MEAT stands for Most Economically Advantageous Tender. It is the EU's preferred way of choosing a winner: evaluate tenders on a combination of price and quality, not just who bids the cheapest.
The three approaches under Article 67
Directive 2014/24/EU defines MEAT as covering three possible approaches:
| Approach | How it works | When used |
|---|---|---|
| Best price-quality ratio | Score on price + quality criteria (e.g., 40% price, 30% technical, 30% delivery) | Most recommended |
| Cost using life-cycle costing | Evaluate total cost of ownership (purchase + operation + disposal) | Complex goods/works |
| Price only | Award to lowest compliant bid | Commoditised purchases |
All three are technically "MEAT" under the Directive, but in practice, "MEAT" is used to mean the price-quality approach — the opposite of pure lowest price.
Why the EU shifted away from lowest price
Lowest price awards led to well-documented problems:
- Race to the bottom on quality — suppliers cut corners to win
- Abnormally low tenders that couldn't be delivered, causing contract failures
- Innovation suppression — no incentive to propose better solutions
- Social dumping — lower wages and worse conditions to compress costs
The 2014 Directive reform made MEAT the default, with Member States allowed to restrict or prohibit pure price-based awards entirely. Several countries (including the Netherlands) actively discourage lowest-price awards.
How MEAT scoring works in practice
A typical MEAT evaluation might look like:
| Criterion | Weight | Example sub-criteria |
|---|---|---|
| Price | 40% | Total bid price, life-cycle costs |
| Technical quality | 30% | Methodology, innovation, sustainability |
| Team/experience | 20% | Key personnel CVs, past performance |
| Delivery/timeline | 10% | Speed, risk mitigation plan |
Criteria must be published in advance, linked to the contract subject, non-discriminatory, and measurable. An authority cannot invent new criteria after opening tenders.
Country variations
Belgium: Only 30% of contracts go to lowest price (well below EU average of 56%). Netherlands: Strongly favours MEAT; government guidance explicitly discourages price-only awards. Germany: More price-driven at Lander level, but federal procurement increasingly uses quality criteria.