Call for Competition

A call for competition is the formal publication through which a contracting authority invites economic operators to participate in a procurement procedure. It is the cornerstone of transparency in public procurement, ensuring that all qualified suppliers across the European Union -- and in many cases globally -- have an equal opportunity to compete for government contracts. The call for competition most commonly takes the form of a contract notice published in the Official Journal of the European Union (via TED), but may also be issued as a prior information notice used as a call for competition.

How It Works

The call for competition marks the formal start of a procurement procedure from the perspective of potential suppliers. Until a call for competition is published, the procurement exists only in the internal planning of the contracting authority. Once published, the procedure becomes accessible to all interested economic operators, who may then review the requirements, prepare their submissions, and participate in the competition.

Standard form: Contract Notice. The most common call for competition is the contract notice (CN), published via TED using standardised eForms templates. The contract notice contains essential information including the contracting authority's identity, the subject matter and scope of the contract, the procurement procedure type, selection criteria, award criteria, estimated value (where disclosed), submission deadline, and instructions for obtaining procurement documents.

Alternative form: PIN as Call for Competition. Under Article 48 of Directive 2014/24/EU, a prior information notice (PIN) may serve as the call for competition. When a PIN is used this way, it must contain all the information that would normally appear in a contract notice and must specifically state that it constitutes the call for competition. This approach is typically used in the restricted procedure or competitive procedure with negotiation, where it allows the contracting authority to shorten the minimum time limits for the receipt of tenders. The trade-off is that the PIN must be published between 35 days and 12 months before the dispatch of the invitation to confirm interest.

Utilities sector variation. Under Directive 2014/25/EU, contracting entities in the utilities sector have additional options. A periodic indicative notice may serve as the call for competition, and a qualification system notice can also serve this function, enabling utilities to draw from pre-qualified supplier lists without publishing a separate call for each procurement.

Below-threshold procurement. For contracts below the EU thresholds, the obligation to publish a call for competition in TED does not apply. However, Member States typically require some form of publicity for below-threshold contracts through national portals or gazettes, in accordance with Treaty principles of transparency and non-discrimination. In Germany, for instance, below-threshold public contracts must be published on the national procurement platforms (Vergabeportale) of the respective Laender. In France, contracts above certain national thresholds must appear on BOAMP or the contracting authority's buyer profile.

Exemptions. Article 32 of Directive 2014/24/EU allows procurement without a prior call for competition in limited circumstances: when no suitable tenders were received in an earlier procedure, in cases of extreme urgency, for contracts that only one economic operator can perform due to technical reasons or exclusive rights, or for certain commodity purchases. These exemptions are interpreted strictly. When a contracting authority uses the negotiated procedure without prior publication, it may voluntarily publish a VEAT notice to provide transparency.

The call for competition triggers several important timelines. Minimum time limits for submission of tenders or requests to participate begin running from the date the notice is dispatched to TED (not from the publication date). These time limits vary by procedure type: 35 days for open procedures (reducible to 15 days with a PIN or electronic access), 30 days for requests to participate in restricted procedures, and so on.

Legal Framework

Article 26 of Directive 2014/24/EU establishes that all procurement procedures, except the negotiated procedure without prior publication, must involve "a call for competition." This is the foundational transparency requirement of EU public procurement.

Article 49 specifies that the contract notice is the standard form for the call for competition and must be published in the Official Journal of the European Union. Article 48 provides the alternative of using a prior information notice as the call for competition, subject to the conditions described above.

Articles 27-31 of Directive 2014/24/EU set minimum time limits for the various procedure types, all of which are measured from the date of dispatch of the call for competition. These deadlines are designed to ensure that economic operators in all Member States have sufficient time to identify the opportunity, obtain procurement documents, prepare their submissions, and arrange any consortia or subcontracting arrangements.

Regulation 2019/1780 (eForms) standardises the data model for all procurement notices, including calls for competition. BT-05 (Notice Dispatch Date) is the key field that anchors the time-limit calculations. The eForms framework ensures that calls for competition published by contracting authorities across all 27 Member States follow a consistent structure, making cross-border opportunity identification feasible.

The obligation to publish a call for competition reflects the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) principles of free movement of goods, freedom of establishment, and freedom to provide services. Even for contracts not covered by the directives, the Court of Justice of the European Union has held that a sufficient degree of publicity must be ensured to open procurement to cross-border competition (Case C-324/98, Telaustria).

Practical Examples

A regional health authority in Germany plans to procure a new laboratory information system. It publishes a contract notice on TED following an open procedure. The notice specifies the CPV code 48814000 (Medical information systems), the estimated value, minimum selection criteria including ISO 13485 certification and three comparable reference projects, and award criteria weighted 60 percent quality and 40 percent price. All economic operators in the EU may download the procurement documents and submit tenders within the stated deadline.

A French municipality uses a restricted procedure for a major urban renewal project. It publishes a contract notice inviting requests to participate. After the 30-day deadline, the municipality evaluates the received requests against selection criteria and shortlists five candidates. These candidates receive an invitation to tender with detailed technical specifications.

A national energy utility (under Directive 2014/25/EU) publishes a periodic indicative notice serving as a call for competition for the supply of high-voltage cables over the coming 12 months. Interested operators express their interest, and the utility sends procurement documents to all respondents for each specific lot as requirements crystallise.

Key Considerations for Suppliers

For suppliers, the call for competition is the starting point of every public procurement opportunity. Systematic monitoring of calls for competition on TED, national portals, and sector-specific databases is essential for building a healthy pipeline. Suppliers active in EU procurement should configure alert systems based on CPV codes, geographic regions, contract value ranges, and keywords relevant to their specialisations.

When a call for competition is identified, suppliers should immediately assess the key parameters: procedure type (which determines the process and timeline), submission deadline, selection criteria (to determine eligibility), and award criteria (to assess competitiveness). A quick go/no-go assessment at this stage saves significant resources compared to discovering a showstopper requirement deep into proposal preparation.

Suppliers should pay close attention to the dispatch date (BT-05) rather than the publication date when calculating deadlines. TED typically publishes notices within 48 hours of dispatch, but the minimum time limits begin from dispatch, not publication. Missing a deadline by one day results in automatic exclusion with no possibility of remedy.

For cross-border opportunities, suppliers should verify whether the procurement documents are available in a language they can work in, whether the contracting authority accepts submissions in languages other than the national language, and whether the selection criteria include any requirements that may be harder to meet for non-domestic operators (such as specific national certifications that may need to be equivalenced).

Suppliers should also check whether the contracting authority has published a prior information notice in the preceding months, as PINs often signal upcoming calls for competition and provide valuable lead time for preparation.

The call for competition is most commonly issued as a contract notice, the standard publication form for most procedures. A prior information notice may also serve as the call under specific conditions. The broader concept of a notice encompasses all procurement publications, of which the call for competition is the most important category for suppliers. Qualification systems in the utilities sector provide an alternative mechanism that can serve as a call for competition. The VEAT notice is used when procurement proceeds without a call for competition, providing ex-ante transparency for direct awards. Thresholds determine whether an EU-level call for competition is required.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a call for competition always required for EU public procurement?

Almost always, but not in every case. Article 32 of Directive 2014/24/EU permits the negotiated procedure without prior publication in strictly defined circumstances, such as extreme urgency, absence of competition, or protection of exclusive rights. These exceptions are interpreted narrowly by the Court of Justice. For all other above-threshold procedures, a call for competition is mandatory.

What is the difference between a call for competition and a contract notice?

A call for competition is the functional concept -- the act of inviting operators to compete. A contract notice is the most common document form used to implement that concept. A prior information notice used as a call for competition and a periodic indicative notice in the utilities sector are alternative forms. In everyday usage, the terms are often used interchangeably, but the distinction matters when a contracting authority opts for an alternative publication form.

Can a supplier challenge a call for competition that contains discriminatory requirements?

Yes. If a call for competition contains selection criteria or technical specifications that are unnecessarily restrictive or discriminatory, economic operators may file a challenge with the competent review body before the submission deadline. Under the Remedies Directive (89/665/EEC), review bodies can order the contracting authority to amend the notice or suspend the procedure. Suppliers should act promptly, as many jurisdictions require challenges to be filed before the tender deadline to be admissible. For practical guidance on interpreting these notices, read our article on how to read a contract notice.

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