KnowledgeEuropean public tenders
GUIDE
European public tenders: the complete guide
A European public tender always runs through the same phases: finding, deciding, asking questions, gathering evidence, writing, pricing and submitting. This guide puts the articles in that order. Read it from start to finish, or go straight to the phase you are in now.
Phase 1
Find and understand tenders
Where notices are published, how to filter them and which procedure applies at which value. A market consultation lets you have a say before the tender exists.
- Finding public tenders in the Netherlands: where buyers publish their contractsHow to find public tenders in the Netherlands: where Dutch public bodies publish their contracts, what you find on TenderNed, TED and other platforms, how to get noticed for invited contracts and private tenders, and how to set up a search profile.9 min read
- What is TenderNed, and how do you find the Dutch public tenders that suit you?How TenderNed works, what you will and will not find there, how to search well and set up alerts, and which mistakes to avoid. For Dutch and foreign companies.4 min read
- CPV codes: what is a CPV code and how do you find the right ones?What a CPV code is, how the code is built, how public buyers choose it, which codes fit cleaning, grounds maintenance, security, facilities and IT, and how to combine codes and keywords into a search profile that does not miss tenders. With examples from Dutch tenders.9 min read
- EU procurement thresholds 2026 and 2027: when a public contract becomes a European tenderThe EU procurement thresholds for 2026 and 2027 by type of contract, excluding VAT, with how a public buyer estimates the contract value and what the threshold changes for you as a bidder, explained with the Dutch rules.9 min read
- Tender procedures in the Netherlands explained: which procedure is it, and what does it mean for you?The Dutch public tender procedures for bidders: open, restricted, competitive procedure with negotiation, competitive dialogue, innovation partnership, national and private procedures. With the minimum time limits in Dutch law and what they mean for your planning.9 min read
- Public contracts below the EU threshold: invited and national tenders in the NetherlandsWhich rules apply when a Dutch municipality or other public body buys below the EU threshold, how single-quote, invited and national procedures work, and how a smaller company gets noticed.6 min read
- Market consultation before a public tender: how to get something out of it as a bidderWhat a preliminary market consultation (marktconsultatie) is in Dutch public procurement, which rules apply to companies that take part, where to find one, what to share and what to keep back, and how to help shape requirements, lots and time limits without weakening your position in the tender that follows.9 min read
Phase 2
Decide whether to bid
Read the tender documents for knock-outs and chances before you invest time. If you cannot do it all alone, lots, a consortium or subcontracting can be a way in.
- Bid or no bid: when should you tender, and when not?Which questions always need answering, which outcomes mean you are better off not bidding, how to weigh your chance of winning, and how to organise the decision, from sales and operations to management.3 min read
- Can a small business win a European public tender?Yes, more often than you think. Where smaller companies get stuck, what Dutch procurement law does for you, how to approach it and when you are better off not bidding.5 min read
- Reading tender documents: get to the core in one hourHow to read the tender documents of a Dutch public tender: what each document covers, a fixed reading order for the first hour, what to do with contradictions and which document prevails, with a checklist.10 min read
- Selection criteria and knock-outs: read them, challenge them, or team upWhich requirements a public buyer may set, when a requirement is too heavy, how a question can get it changed, and when you are better off working with another company.4 min read
- The Dutch Proportionality Guide: what it means for you as a bidderWhat the Gids Proportionaliteit is, why a Dutch public buyer must follow it or explain why not, which rules matter most in practice, and how to challenge a disproportionate requirement: with a question, a complaint or through the Dutch Public Procurement Expert Committee.7 min read
- Lots in public tenders: which lots should you bid for?Why Dutch public buyers divide a tender into lots (percelen), how limits on the number of lots you may bid for or win work, when you can bid for a combination of lots, and how to choose which lots to bid for.10 min read
- Teaming up for a public tender: consortium, subcontracting or relying on third partiesTeaming up for a public tender in the Netherlands works as a consortium, with a subcontractor, or by relying on the capacity of another company. What the difference is, what the buyer may require, who fills in which ESPD, and when joint bidding with a competitor is allowed.9 min read
- Framework agreements: bidding when the volume is not fixedWhat a framework agreement is, why a buyer must state an estimated and a maximum quantity, and how to price when the volume is uncertain.3 min read
- Dynamic purchasing system (DPS): how it works and how to get admitted in the NetherlandsWhat a dynamic purchasing system is under Dutch and EU procurement law, how admission to a DPS works and how fast the buyer must decide, how a specific contract within the DPS is awarded, and how it differs from a framework agreement.10 min read
Phase 3
Ask questions in the clarification round
The question round is your chance to raise unclear requirements, one-sided terms and missing price indexation. After that, the rules are fixed.
- Instructions, specifications and clarification questions: how to influence a public tenderHow the documents in a public tender fit together, in which order to read them, and how a well-made clarification question can get a requirement changed or dropped.6 min read
- ARVODI, ARIV and the VNG model: Dutch government purchasing conditions explained for biddersWhich general purchasing conditions Dutch public buyers use, from ARVODI-2025 and ARIV-2026 to the VNG model for municipalities, what to check as a bidder, what the Proportionality Guide says and how to ask for changes in the clarification round.10 min read
- Price indexation: how to stop your margin disappearing over the contract termWhat the CPI is, which indices Statistics Netherlands (CBS) publishes, which indexation methods are common, and how to build a shrinking margin into your pricing, even when you do not know how long the contract will run.7 min read
- CBS indices for price indexation: which series, which figure, which monthHow indexation with a Dutch CBS figure works, which series you meet in contracts (CPI, collective wages, contractual labour costs, producer prices), which month and figure counts, and what changed in 2026.6 min read
Phase 4
Get your evidence and declarations right
The ESPD, exclusion grounds, references and CVs decide whether your bid is valid. Mistakes here cost you the contract before anyone reads your plan.
- Filling in the ESPD: what goes in and what to watchWhat the European Single Procurement Document is, which parts you fill in, who needs their own, and where it often goes wrong.3 min read
- Exclusion grounds and the Dutch certificate of conduct for tenders (GVA): what to prove and whenWhich exclusion grounds are mandatory and which are discretionary in Dutch public procurement, how long a conviction or failing counts, and how to get the certificate of conduct for tenders (Gedragsverklaring Aanbesteden) from Justis: cost, processing time and how old it may be.11 min read
- References: which ones to choose, and how to use themWhat a public buyer may ask for in references, how to choose when you have more than you need, and why you always call a referee first.3 min read
- CVs and key staff in a public tender: requirements, scoring and replacementWhen a public buyer asks for CVs or key staff in a tender, what that means for who you must deploy, how to write a CV for a bid, and what the GDPR asks of you.10 min read
Phase 5
Write for the evaluator
The quality texts win or lose most of the points. Write per award criterion, concrete and measurable, and show what sets you apart.
- Award criteria: how to write for pointsThe difference between a sufficient and an excellent answer to a quality question, where to find added value, why you write for someone who does not know your trade, and why every promise needs proof.4 min read
- A method statement that scores pointsWhat sets an excellent method statement apart from an average one: concrete, measurable, light on the buyer, honest about risks, and short.3 min read
- Best price-quality ratio (BPKV): why 70/30 does not mean what you thinkWhich scoring models are common, why the percentage split says little, and how one better score on one quality question can make up for a large price difference.5 min read
- Sustainability as an award criterion: how to score points with itHow public buyers weigh sustainability, why a concrete plan for this contract beats a general story, and how the Dutch CO2 Performance Ladder works as an award advantage.3 min read
- Social return: what is asked and how to deliver itHow social return works in Dutch public tenders, how contributions are valued per type of hire or activity, what it costs you, and why it often fails at the handover from sales to operations.3 min read
- Differentiation in bids and proposals: how to show why youWhat differentiation in a tender or proposal is and what it is not, how to find your differentiators, how to move from feature to benefit to proof, how to carry win themes through your whole bid, and how evaluators look at it.10 min read
- Writing tenders with AI: what works, what doesn’t and what to watchWriting tenders with AI: where ChatGPT and other language models really help with a public tender or proposal, where they go wrong, what to do with confidential documents and personal data, and what the EU AI Act means for you as a bidder.9 min read
- SLA and KPIs in your proposal: make quality measurable without tying your own handsHow to draft a service level agreement and choose KPIs you can actually deliver: what goes in an SLA, what makes a good KPI, fictional examples for cleaning, grounds maintenance, security and facility services, and what to do with penalty clauses in a Dutch public tender.10 min read
Phase 6
Set the price
A price you can justify and that still makes money in year three. Bidding too low is a risk as well.
- Pricing a proposal: cost price, markups and hourly rateHow to price a proposal for business services: calculating cost price, markups for overhead, risk and profit, working out an hourly rate, fixed price or time and materials, and how to present the price in your proposal.10 min read
- Abnormally low tenders: when must a price be justified?What an abnormally low tender is, what the buyer has to investigate, how to back up your own sharp price, and when it makes sense to challenge a competitor.3 min read
Phase 7
Submit, and what comes after
The final week, what to do about a mistake, how to assess an award decision and what you learn from wins and losses. That way every tender is better than the last.
- The final week: how to submit without anything going wrongWhy your bid should be finished days before the deadline, what to check in those last days, and which small mistakes make a good bid invalid.4 min read
- An error in your bid: what can you still correct?When a public buyer may let you correct an error or missing document, why it does not have to, and why checking is the only real protection.3 min read
- After the award decision: learn from losing, and from winningWhat an award decision should contain, how to analyse the reasoning, why you also ask why you won, when an objection makes sense, and how to carry the lessons into your next bid.3 min read
- Modifying a public contract after award: when is it a substantial modification?What EU and Dutch procurement law allow when a public contract changes after award: the de minimis rule, review clauses, additional work up to 50%, unforeseen circumstances, and when a change becomes a substantial modification. Seen from the contractor’s side.10 min read
- Win-loss analysis: learn from won and lost tenders and raise your win rateHow a win-loss analysis helps you learn from won and lost tenders and proposals: what information you get after a Dutch public tender and what you can request, how to run a debrief, a fixed review format, what to measure across tenders and how to raise your win rate.11 min read
- The bid management process: roles, planning and a fixed way of working for small businessesHow a small business organises its bid management process: the stages from spotting a tender to the review afterwards, who takes which role when the team is small, a bid timeline planned backwards from the deadline, and a bid library that makes every next tender faster.10 min read
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