidding for a contract in another may not hold the specific national register enrolment or authorisation required in the buyer's jurisdiction. Article 58(2) addresses this by providing that where such registration is required, the authority must accept equivalent evidence from the supplier's home country. A French company bidding for a German contract does not need to be enrolled in the German Handelsregister; equivalent evidence of its legal registration in France is sufficient.

In the UK, suitability to pursue professional activity is assessed through equivalent means: Companies House registration, regulatory authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority, Care Quality Commission registration, or other sector-specific bodies, as relevant to the contract.

Why Suitability to Pursue Professional Activity Matters for Bidders

For most suppliers bidding in their home market, suitability criteria are straightforward: they are registered, they are authorised, and providing evidence is a matter of document retrieval. The complexity arises in cross-border scenarios or in highly regulated sectors where a supplier may not have anticipated a regulatory requirement.

Before bidding for a contract in a different European country, check whether any sector-specific authorisation is required in that jurisdiction and whether your home-country equivalent will be accepted. If there is ambiguity, raise a clarification question through the official procurement channel before submitting.

Example

A Polish medical equipment supply company bids for a hospital equipment framework published by a Belgian federal authority. The selection criteria require evidence of registration with the Belgian Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products (FAMHP) for the supply of regulated medical devices. The Polish company holds equivalent registration with Poland's Office for Registration of Medicinal Products, Medical Devices and Biocidal Products (URPL). Under Article 58(2) of Directive 2014/24/EU, the Belgian authority is required to accept the Polish registration as evidence of equivalent suitability. The company includes a certified translation of its URPL registration certificate in its bid.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between suitability to pursue professional activity and professional register membership?

These concepts overlap. Suitability to pursue professional activity is the broader legal category under Article 58(2), covering any trade register, professional register, or regulatory authorisation required to operate in the relevant sector. Professional register membership is a specific type of suitability evidence relevant to regulated professions such as engineering, architecture, medicine, and law.

Can a newly established company that is registered but has no track record satisfy suitability criteria?

Yes. Suitability to pursue professional activity is a legal status check, not a performance assessment. If the company is lawfully constituted and holds the required registrations and authorisations, it satisfies the suitability criterion. Financial standing and technical ability criteria address the performance track record question separately.

What happens if a regulatory authorisation is being renewed and has temporarily lapsed?

This is a significant risk. A lapsed authorisation means the supplier cannot legally operate in the regulated sector at the time of bidding, which directly fails the suitability criterion. Suppliers in renewal processes should ensure they either complete renewal before the bid deadline or seek confirmation from the regulatory body that a renewal in progress is treated as equivalent to a valid authorisation.