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COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) …/...

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establishing standard forms for the publication of notices in the field of public procurement and repealing Implementing Regulation (EU) No 2015/1986

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Council Directive 89/665/EEC of 21 December 1989 on the coordination of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the application of review procedures to the award of public supply and public works contracts 1 , and in particular Article 3a thereof,

Having regard to Council Directive 92/13/EEC of 25 February 1992 coordinating the laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the application of Community rules on the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and telecommunications sectors 2 , and in particular Article 3a thereof,

Having regard to Directive 2009/81/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 on the coordination of procedures for the award of certain works contracts, supply contracts and service contracts by contracting authorities in the field of defence and security, and amending Directives 2004/17/EC and 2004/18/EC 3 , and in particular Articles 32(1), 52(2) and 64 thereof,

Having regard to Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts 4 , and in particular Article 33(1) thereof,

Having regard to Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC 5 , and in particular Articles 51(1), 75(3) and 79(3) thereof,

Having regard to Directive 2014/25/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on procurement by entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors and repealing Directive 2004/17/EC 6 , and in particular Articles 71(1), 92(3) and the first subparagraph of Article 96(2) thereof,

After consulting the Advisory Committee on Public Procurement,

Whereas:

(1)Directives 89/665/EEC and 2014/24/EU require that certain public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts be advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union. The notices for those publications should include the information set out in those Directives.

(2)Directives 92/13/EEC and 2014/25/EU require that certain works contracts, supply contracts and service contracts in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors be advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union. The notices for those publications should include the information set out in those Directives.

(3)Directive 2009/81/EC requires that certain works contracts, supply contracts and service contracts in the field of defence and security be advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union. The notices for that publication should include the information set out in that Directive.

(4)Directives 89/665/EEC, 92/13/EEC and 2014/23/EU require that certain works concessions and service concessions be advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union. The notices for those publications should include the information set out in those Directives.

(5)Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 2015/1986 7 sets out the standard forms provided for by Directives 89/665/EEC, 92/13/EEC, 2009/81/EC, 2014/23/EU, 2014/24/EU and 2014/25/EU.

(6)Public procurement is undergoing a digital transformation, as described in the Communication from the Commission on Upgrading the Single Market 8 as well as in the Communication from the Commission on Making Public Procurement work in and for Europe 9 . The standard forms are instrumental in this transformation.

(7)In order to ensure the standard forms' effectiveness in a digital environment, it is necessary to adapt the standard forms set out in Implementing Regulation (EU) No 2015/1986. Given the number and extent of the necessary adaptations, Implementing Regulation (EC) No 2015/1986 should be replaced.

(8)As established in Article 33(2) of Directives 2014/23/EU, Article 51(2) of Directive 2014/24/EU, Article 71(2) of Directive 2014/25/EU, notices are electronic files rather than paper documents. In order to comply with the ‘once only’ principle in egovernment, and thus reduce administrative burden and increase data reliability, and to facilitate voluntary publication of notices below the threshold and in framework agreements, such standard forms should be established that can be automatically filledin with information from previous notices, technical specifications, tenders, contracts, national administrative registries and other sources of data. Ultimately, such forms should no longer need to be filled-in manually, but should be automatically generated by software systems.

(9)To avoid implementation problems, standard forms should be established with consideration of the software systems in which they will be implemented. This includes data exchange systems, user interfaces that validate manual input, and publishing websites that present information in notices. Information should be presented in a way that attracts economic operators and other users.

(10)To enable implementation tailored to national specificities, significant flexibility should be left to Member States and their authorities in setting up their software systems. In particular, it should be possible to display fields established in this Regulation in any order and under any labels, as long as the labels' meanings correspond with the descriptions established by this Regulation. In order to meet different needs at national or regional level, fields that this Regulation establishes as optional at the EU level, may be required mandatorily at national or regional level.

(11)The date of application of this Regulation and the date of repeal of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 2015/1986 should reflect the time required to prepare the electronic versions of the standard forms that are used for actual data exchange.

(12)To reflect developments in Member States' needs and technologies in the area of procurement data, while also ensuring compliance with Article 52(2) of Directive 2014/24/EU, Article 72(2) of Directive 2014/25/EU and Article 32(5) of Directive 2009/81/EC, optional fields should be regularly added to this Regulation. The Commission will closely follow these developments, as well as collect other feedback from users, and annually review the need for an update of this Regulation. Such updates should not, unless unavoidable, imply mandatory changes of software systems in the Member States.

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1
Subject matter

1.This Regulation establishes the following standard forms:

(1)‘Planning’

(2)‘Competition’

(3)‘Direct award preannouncement’

(4)‘Result’

(5)‘Contract modification’

(6)‘Change’

2.The standard forms referred to in paragraph 1 shall consist of the fields set out in the Annex.

Article 2
Usage

The standard forms referred to in Article 1 shall be used for the publication of the following notices in the Official Journal of the European Union:

(1) ‘Planning notice’: for notices referred to in Articles 27(2), 28(3) and 48(1) of Directive 2014/24/EU; Articles 45(2), 67(1) of Directive 2014/25/EU and Article 30(1) of Directive 2009/81/EC;

(2) ‘Competition notice’: for notices referred to in Articles 48(2), 49, 75(1a), 75(1b) and 79(1) of Directive 2014/24/EU; Articles 67(2), 68, 69, 92(1a), 92(1c), the first subparagraph of 96(1) and 92(1b) of Directive 2014/25/EU; Article 31(1) and Article 31(3) of Directive 2014/23/EU and Articles 30(2) and 52(1) of Directive 2009/81/EC;

(3) ‘Direct award intention notice’: for notices referred to in Articles 3a of Directive 89/665/EEC and 92/13/EEC;

(4) ‘Result notice’: for notices referred to in Articles 50, 75(2) and 79(2) of Directive 2014/24/EU; Articles 70, 92(2) and the second subparagraph of 96(1) of Directive 2014/25/EU; Article 32 of Directive 2014/23/EU and Article 30(3) of Directive 2009/81/EC;

(5) ‘Contract Modification notice’: for notices referred to in Article 72(1) of Directive 2014/24/EU; Article 89(1) of Directive 2014/25/EU and Article 43(1) of Directive 2014/23/EU.

(6) ‘Change notice': for changing or cancelling the notices listed above.

Article 3
Repeal

Implementing Regulation (EU) No 2015/1986 is repealed with effect from four years [To be replaced by the actual date when published by OP.] after the publication of this Regulation in the Official Journal of the European Union].

Article 4
Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from three years [To be replaced by the actual date when published by OP.] after the entry into force of this Regulation].

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels,

For the Commission

The President

Jean-Claude Juncker

Top

ANNEX

Table 1

The standard forms in column 1 shall contain the fields referred to in column 2 (and listed in Table 2) when used for the publication of notices referred to in column 3. For better readability, column 4 contains descriptions of column 3. In addition, any notice may contain fields from the European Single Procurement Document established by the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/7 1 .

Table 1 - Forms, notices & fields

The standard form:	shall contain the fields listed in:	when used for the for publication of notices referred to in:	(Notice description)
Planning	Table 2, column 1	Art. 48(1) of Directive 2014/24/EU	Notice of the publication of a prior information notice on a buyer profile – general directive
	Table 2, column 2	Art. 67(1) of Directive 2014/25/EU	Notice of the publication of a periodic indicative notice on a buyer profile – sectoral directive
	Table 2, column 3	Art. 30(1) third sub-paragraph of Directive 2009/81/EC	Notice of the publication of a prior information notice on a buyer profile – defence directive
	Table 2, column 4	Art. 48(1) of Directive 2014/24/EU	Prior information notice used only for information – general directive
	Table 2, column 5	Art. 67(1) of Directive 2014/25/EU	Periodic indicative notice used only for information – sectoral directive
	Table 2, column 6	Art. 30(1) of Directive 2009/81/EC	Prior information notice used only for information – defence directive
	Table 2, column 7	Art. 27(2) of Directive 2014/24/EU, Art. 28(3) of Directive 2014/24/EU	Prior information notice used to shorten time limits for receipt of tenders – general directive
	Table 2, column 8	Art. 45(2) of Directive 2014/25/EU	Periodic indicative notice used to shorten time limits for receipt of tenders – sectoral directive
Competition	Table 2, column 9	Art. 48(2) of Directive 2014/24/EU	Prior information notice used as a call for competition – general directive, standard regime
	Table 2, column 10	Art. 67(2) of Directive 2014/25/EU	Periodic information notice used as a call for competition – sectoral directive, standard regime
	Table 2, column 11	Art. 75(1b) of Directive 2014/24/EU	Prior information notice used as a call for competition – general directive, light regime
	Table 2, column 12	Art. 92(1b) of Directive 2014/25/EU	Periodic information notice used as a call for competition – sectoral directive, light regime
	Table 2, column 13	Art. 31(3) of Directive 2014/23/EU	Prior information notice used as a call for competition – concessions directive, light regime
	Table 2, column 14	Art. 68 of Directive 2014/25/EU, Art. 92(1c) of Directive 2014/25/EU	Notice on the existence of a qualification system – sectoral directive
	Table 2, column 15	Art. 49 of Directive 2014/24/EU	Contract notice – general directive, standard regime
	Table 2, column 16	Art. 69 of Directive 2014/25/EU	Contract notice – sectoral directive, standard regime
	Table 2, column 17	Art. 31(1) of Directive 2014/23/EU	Concession notice – concessions directive, standard regime
	Table 2, column 18	Art. 30(2) of Directive 2009/81/EC	Contract notice – defence directive, standard regime
	Table 2, column 19	Art. 75(1a) of Directive 2014/24/EU	Contract notice – general directive, light regime
	Table 2, column 20	Art. 92(1a) of Directive 2014/25/EU	Contract notice – sectoral directive, light regime
	Table 2, column 21	Art. 52(1) of Directive 2009/81/EC	Subcontracting notice – defence directive
	Table 2, column 22	Art. 79(1) of Directive 2014/24/EU	Design contest notice – general directive, design
	Table 2, column 23	Art. 96(1) first sub-paragraph of Directive 2014/25/EU	Design contest notice – sectoral directive, design
Direct award preannouncement	Table 2, column 24	Art. 3a of Directive 89/665/EEC	Voluntary ex-ante transparency notice – general directive
	Table 2, column 25	Art. 3a of Directive 92/13/EEC	Voluntary ex-ante transparency notice – sectoral directive
	Table 2, column 26	Art. 3a of Directives 89/665/EEC and 92/13/EEC	Voluntary ex-ante transparency notice – defence directive
	Table 2, column 27	Art. 3a of Directives 89/665/EEC and 92/13/EEC	Voluntary ex-ante transparency notice – concession directive
Result	Table 2, column 28	Art. 50 of Directive 2014/24/EU	Contract award notice – general directive, standard regime
	Table 2, column 29	Art. 70 of Directive 2014/25/EU	Contract award notice – sectoral directive, standard regime
	Table 2, column 30	Art. 32 (first half) of Directive 2014/23/EU	Concession award notice – concession directive, standard regime
	Table 2, column 31	Art. 30(3) of Directive 2009/81/EC	Contract award notice – defence directive, standard regime
	Table 2, column 32	Art. 75(2) of Directive 2014/24/EU	Contract award notice – general directive, light regime
	Table 2, column 33	Art. 92(2) of Directive 2014/25/EU	Contract award notice – sectoral directive, light regime
	Table 2, column 34	Art. 32 (second half) of Directive 2014/23/EU	Concession award notice – concessions directive, light regime
	Table 2, column 35	Art. 79(2) of Directive 2014/24/EU	Design contest result notice – general directive, design
	Table 2, column 36	Art. 96(1) second sub-paragraph of Directive 2014/25/EU	Design contest result notice – sectoral directive, design
Contract modification	the Result standard form and the Notice and Modification sections from Table 2.	Art. 72(1) of Directive 2014/24/EU, Art. 89(1) of Directive 2014/25/EU, Art. 43(1) of Directive 2014/23/EU	Contract modification notice
Change	any other standard form and the Notice and Change Cancellation sections from Table 2	changing any of the notices listed above	Change notice

fields

Standard forms contain mandatory and optional fields as indicated in Table 2.

(a)Mandatory fields shall be filled in, unless certain conditions are met (see below). In Table 2 (columns 1-36), the fields are marked as "M".

(b)Optional fields may be filled in. In Table 2 (columns 1-36), the fields are marked as "O".

(c)Fields are grouped in sections. In Table 2 (column "Data type"), sections are marked with "-".

Formats and procedures for sending notices, as established under point three of Annex VIII to Directive 2014/24/EU, of Annex IV to Directive 2014/25/EU and of Annex VI to 2009/81/EC and point two of Annex IV to 2014/23/EU, shall include conditions under which mandatory fields are not applicable. These conditions shall exclusively take into account the context of a concrete notice or a procedure (for example, fields about framework agreements shall not be mandatory if a procedure does not include a framework agreement).

The formats and procedures for sending notices shall also set which fields are mandatory and optional for notices published in line with Article 51(6) of Directive 2014/24/EU, Article 71(6) of Directive 2014/25/EU and Article 31 of Directive 2009/81/EC.

Instructions for reading table 2

·The first column contains information about the nesting of the field or section. Each field or section with a level of "++", "+++" and "++++" is nested within the nearest section placed above it that has a lower number of "+".

·The second and third columns contain the fields' (or section's) names and descriptions.

·The fourth column contains one of the following data types:

–"Indicator": This field shall contain either "Yes" or "No".

–"Code": This field shall contain values from a predefined list.

–"Date": This field shall contain a date and a time-zone and may contain also more detailed time information.

–"Duration": This field shall contain a duration.

–"Identifier": This field shall contain a set of information allowing unique identification.

–"Number": This field shall contain a number.

–"Text": This field shall contain a text.

–"URL": This field shall contain a uniform resource locator (e.g. a web address).

–"Value": This field shall contain a number denoting a monetary value (without value added tax) and a currency code from a list of currency codes.

Formats and procedures for sending notices, as mentioned above, shall also specify the applicable codelists and identifiers.

Certain data types (e.g. Date, Duration, Identifier, Text, Value) may consist of multiple sub-fields.

·The remaining columns indicate for which standard forms these fields are mandatory ("M") and optional ("O"). The column headings 1-36 correspond to the numbers in the second column of Table 1 of this Annex.

Terminology

·"Buyer" refers to a contracting authority, a contracting entity, a defence contractor, an international organisation, or an organisation awarding a contract subsidized by a contracting authority.”

·“Procurement procedure” refers to a procurement procedure or a design contest.

·"Tender" refers to a tender or (in case of design contests) a project.

·"Request to participate" refers to a request to participate or (in case of concessions) an application.

·"TED" (Tenders Electronic Daily) is the online version of the Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union.
.

Note: This table is available on the Commission website with additional information in an easier-to-read spreadsheet format.

Table 2 - Fields in standard forms

Level

Name

Description

Data type

Planning

Competition

DAP

Result

Notice

Basic information about the notice.

Procedure Identifier

European Public Procurement Procedure Identifier, a unique identifier of a procurement procedure. Including this identifier in all published versions of this notice (e.g. published on TED, national publication portals, regional publication portals) allows unique identification of procurement procedures around the EU.

Identifier

Notice Identifier

The European Public Procurement Notice Identifier of this notice. Including this identifier in all published version of this notice (e.g. TED, national publication portals, regional publication portals) allows unique identification of procurement notices around the EU.

Identifier

Procedure Legal Basis

Legal basis (e.g. a European Directive or Regulation, national law) under which the procurement procedure takes place.

Code

Form Type

Type of form according to procurement legislation.

Code

Notice Type

Type of notice according to procurement legislation.

Code

Notice Dispatch Date

The date and time when the notice has been sent to TED.

Date

Notice Publication Date Preferred

The preferred date of publication of the notice on TED (e.g. to avoid publication during a national holiday).

Date

Notice Official Language

The language(s) in which this notice is officially available. These linguistic versions are equally legally valid.

Code

Previous Planning

Information about a prior information notice, a periodic indicative notice or another similar notice related to this notice.

Previous Planning Identifier

Identifier of a prior information notice, a periodic indicative notice or another similar notice related to this notice.

Identifier

Previous Planning Part Identifier

Identifier of a part of a prior information notice, a periodic indicative notice or another similar notice related to this notice.

Identifier

Organisation

Information about the organisation.

Organisation Name

The official name of the organisation.

Text

Organisation Identifier

An identifier of the organisation. All of the organisation's identifiers shall be given.

Identifier

Organisation Part Name

The name of a part of an organisation (e.g. the relevant department of a large buyer).

Text

Organisation Street Name

The name of the street, road, avenue, etc., of the organisation's physical address.

Text

Organisation Street Number

The number of the building of the organisation's physical address.

Text

Organisation City

The name of the locality (city, town or village) of the organisation's physical address.

Text

Organisation Post Code

The post code of the organisation's physical address.

Text

Organisation Country Subdivision

The location according to the common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS) of the organisation's physical address. The NUTS3 classification code must be used.

Code

Organisation Country Code

The country of the organisation's physical address

Code

Organisation Contact Point

The name of the department or other contact point for communicating with the organisation. To avoid unnecessary processing of personal data, the contact point may allow the identification of a physical person only when necessary (in the sense of the General Data Protection Regulation).

Text

Organisation Contact Email Address

The email for contacting the organisation. To avoid unnecessary processing of personal data, the email may allow the identification of a physical person only when necessary (in the sense of the General Data Protection Regulation).

Text

Organisation Contact Telephone Number

The telephone for contacting the organisation. To avoid unnecessary processing of personal data, the telephone may allow the identification of a physical person only when necessary (in the sense of the General Data Protection Regulation).

Text

Organisation Contact Fax

The fax for contacting the organisation. To avoid unnecessary processing of personal data, the fax may allow the identification of a physical person only when necessary (in the sense of the General Data Protection Regulation).

Text

Organisation Internet Address

The website of the organisation.

URL

Organisation eDelivery Gateway

The organisation's uniform resource locator for exchange of data and documents.

URL

Organisation Role

The role of the organisation in the procurement procedure (e.g. buyer, contractor). A notice must contain all organisations in the procedure that have the role of a buyer; a winner; a review body; a buyer acquiring supplies and/or services intended for other buyers; a buyer awarding public contracts or concluding framework agreements for works, supplies or services intended for other buyers; or a consortium member or leader.

Code

Buyer

Additional information about the buyer.

+++

Buyer Profile URL

Website where the buyer publishes information regarding procurement procedures (e.g. notices, procurement documents).

URL

+++

Buyer Legal Type

Type of buyer according to procurement legislation (e.g. central government authority, body governed by public law, public undertaking).

Code

+++

Buyer Contracting Entity

The buyer is a contracting entity.

Indicator

+++

Activity Authority

The main activity of the contracting authority.

Code

+++

Activity Entity

The main activity of the contracting entity.

Code

Winner

Additional information about the winner.

+++

Winner Size

The size of the winner (e.g. micro enterprise, small enterprise, medium enterprise).

Code

+++

Winner Owner Nationality

The nationality (or nationalities) of the beneficiary owner(s) of the winner(s), as published in the register(s) established by anti-money laundering legislation. If such a register does not exist (e.g. in case of non-EU contractors) then equivalent information from other sources.

Code

+++

Winner Listed

The nationality (or nationalities) of the beneficiary owner(s) of the winner(s) is not published in the register(s) established by anti-money laundering legislation, because the winner is listed on a regulated market (e.g. a stock exchange) that ensures adequate transparency in line with anti-money laundering legislation.

Indicator

Purpose

Information about the purpose of the procurement procedure and, if they exist, individual lots.

Internal Identifier

The internal identifier used for files regarding the procurement procedure or lot before a procedure identifier is given (e.g. coming from the buyer's document management system or procurement planning system).

Text

Main Nature

Main nature (e.g. works) of what is being bought. In case of mixed procurement (e.g. a procedure for both works and services), the main nature may be, for example, the one with the highest estimated value. This information must be given for the whole procedure.

Code

Additional Nature

Nature (e.g. services) of what is being bought, additional to Main Nature.

Code

Title

Name of the procurement procedure or lot.

Text

Description

Description of the nature and quantity of what is being bought or of the needs and requirements that should be met in this procedure or lot.

Text

Estimated Value

Estimated maximum value of the the procurement procedure or lot. Estimated refers to estimation at the time of launching the call for competition. Maximum value means a value covering all contracts to be awarded within a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system, over their whole duration, including options and renewals.

Value

Group Framework Estimated Maximum Value

Information about the estimated maximum value which can be spent in a framework agreement within a group of lots. This information can be provided when the estimated maximum value of a group of lots is lower than the sum of estimated values of individual lots in this group (e.g. when the same budget is shared for several lots).

+++

Group Framework Estimated Maximum Value Lot Identifier

Identifiers of lots within this procedure. These lots form a group whose estimated maximum value is lower than the sum of individual estimated maximum values of all the lots together (e.g. when the same budget is shared for several lots).

Identifier

+++

Group Framework Estimated Maximum Value

Estimated maximum value which can be spent in a framework agreement within a group of lots. This information can be provided when the estimated maximum value of a group of lots is lower than the sum of estimated values of individual lots in this group (e.g. when the same budget is shared for several lots). Estimated refers to estimation at the time of launching the call for competition. Maximum value means a value covering all contracts to be awarded within a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system, over their whole duration, including options and renewals.

Value

Classification

Information about the classification(s) describing the purchase. The common procurement vocabulary (CPV) classification type must be used. Additionally, other classifications (e.g. the World Health Organisation's anatomical therapeutic chemical (ATC) classification for pharmaceuticals; the medical devices nomenclature under the Regulation 2017/745) may, if made available by the Publications Office of the EU, be used.)

+++

Classification Type

The type of classification describing the purchase (e.g. the common procurement vocabulary).

Code

+++

Main Classification Code

A code from the classification that best characterizes the purchase.

Code

+++

Additional Classification Codes

Additional codes from the classification that also characterize the purchase.

Code

Quantity

The number of units required.

Number

Unit

The unit which the good, service, or work comes in, for example hours or kilograms. Where CPV code is a supply which does not need a further unit (e.g. cars), then no unit needs to be given and quantity is taken to be a count, e.g. the "number of cars".

Code

Options

Whether the buyer reserves the right (not an obligation) for additional purchases from the contractor (while the contract is valid).

Indicator

Options Description

Description of the options

Text

Variants

Whether tenderers are required, allowed or forbidden to submit tenders which fulfil the buyer's needs differently than as proposed in the procurement documents. Further conditions for submitting variant tenders are in the procurement documents.

Code

Recurrence

Procurement whose purpose is likely to also be included in another procedure in the foreseeable future. (For example, a regularly re-tendered municipal service. This does not include awarding multiple contracts within a single qualification system, framework agreement, or a dynamic purchasing system.)

Indicator

Recurrence Description

Any additional information about recurrence (e.g. estimated timing).

Text

Place of Performance

Main location of works in case of works; main place of delivery or performance in case of supplies and services. If the place of performance covers several NUTS 3 areas (e.g. a highway, a national network of job centres), then all relevant codes must be given. This information may differ per lot.

Place Street Name

The name of the street, road, avenue, etc., of the place of performance.

Text

Place Street Number

The number of the building of the place of performance.

Text

Place City

The name of the locality (city, town or village) of the place of performance.

Text

Place Post Code

The postcode of the place of performance.

Text

Place Country Subdivision

The location according to the common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS). The NUTS3 classification code must be used.

Code

Place Country Code

The country of the place of performance.

Code

Place Services Other

There are other restrictions on the place of performance (e.g. "anywhere in the European Economic Area", "anywhere in the given country").

Code

Place Additional Information

Additional information about the place of performance.

Text

Duration

Information about the duration of the contract, framework agreement, dynamic purchasing system or qualification system. This must include any options and renewals. This information may differ per lot.

Duration Start Date

The (estimated) date when the contract, framework agreement, dynamic purchasing system or qualification system will start.

Date

Duration Period

The (estimated) period from the start to the end of the contract, framework agreement, dynamic purchasing system or qualification system. This must include any options and renewals.

Duration

Duration End Date

The (estimated) date when the contract, framework agreement, dynamic purchasing system or qualification system will finish.

Date

Duration Other

Duration is unknown, unlimited, etc.

Code

Renewal

The maximum number of times the contract can be renewed. By renewing, the buyer reserves the right (i.e. not an obligation) to renew the contract (i.e. extend its duration) without a new procurement procedure. For example, a contract may be valid for one year and the buyer may keep a possibility to renew it (e.g. once, twice) for another three months, if he is content with the services he received.

Number

Renewal Description

Any other information about the renewal(s).

Text

EU Funds

Information about European Union funds used to finance the procurement. The most concrete information must be given (e.g. about concrete projects, not just operational programs.) This information may differ per lot.

EU Funds

The procurement is at least partially financed by European Union funds such as the European Structural and Investment Funds or grants awarded by the European Union.

Indicator

Procedure

Information about the procurement procedure.

Cross Border Law

The applicable law when buyers from different countries procure together within one procurement procedure.

Text

Procedure Type

The type of procurement procedure (e.g. according to the types given in the procurement Directives).

Code

Procedure Features

Main features of the procedure (e.g. description of the individual stage(s)) and information about where the full rules for the procedure can be found. This information must be given when the procedure is not one of those mentioned in the procurement Directives. This can be the case for example for concessions, for social and other specific services, and in case of voluntary publication of procurement procedures below the EU procurement thresholds.

Text

Procedure Accelerated

A procedure where the time limit for receipt of requests to participate or tenders can be reduced due to a state of urgency.

Indicator

Procedure Accelerated Justification

Justification for using an accelerated procedure.

Text

Direct Award Justification Code

Justification for using a procedure which allows directly awarding contracts, i.e. a procedure that does not require publishing a call for competition in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Code

Direct Award Justification Previous

An identifier of a previous procedure that justifies the use of a procedure which allows directly awarding contracts, i.e. justifying a procedure that does not require publishing a call for competition in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Identifier

Direct Award Justification Text

Justification for using a procedure which allows directly awarding contracts, i.e. a procedure that does not require publishing a call for competition in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Text

Lots Max Allowed

Maximum number of lots for which one tenderer can submit tenders.

Number

Lots Max Awarded

Maximum number of lots for which contract(s) can be awarded to one tenderer.

Number

Group Award

Tenderers may submit tenders not only for individual lots, but also for the groups of lots given here. The buyer may then compare the tenders submitted for groups of lots with those for individual lots and evaluate which option best fulfils the award criteria. Each group of lots must have clear award criteria.

+++

Group Identifier

An identifier of a group of lots in the procedure.

Identifier

+++

Group Lot Identifier

An identifier of several lots within this procedure. These lots form a group of lots for which one tender can be submitted and evaluated.

Identifier

Second Stage

Information about the second stage of a two-stage procedure. This information may differ per lot.

+++

Minimum Candidates

Minimum number of candidates to be invited for the second stage of the procedure.

Number

+++

Maximum Candidates

Maximum number of candidates to be invited for the second stage of the procedure.

Number

+++

Successive Reduction

The procedure will take place in successive stages. In each stage, some participants may be eliminated.

Indicator

+++

No Negotiation Necessary

The buyer reserves the right to award the contract on the basis of the initial tenders without any further negotiations.

Indicator

Reward and Jury

Information about the rewards and the jury in a design contest. This information may differ per lot.

Prize

The number and value of prizes for the winner of the design contest (e.g. "1st place - 10,000 EUR", "2nd place - 5,000 EUR").

+++

Value Prize

Value of a prize, if any, for the winner (or runners-up) of the design contest.

Value

+++

Prize Rank

Which place (e.g. first place, second place) in a design contest receives the prize.

Number

Following Contract

Any service contract following the contest will be awarded to one of the winners of the contest.

Indicator

Rewards Other

Further information about follow-up contracts, prizes and payments (for example non-monetary prizes, payments given for participation).

Text

Jury Decision Binding

The decision of the jury is binding on the buyer.

Indicator

Jury Member Name

Name of the jury member.

Text

Participant Name

Name of an already selected participant. A participant could have been selected already at the time of the publication of the design contest notice because, for example, the information about the participation of a world renown architect is intended to promote the contest amongst other potential participants.

Text

Exclusion Grounds

Brief description of criteria regarding the personal situation of tenderers that may lead to their exclusion. This must include a list of all such criteria and indicate required information (e.g. self-declaration, documentation). This can also include specific national exclusion grounds.

Exclusion Grounds

Text

Selection Criteria

Information about the selection criteria (or criterion). All criteria must be listed. This information may differ per lot.

Selection Criteria Type

The criteria (or criterion) concern(s), for example, economic and financial standing or technical and professional ability.

Code

Selection Criteria Used

The criteria (or criterion) of the given type are (is) used, unused, or (in case of prior information noticed used as a call for competition or to reduce time limits) the use is not yet known.

Code

Selection Criteria Name

Name of the selection criteria (or criterion).

Text

Selection Criteria Description

Brief description of the selection criteria (or criterion), including minimum requirements, required information (e.g. self-declaration, documentation) and how the criterion will be used to select candidates to be invited for the second stage of the procedure (if a maximum number of candidates was set).

Text

Selection Criteria Second Stage

The criteria (or criterion) will (only) be used to select the candidates to be invited for the second stage of the procedure (if a maximum number of candidates was set).

Indicator

Selection Criterion Second Stage Number

Information about a number linked to the selection criteria (or criterion) used for selecting the candidates to be invited for the second stage of the procedure.

+++

Selection Criterion Second Stage Number

A number linked to the selection criteria (or criterion).

Number

+++

Selection Criterion Second Stage Number Meaning

The meaning of a number linked to a selection criterion (e.g. whether it is a weight, a minimum point threshold).

Code

Other Requirements

Other requirements for participation in the procedure and terms governing the future contract. The requirements must include a description of methods according to which they will be verified. This information may differ per lot.

Guarantee Required

A guarantee is required.

Indicator

Guarantee Required Description

Financial guarantee paid by the tenderer when submitting a bid. Typically, the guarantee would not be refunded when a tenderer has won the contract but then refused to sign it.

Text

Reserved Procurement

Procurement reserved for specific organisations (e.g. sheltered workshops) or programs (e.g. sheltered employment).

Code

Performing Staff Qualification

Requirement to state the names and professional qualifications of the staff assigned to perform the contract.

Indicator

Security Clearance

A security clearance is required.

Indicator

Security Clearance Deadline

The deadline by which tenderers which do not hold a security clearance may obtain it.

Date

Security Clearance Description

Additional information about the security clearance (e.g. which level of security clearance is required, which team members must have it, whether it is necessary already for accessing the procurement documents or only for contract implementation).

Text

Subcontracting Requirements

Requirements to be met by the tenderer concerning subcontracting.

Code

Subcontracting Obligation Minimum

The minimum percentage of the contract value that the contractor must subcontract using the competitive procedure described in Title III of Directive 2009/81/EC.

Number

Subcontracting Obligation Maximum

The maximum percentage of the contract value that the contractor must subcontract using the competitive procedure described in Title III of Directive 2009/81/EC.

Number

Contract Terms

Information about the terms governing the future contract. This information may differ per lot.

Tenderer Legal Form

A certain legal form must be taken by a group of tenderers that is awarded a contract.

Indicator

Tenderer Legal Form Description

Legal form that must be taken by a group of tenderers that is awarded a contract.

Text

Terms Performance

Main information about the performance of to the contract (e.g. intermediary deliverables, compensation for damages, intellectual property rights).

Text

Electronic ordering

Electronic ordering will be used.

Indicator

Terms Financial

Main information about financing and payment and/or reference to any provisions that govern them.

Text

Electronic invoicing

Electronic invoices will be accepted.

Indicator

Electronic payment

Electronic payment will be used.

Indicator

Award Criteria

Information about the award criteria. This information may differ per lot.

Award Criterion

Information about the award criterion.

+++

Award Criterion Type

Whether the criterion concerns the price, the cost, or a non-price non-cost attribute of the tender. (Price is the acquisition price, cost is any other non-price monetary criterion.)

Code

+++

Award Criterion Name

Name of the award criterion.

Text

+++

Award Criterion Description

Description of the award criterion.

Text

+++

Award Criterion Number

Information about a number linked to an award criterion.

++++

Award Criterion Number

A number linked to an award criterion.

Number

++++

Award Criterion Number Meaning

The meaning of a number linked to an award criterion (e.g. whether it is a weight, an order of importance, a fixed price, a minimum point threshold).

Code

Award Criteria Complicated

The mathematical equation and any other description used for complicated (e.g. non-linear) weighing of criteria when a weighing cannot be expressed per criterion.

Text

Award Criteria Order Justification

Justification for only indicating the award criteria's order of importance, not their weighing.

Text

Techniques

Information about the use of sets of techniques such as framework agreements without reopening of competition, framework agreements with reopening of competition, dynamic purchasing systems, electronic auctions and electronic ordering. This information may differ per lot.

Technique

Use of techniques such as framework agreements without reopening of competition, framework agreements with reopening of competition, dynamic purchasing systems or electronic auctions.

Code

Electronic Auction URL

Internet address of the electronic auction.

URL

Electronic Auction Description

Any additional information about the electronic auction.

Text

Framework Maximum Tenderers

There is a maximum number of tenderers who may be awarded a contract within the framework agreement.

Indicator

Framework Maximum Tenderers Number

The maximum number of tenderers who may be awarded a contract within the framework agreement.

Number

Framework Duration Justification

Justification for exceptional cases when the duration of framework agreements exceeds the legal limits. (Four years in the case of the general procurement Directive, seven years in the case of the defence Directive, and eight years in the case of the sectoral Directive.)

Text

Framework Buyer Categories

Any additional categories of buyers participating in the framework agreement and not mentioned by name (e.g. "all hospitals in the Tuscany region").

Text

DPS Termination

The dynamic purchasing system is terminated. No further contracts, besides those published in this notice, will be awarded in the dynamic purchasing system. This field can be used even if no contracts are awarded in the contract award notice.

Indicator

Communication

General information about communication with the buyer(s). This information may differ per lot.

Atypical Tool

Electronic communication requires the use of tools and devices that are not generally available.

Indicator

Atypical Tool URL

Electronic communication requires the use of tools and devices that are not generally available. Unrestricted and full direct access to these tools and devices is possible at the following website.

URL

Future Notice

Estimated date of publication of a contract notice within this procedure.

Date

Dispatch Invitation Interest

Estimated date of dispatch of the invitations to confirm interest.

Date

Dispatch Invitation Tender

Estimated date of dispatch of the invitations to submit tenders in two (or more) stage procedures.

Date

Review Deadline Description

Description of the time limits for review procedures.

Text

General URL Tax

The internet site from which information can be obtained concerning the general regulatory framework for taxes applicable in the place where the contract is to be performed.

URL

General URL Environment

The internet site from which information can be obtained concerning the general regulatory framework for environmental protection applicable in the place where the contract is to be performed.

URL

General URL Employment

The internet site from which information can be obtained concerning the general regulatory framework for employment protection and working conditions applicable in the place where the contract is to be performed.

URL

Procurement Documents

Information about the procurement documents. This information may differ per lot.

Documents URL

Internet address for accessing (the non-restricted part of) the procurement documents. For all notices except prior information notices not used to shorten time limits and not used as a call for competition, the address must give access that is direct (i.e. the exact webpage with the documents, not a general website), unrestricted (e.g. no payment, no registration) and full (i.e. the procurement documents must be complete) and the documents must be available already at the time of the publication of the notice.

URL

Documents Official Language

The language(s) in which these procurement documents are officially available. These linguistic versions are equally legally valid.

Code

Documents Unofficial Language

The procurement documents (or their parts) are also available in the following languages. These versions are not an official translation, they are provided only for information.

Code

Documents Restricted

Access to certain procurement documents is restricted.

Indicator

Documents Restricted Justification

The justification for restricting access to certain procurement documents.

code

Documents Restricted URL

Internet address with information on accessing the restricted (part of the) procurement documents.

URL

Additional Information Identifier

Identifier of an organisation (or organisations) for requesting additional information about the procurement procedure (if different than the buyer).

Identifier

Additional Information Deadline

The time limit for requesting additional information about the procurement procedure.

Date

Submission Terms

Information about tender submission terms. This information may differ per lot.

Submission Electronic

Use of electronic submission.

Code

Submission Nonelectronic Justification

Justification for electronic submission of tenders not being possible.

Code

Submission Nonelectronic Description

Description of how to submit tenders non-electronically.

Text

Submission URL

Internet address for submission of tenders by electronic means. The address should be as direct as possible (ideally a dedicated address for the electronic submission, not just a general website).

URL

Submission Language

Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted.

Code

Submission Electronic Signature

Advanced or qualified electronic signature (as defined in Regulation (EU) No 910/2014) required.

Indicator

Deadline Receipt Expressions

Time limit for receipt of expressions of interest.

Date

Deadline Receipt Requests

Time limit for receipt of requests to participate.

Date

Deadline Receipt Tenders

Time limit for receipt of tenders.

Date

Tender Validity Deadline

The period, from the tender submission deadline, for which tenders must remain valid.

Duration

Opening Date

Time for the opening of tenders.

Date

Opening Place

The place where the tenders will be opened.

Text

Opening Description

Further information about the opening of tenders. (For example, who may participate in the opening and whether any authorisation is needed.)

Text

Notice Result

Information about all the results of the procurement procedure or, if they exist, individual lots announced in this notice.

Notice Value

Value of all contracts awarded in this notice, including options and renewals.

Value

Notice Framework Maximum Value

Maximum value which can be spent within the framework agreement(s) announced in this notice over its whole duration, in all lots, including options and renewals.

Value

Group Framework Maximum Value

Information about the maximum value which can be spent, in a framework agreement, within a group of lots. This information can be provided when the maximum value of a group of lots is lower than the sum of values of individual lots (e.g. when the same budget is shared for several lots).

+++

Group Framework Maximum Value Lot Identifier

Identifier of several lots within this procedure. These lots form a group whose maximum value is lower than the sum of individual maximum values of all the lots together (e.g. when the same budget is shared for several lots).

Identifier

+++

Group Framework Maximum Value

Maximum value which can be spent in a framework agreement within a group of lots. This information can be provided when the maximum value of a group of lots is lower than the sum of values of individual lots (e.g. when the same budget is shared for several lots). Maximum value means a value covering all contracts to be awarded within a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system, over their whole duration, including options and renewals.

Value

Procedure Lot Result

Result of the procurement procedure. If the procedure is split into lots, this section must differ per lot.

+++

Awarded

A winner has been chosen.

Indicator

+++

Not Awarded Reason

The reason for not choosing a winner.

Code

+++

Framework Maximum Value

Maximum value which can be spent within a framework agreement over its whole duration, including options and renewals.

Value

+++

Received Participation Requests

Number of requests to participate received. All requests to participate received must be counted, regardless of whether they are admissible or inadmissible.

Number

+++

Received Tenders

Number of tenders received. All tenders received must be counted, regardless of whether they are admissible or inadmissible.

Number

+++

Received Tenders SME

Number of tenders received from small and medium enterprises (SMEs). All such tenders must be counted, regardless of whether they are admissible or inadmissible. For tenders submitted by a group of tenderers (e.g. a consortium), the tender should be counted if the majority of the work is expected to be done by SMEs.

Number

+++

Received Tenders Micro

Number of tenders received from micro enterprises. All such tenders must be counted, regardless of whether they are admissible or inadmissible. For tenders submitted by a group of tenderers (e.g. a consortium), the tender should be counted if the majority of the work is expected to be done by micro enterprises.

Number

+++

Received Tenders Small

Number of tenders received from small enterprises. All such tenders must be counted, regardless of whether they are admissible or inadmissible. For tenders submitted by a group of tenderers (e.g. a consortium), the tender should be counted if the majority of the work is expected to be done by small enterprises.

Number

+++

Received Tenders Medium

Number of tenders received from medium enterprises. All such tenders must be counted, regardless of whether they are admissible or inadmissible. For tenders submitted by a group of tenderers (e.g. a consortium), the tender should be counted if the majority of the work is expected to be done by medium enterprises.

Number

+++

Received Tenders EU

Number of tenders received from tenderers registered in other European Economic Area countries (e.g. EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) than the country of the buyer (or all countries of all the buyers). All such tenders must be counted, regardless of whether they are admissible or inadmissible. For tenders submitted by a group of tenderers (e.g. a consortium), the tender should be counted if the majority of the work is expected to be done by tenderers from other European Economic Area countries.

Number

+++

Received Tenders Non EU

Number of tenders received from tenderers registered in countries outside of the European Economic Area. All such tenders must be counted, regardless of whether they are admissible or inadmissible. For tenders submitted by a group of tenderers (e.g. a consortium), the tender should be counted if the majority of the work is expected to be done by tenderers from outside of the European Economic Area.

Number

+++

Received Tenders Inadmissible

Number of tenders received that were found inadmissible. A tender is found inadmissible where it has been verified that it has been submitted by a tenderer who has been excluded or who did not meet the selection criteria, or when it is not in conformity with the technical specifications, or is irregular (e.g. it was received late, having an abnormally low price or cost), unacceptable or unsuitable.

Number

+++

Received Tenders Abnormally Low

Number of tenders received that were irregular because of an abnormally low price or cost.

Number

+++

Received Tenders Unverified

Number of tenders received for which it has not been verified if they are admissible or inadmissible (e.g. because award criteria have been evaluated for all tenders and admissibility is checked only for the winning tender).

Number

+++

Tender Value Lowest

Value of the admissible tender with the lowest value. A tender shall be considered admissible where it has been submitted by a tenderer, who has not been excluded and who meets the selection criteria, and when it is in conformity with the technical specifications without being irregular (e.g. received late, having an abnormally low price or cost) or unacceptable or unsuitable.

Value

+++

Tender Value Highest

Value of the admissible tender with the highest value. A tender shall be considered admissible where it has been submitted by a tenderer, who has not been excluded and who meets the selection criteria, and when it is in conformity with the technical specifications without being irregular (e.g. received late, having an abnormally low price or cost) or unacceptable or unsuitable.

Value

+++

Concession Revenue User

Estimated revenue coming from the users of the concession (e.g. fees and fines)

Value

+++

Concession Revenue Buyer

Estimated revenue coming from the buyer who granted the concession (e.g. prizes and payments)

Value

+++

Concession Value Description

Description of the method used for calculating the estimated value of the concession and any other relevant information concerning the value of the concession.

Text

+++

Country Origin

The country of origin of the product or the service.

Code

Winning Tender

Winning tender or, in cases such as design contests, some framework agreements and innovation partnerships, other results. If the procedure is split into lots, this section may differ per lot. In cases such as design contests, some framework agreements and innovation partnerships, this section may also differ per organisation.

+++

Winning Tender Identifier

An identifier of a winning tender or, in cases such as design contests, some framework agreements and innovation partnerships, of other results. The information in the winning tender section refers to this winning tender.

Identifier

+++

Winning Lot Identifier

Identifier of a lot or a group of lots within the procedure for which the tender was submitted. The information in the winning tender section refers to this lot.

Identifier

+++

Winner Organisation Identifier

Identifier of a organisation (or identifiers of organisations, in case of consortia and joint ventures) that submitted the winning tender.

Identifier

+++

Winning Tender Value

Value of the winning tender or another result; including options and renewals.

Value

+++

Winner Rank

The position of the winner (i.e. whether the tenderer ended up first, second, third, etc.) in a design contest, some framework agreements with multiple winners (e.g. cascades) or an innovation partnership.

Number

+++

Review Requests

Number of tenderers that requested the buyer to review the award decision.

Number

+++

Winning Tender Variant

The winning tender is a variant.

Indicator

+++

Subcontracting

Information regarding the parts of the contract that the contractor will subcontract to third parties.

++++

Subcontracting Known

The buyer knows at least the estimated value and description of the part of the contract that the contractor will subcontract to third parties.

Indicator

++++

Subcontracting Value

Estimated value of the part of the contract that the contractor will subcontract to third parties.

Value

++++

Subcontracting Proportion

Estimated proportion of the part of the contract that the contractor will subcontract to third parties compared to the whole contract.

Number

++++

Subcontracting Description

Description of the part of the contract that the contractor will subcontract to third parties.

Text

++++

Subcontracting Competitive Value

Minimum value of the contract that will be subcontracted using the competitive procedure described in Title III of Directive 2009/81/EC.

Value

Contract

Information about the contract between a buyer and a winner following a winning tender. In case of voluntary-ex ante transparency notices and design contest result notices, information about the decision of the evaluation committee or the jury, respectively.

+++

Contract Identifier

Identifier of the contract or, in case of voluntary-ex ante transparency notices and design contest result notices, of the decision. The information in the contract section refers to this contract or decision.

Identifier

+++

Contract Buyer Identifier

Identifier of the organisation (or organisations) paying for this contract. This must to be specified when a procedure is run by multiple buyers but only some use a particular contract (e.g. in cases of large framework agreements).

Identifier

+++

Contract Winning Tender Identifier

Identifier(s) of the winning tender(s) or other result(s) that resulted in this contract.

Identifier

+++

Contract Title

Name of the contract or, in case of voluntary-ex ante transparency notices and design contest result notices, of the decision.

Text

+++

Contract Decision Date

The date of the official decision choosing the future contractor or winner.

Date

+++

Contract Conclusion Date

Date when the last contractual party signed the contract.

Date

+++

Contract URL

The Uniform Resource Locator (e.g. the web address) of the contract.

URL

+++

Contract EU Funds

Information about European Union funds used to finance the contract. The most concrete information must be given (e.g. about concrete projects, not just operational programs.)

++++

Contract EU Funds Name

Name of the European Union funds used to at least partially finance the contract. The most concrete information must be given (e.g. about concrete projects, not just operational programs.)

Text

++++

Contract EU Funds Identifier

An identifier of the European Union funds used to at least partially finance the contract. The most concrete information must be given (e.g. about concrete projects, not just operational programs.)

Identifier

Additional Information

Any information not mentioned elsewhere.

Strategic Procurement

A technical specification, award criterion, or contract performance condition aims to reduce the environmental impacts of the procurement, fulfil social objectives and/or buy an innovative work, supply or service.

Code

Accessibility

The use of accessibility criteria for persons with disabilities in the technical specifications.

Code

Accessibility Justification

Justification for not including accessibility criteria even though the procurement is intended for use by natural persons.

Text

Suitable For SMEs

The buyer emphasizes that this procurement is also suitable for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Indicator

GPA Usage

The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA).

Indicator

PIN Competition Termination

The prior information notice used as a call for competition is terminated. No further contracts, besides those published in this notice, will be awarded following this prior information notice used as a call for competition. This field can be used even if no contracts are awarded in the contract award notice.

Indicator

Additional Information

Any information not mentioned elsewhere.

Text

Not Immediately Published

Information about fields not intended for immediate publication.

Unpublished Identifier

Identifier of the field that shall not be immediately published. Only fields concerning the Result value and groups of fields concerning the Winning Tender and Procedure Lot Result can be unpublished. In the case of the sectoral Directive, the award criteria, the procurement procedure and certain dates can be unpublished as well.

Code

Unpublished Justification Code

Justification for not immediately publishing a field.

Code

Unpublished Justification Description

Justification for not immediately publishing a field and for the choice of a later date at which it can be published.

Text

Unpublished Accessibility Date

Later date at which the originally unpublished field shall be published.

Date

Modification

Information about modifications of the contract (e.g. additional works, services or supplies).

Modification Previous Contract Identifier

Identifier of one or more contracts within the procedure. The information in the modification section refers to this contract or these contracts.

Identifier

Modification Description

Summary of the contract modification(s). In case of multiple contract modifications, if there have first been small modifications to the contract (which did not lead to a publication of a contract modification notice) and then a bigger contract modification (which did lead to a contract modification notice) then the contract modification notice must inform about the nature and extent of all the changes - both the earlier small ones and the later larger one.

Text

Modification Reason Code

Main reason for modifying the contract.

Code

Modification Reason Description

Main reason for modifying the contract.

Text

Change

Information about changes to the notice.

Change Previous Lot Identifier

Identifier of one or more lots within the changed notice. The information in the change cancellation section refers to this lot or these lots.

Identifier

Change Description

Descriptions of changes in the notice compared to the original notice.

Text

Change Procurement Documents

The procurement documents have changed.

Indicator

Change Procurement Documents Date

The date and time when the procurement documents have changed.

Date

Change Reason Code

Main reason for the change in the notice compared to the original notice.

Code

(1) OJ L 3, 6.1.2016, p. 16–34.

Top

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs

Single Market for Public Administrations

Innovative and E-Procurement

Commission Implementing Regulation establishing standard forms for the publication of notices in the field of public procurement ("eForms")
– public feedback explanatory note

1.Introduction

The Commission proposes a major update to the public procurement standard forms. This update aims to significantly improve the usefulness of data on European procurement for all users: companies, governments and citizens. The Implementing Regulation on eForms will replace Implementing Regulation 2015/1986.

Before launching the official procedure with the EU countries’ Advisory Committee on Public Contracts, we would welcome public feedback on this proposal.

This note describes the context of the proposal. Annex I explains how to give feedback. Annex II highlights new policy-relevant information proposed in the act.

2.Process

Given the technical complexity of the file, we have based the proposal on extensive stakeholder engagement. A first consultation took place from Nov. 2016 to Jan. 2017 and the Commission discussed its results with the EU countries’ experts in the Economic and Statistical Working Group (ESWG) on 8 April 2017. A second consultation took place from June to October 2018 and we went over the state of play at a joint meeting of the ESWG and the Commission Government Experts Group on Public Procurement (EXPP) on 10th Dec. 2018.

In the second consultation, more than 200 issues and 500 comments were raised and exchanged via an online forum and six webinars were held. More than 30 people, coming mainly from national administrations and covering more than half of EU countries, contributed and raised over 200 issues, which resulted in approximately 100 changes in the proposal. This was followed by further technical work by the Commission. Overall, thanks to the contributions of the participants, these discussions have led to a mature and technically strong proposal.

The indicative timing for eForms is the following:

•Public feedback on the draft Implementing Regulation (Feb. – Mar. 2019)

•Draft Implementing Regulation translated into all EU official languages (April 2019)

•Approval by Member States in the Advisory Committee on Public Procurement and adoption by the European Commission (May - June 2019)

•Publication of the technical standard for electronic exchange of notices by the Publication Office of the EU. Start of implementation in Member States (June 2020)

•Optional use in Member States (June 2022)

•Mandatory use in Member States (June 2023)

3.Policy context

eForms are one of the actions in the Communication on Making Public Procurement work for and in Europe and the Communication on Upgrading the Single Market, where the European Commission has committed to "facilitate the collection, consolidation, management and analysis of procurement data, supporting Member States’ efforts towards better governance in public procurement [because] governance of procurement systems needs to be improved to ensure efficiency, transparency and integrity.” 1

4.Purpose

The main purpose of the new eForms is to meet the needs of a diverse set of stakeholders involved in the publication and use of procurement data, while complying with the applicable provisions of the directives. Overall, these needs can be grouped into three goals: improving access to business opportunities for companies (esp. SMEs), good governance of public spending, and low costs of publishing (incl. low administrative burden). These reflect the procurement directives' core principles of equal treatment, nondiscrimination, transparency, proportionality, and competition.

Concretely, eForms will bring many improvements large and small, such as:

·Improving the accuracy of information by defining the meaning of each field.

·Simplifying the forms by removing unnecessary differences and confusing concepts.

·Making forms more user-friendly and understandable by giving Member States the freedom to use the field labels that work in their national contexts.

·Simplifying the legal framework: from 22 types of forms to just 6 from 150 pages of legislation to 25.

·Lowering administrative burden by improving consistency and removing duplication with other standards and tools such as the ESPD.

·Giving more freedom to buyers by allowing them to specify more information (e.g. selection criteria) at the level of lots instead of the level of notices.

·Helping improve governance by making structured buyer and seller identifiers mandatory and including a limited number of policy relevant fields (e.g. on green, social, and innovative procurement).

·Balancing transparency and competition by adding the option to, in justified cases, mark fields in contract award notices as not intended for publication.

·Supporting the (voluntary) publication of below-threshold notices in the TED format by including fields relevant for below-threshold procurement.

·Simplifying the forms by updating the process for publishing corrections of notices.

·Enabling better identification of business opportunities in the EU by introducing an EU wide procurement procedure identifier.

5.Support measures

One of the important goals of the new Implementing Regulation is to give more freedom and flexibility to Member States, e-procurement systems and buyers in how they get the most benefits from the standard forms. However, this does not mean that Member States will be left alone with more implementation work. The Commission will provide various support tools to help Member States with implementation.

In particular:

·The Commission will prepare guidance on implementing the standard forms and will maintain a collaborative platform for the exchange of best practices and discussion of issues.

·Member States will have access to models (including labels) used in the TED and eNotices applications (in all languages), which they can reuse and build on in their own form filling and notice displaying tools.

·Member States will have access to a new version of the eNotices application, currently under preparation by the Publications Office. The Publications Office will provide the forms and a series of services (APIs) that 3rd parties can re-use and integrate in their applications; this will make the development of their own applications faster and easier.

·The Commission will propose funds for the implementation of eForms in the Connecting Europe Facility 2019 and 2020 work programs. (The final allocation of money is approved by Member States in the Telecom Configuration of the CEF Coordination Committee).

·The Publications Office and the European Commission will provide technical support (e.g. mapping between current forms and future forms; test environments).

6.Future updates

In the future, after the adoption of this regulation, the Implementing Regulation on standard forms should be amended more often than in the past (e.g. every one or two years instead of every four 2 ). However, these changes should consist of minor "bug-fixing" changes, not major reforms. This more agile approach is appropriate for an IT environment, which eForms are unavoidably part of, and will avoid the current situation where problems often go unsolved for years. Such an approach also corresponds well with the flexibility given by the advisory procedure, an administratively light procedure, which is used for adopting the act.

It is worth emphasizing that, currently, besides infrequent legal changes, there are also twice-per-year technical changes which are done to the IT implementation of the standard forms. This process is led by the Publications Office of the EU, in cooperation with the national e-senders. Aligning the processes of legal and technical changes more closely will lead to higher quality of both. Both of these processes will also be part of a broader governance framework, building on the Publications Office's current work with eSenders, which will ensure that needs and problems are accurately and rapidly collected and resolved.

Besides allowing technical improvement to the standard forms, this responsive approach to legislation will also allow Member States to innovate in the area of data while respecting the Directives' provision that "Notices published at national level shall not contain information other than that contained in the notices dispatched to the Publications Office of the European Union." 3 Specifically, Member States will be able to add fields at national level, because these will then be added (as optional) also at the EU level 4 . Thus, equal treatment for companies will be ensured while Member States will be able to innovate for the sake of competition and transparency.

The fact that such fields will be optional at EU level means that for other Member States, their addition into the Implementing Regulation will not imply additional costs, as nothing will need to be changed in their software systems.
Annex I – Submitting feedback

You may submit feedback in two ways:

·Using ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/initiatives_en.

·Using github.com/eForms/eForms.

GitHub is a particularly useful tool for this complex project, because it allows discussing issues one by one, enables exchanges between all participants, and helps keep track of different topics easily and transparently.

If possible, please submit your feedback via GitHub.

The files for feedback are:

·Draft Implementing Regulation (for adoption)

·Draft Annex to the Implementing Regulation (for adoption)

·Spreadsheet version of the draft Annex to the Implementing Regulation
(We recommend using this easier-to-read file to read the Annex.
To benefit from functionalities such as filtering and zooming, we also strongly suggest reading the document on a computer, not printing it out.)

Additionally, we offer the following files for technical feedback (on GitHub only):

·Draft codelists (lists of codes that must be used as replies to certain fields established in the Annex; used in technical implementation)

·Preliminary draft business rules (lists of rules applied to notices to ensure their quality, consistency, etc.; used in technical implementation)

Using GitHub

1.Go to github.com/eForms/eForms, click "Sign up" and follow the instructions. For easier communication, we suggest using your name and surname as "Username".

2.Again at github.com/eForms/eForms, you can download the consultation documents in the bottom left. In the top right, you can choose your email notification settings.

3.If you would like to comment (e.g. to suggest a change), click "Issues". There, you can open new issues by clicking on "New issue". Also, you can comment on issues already opened by others by scrolling or searching.

How to name your issue?

To ensure readability, the title of each issue must clearly identify the topic of the issue. In particular, this means including in the title the following information.

For example, a title could be "BT-01 (Legal Basis); Description; Typo" or “Activity Authority; defence listed twice; [CODELIST]” or “BR-33; Description; wrong business term identifier; [RULE].”

If your issue does not fit the instructions above (e.g. because it is more general), just follow them as far as possible.

1.ID (the first column of the spreadsheet concerning the Annex or Rules) and Name (for the Annex or codelist) to be discussed, e.g. "BT-01 (Legal Basis);"

2.Name of the column to be discussed (e.g. "Description," or "PIN only D81;")

3.Short summary of the issue (e.g. "Typo", "Inconsistent with other BTs", "rename")

4.Document being commented (if other than the Annex):

·[ACT]

·[CODELIST]

·[RULE]

Before opening a new issue, look whether someone else has not opened it already. You can do this, for example, by writing the ID number in the search bar (if you specify "in:title", your search will be more accurate). For example, if you wanted to search for the issue mentioned in the box above, you would search for "BT-01 in:title".

(To ensure the consultation is easy to read, please note we may format the submitted issues.)

Annex II – New policy fields

As requested by participants of the public procurement Economical and Statistical Working Group on 10th December, this Annex provides an overview of new, possibly mandatory policy fields proposed for eForms. The Commission will include fields in the Implementing Regulation as mandatory, optional or remove them altogether depending on the EU countries’ vote in the Advisory Committee on Public Procurement.

Fields will be introduced as mandatory only when they gain the support of the simple majority of EU countries.

Fields will be included as optional 5 as long as they are supported by at least one country (or there is a clear use by the European Commission, who uses the same standard forms). This is because in the digital age, optional fields do not imply any costs for countries that do not use them. Furthermore, as explained in section 5, above, notices at national level cannot contain more information than notices on TED and the Commission does not want to “block” national developments.

Fields should be chosen based on a careful comparison of their costs and benefits.

General Considerations on Costs and Benefits

·Costs and benefits of collecting information largely fall on different entities. The costs are largely concentrated. Overwhelmingly, they are born by buyers (who fill in notices) and e-procurement providers (who provide the technical infrastructure). Furthermore, ministries responsible for public procurement deal with “administrative” costs of receiving complaints from buyers and e-procurement providers if something goes wrong, the forms are too long, etc.

On the contrary, benefits are dispersed –good information about procurement could be considered a “public good”. Beneficiaries include companies, other buyers and any others re-users of the data such as business intelligence companies, citizens, NGOs, academics 6 , etc. Moreover, besides public procurement ministries who can better take care of national procurement, they also include sectoral ministries responsible for particular topics (e.g. green procurement, trade).

To balance correctly the costs and benefits, the Commission recommends having inclusive discussions at national level, where all the relevant stakeholders are around the table and agree on the overall priorities.

·If all EU countries collect certain data, it becomes more useful for everyone. For example, benefits can come from benchmarking (e.g. on green procurement) or from ensuring that home companies have access to certain information from abroad (e.g. on electronic signatures). Furthermore, many procurement procedures are paid for by EU funds, the efficient spending of which is a matter of interest for all EU countries.

·Buyers spend months of work on preparing procurement documents, evaluating bids, etc. Significant sums are involved (€144,000 for the lowest threshold). By contrast, filling in a form takes around 20 minutes. In this context, the cost of filling an additional field may be considered as limited. On the other hand, experience shows that as the number of fields increases, the quality of information goes down. In other words, a reasonable balance needs to be maintained.

·As more and more fields are automatically filled in thanks to the progressing digitalisation of procurement and a new generation form-filling systems, the overall burden on buyers in this area is likely to significantly decrease. Not all fields require the same effort to fill in. Most fields can be filled in automatically - some cannot.

·There are alternatives to collecting policy-relevant information through standard forms. For example, there can be surveys within e-procurement systems. Their main advantage is flexibility – questions can be changed regardless of procurement law. Their main disadvantage is that to bring the same quality of information as standard forms, they need to duplicate a large portion of the standard forms existing “infrastructure”. In particular, if their results are to be comparable across EU countries, they need a forum where shared descriptions are agreed; if they are to be easily accessible, they need to be included in e-procurement systems; if they are to be mandatory for buyers, they need appropriate regulation (esp. to be included in private e-procurement systems).

In the table below, we list new policy fields suggested for eForms by the Commission as mandatory. We include their name and description (the remaining information are available in the Regulation’s Annex) as well as considerations about their costs and benefits. The fields are listed in the same order as in the Annex (i.e. not in the order of importance).

Policy fields I (general)

Name	Description	Considerations
Winner Owner Nationality (BT-706)	”The nationality (or nationalities) of the beneficiary owner(s) of the winner(s), as published in the register(s) established by anti-money laundering legislation. If such a register does not exist (e.g. in case of non-EU contractors) then equivalent information from other sources. ”	Structured information on who controls the suppliers of EU governments would improve the: ·negotiation of EU’s trade agreements; ·security of the EU, e.g. in the context of the dependency on Chinese owned suppliers of IT infrastructure, Russian owned suppliers (potentially covered by economic sanctions); ·understanding of the benefits that the public procurement single market brings to individual Member States. The cost of submitting this information should be small, because the information will be freely publicly available (by 2020) under the latest Anti-Money Laundering Directive 7 and thus can be prefilled automatically.
Winner Listed (BT-746)	”The nationality (or nationalities) of the beneficiary owner(s) of the winner(s) is not published in the register(s) established by anti-money laundering legislation, because the winner is listed on a regulated market (e.g. a stock exchange) that ensures adequate transparency in line with anti-money laundering legislation.” (Response: yes/no)	This field would cover the cases not catered for by the field above.
Received Participation Requests (BT-152)	”Number of requests to participate received. All requests to participate received must be counted, regardless of whether they are admissible or inadmissible. ”	This field would enable comparing the impacts of single and multiple-stage procedures (in particular open and restricted) on competition. More appropriate use of these procedures could significantly help solve procurement’s competition problems. The costs of submitting this information should be minimal, because electronic submission is mandatory and the number of requests to participate can be automatically prefilled from eSubmission modules.
Received Tenders SME (BT-148)	”Number of tenders received from small and medium enterprises (SMEs). […]”	These fields on received tenders are already mandatory for most types of notices. We suggest adding them for the light regime. This would enable evaluating the impacts of the Directives on this market, esp. to understand cross-border interest. The costs of submitting this information should be minimal, because electronic submission is mandatory and these fields can be automatically prefilled from eSubmission modules.
Received Tenders EU (BT-147)	”Number of tenders received from tenderers registered in other European Economic Area countries. […]”
Received Tenders Non EU (BT-723)	”Number of tenders received from tenderers registered in countries outside of the European Economic Area. […]”
Received Tenders Inadmissible (BT741)	”Number of tenders received that were found inadmissible. A tender is found inadmissible where it has been verified that it has been submitted by a tenderer who has been excluded or who did not meet the selection criteria, or when it is not in conformity with the technical specifications, or is irregular (e.g. it was received late, having an abnormally low price or cost), unacceptable or unsuitable.”	Inadmissible tenders represent wasted time and opportunities – of companies and buyers. Consequently, this information would help identify low professionalism and address it. Furthermore, inadmissible tenders may indicate collusion 8 . The costs of submitting this information should be small, because it is just one (already collected) number. Furthermore, the information can automatically come from e-evaluation modules.
Received Tenders Unverified (BT742)	”Number of tenders received for which it has not been verified if they are admissible or inadmissible (e.g. because award criteria have been evaluated for all tenders and admissibility is checked only for the winning tender).”	This field would cover the cases not catered for by the field above.
Review Requests (BT-712)	”Number of tenderers that requested the buyer to review the award decision.”	This field measures the use of Art. 1(5) of Directives 89/665/EEC and 92/13/EEC (“the review Directives”). Complaints indicate potential problems with professionalism, can explain slow procurement procedures, and can help evaluate the costs for buyers stemming from the need to respond to such requests. The costs of submitting this information should be small, because it is just one (already collected) number.
Strategic procurement (BT06)	“A technical specification, award criterion, or contract performance condition aims to reduce the environmental impacts of the procurement, fulfil social objectives and/or buy an innovative work, supply or service. “	This field would bring basic information on so-called green, social and innovative procurement. It relies on self-evaluation by buyers and does not provide a more detailed definition because no EU-wide definitions are currently available.
Accessibility (BT754)	“The use of accessibility criteria for persons with disabilities in the technical specifications.”	Art. 42(1) of Directive 2014/24/EU obliges buyers to include accessibility considerations in technical specifications, unless duly justified. This field would help monitor the extent to which duly justified exceptions are being used. This is particularly relevant in the context of the recently adopted European Accessibility Act.

Justifications

A particular type of policy fields are justifications. In many cases, the Directive sets out special cases that require justifications, but it does not specify where these justifications should be included. Since preparing a justifications takes the same effort regardless of where it is published, it seems the most reasonable to include justifications in the notices, because they contribute to the transparency of procurement also vis-à-vis citizens. Furthermore, several of the justifications below are codes and can consequently be analysed to understand, for example, what are the most common reasons for not publishing information about awarded contracts.

Policy fields II (justifications)

Name	Description	Considerations
Award Criteria Order Justification (BT-733)	“Justification for only indicating the award criteria's order of importance, not their weighing.”	According to Rec. 90 (last paragraph) of Directive 2014/24/EU, instead of indicating the weighing of award criteria, buyers should be permitted “in duly justified cases for which they must be able to give reasons” to indicate the order of importance. Anecdotally, this provision seems to be used extremely rarely. This field would bring more transparency to the use of this provision and help prevents its misuse. Given the minimal use of this provision, the costs linked to filling this field should be minimal.
Documents Restricted Justification (BT707)	“The justification for restricting access to certain procurement documents.” (codelist only)	This field would bring more transparency to the use of the provision on restricting access to procurement documents and help prevent its misuse.
Submission Nonelectronic Justification (BT19)	“Justification for electronic submission of tenders not being possible.” (codelist only)	This field would bring more transparency to the use of the provision on restricting access to procurement documents and help prevent its misuse.
Unpublished Justification Code (BT-197)	“Justification for not immediately publishing a field. “ (codelist only)	The mechanism for not publishing fields is based on Art. 50(4) of Directive 2014/24/EU. This provision was not reflected in Implementing Regulation 2015/1986, i.e. it was not possible to mark fields as unpublished. Furthermore, we are aware that the interpretation of this provision has been very different in the past. For example, while many countries never use this provision, in other countries it was used to not publish the value of notices in up to 80% of procedures. Consequently, we believe transparency on how this provision is used is necessary. This will allow the development of a more harmonized approach as well as avoid its misuse.
Unpublished Justification Description (BT196)	“Justification for not immediately publishing a field and for the choice of a later date at which it can be published. “
Accessibility Justification (BT755)	“Justification for not including accessibility criteria even though the procurement is intended for use by natural persons.”	Art. 42(1) of Directive 2014/24/EU does not provide any guidance on what is a duly justified case.

Codelists

Some policy purposes are also covered by new codes.

Policy fields III (new codes)

Name

Description

Considerations

Micro, small, medium, large codes

in the codelist for

Winner Size (BT165)

“The size of the winner (e.g. micro enterprise, small enterprise, medium enterprise).”

·Micro

·Small

·Medium

·Large

Currently, information is collected at the general SME level (covering, for example, companies with 5 employees as well as companies with 205 employees). Information that is more granular would allow catering to the different needs of the different types of SMEs.

The costs of submitting this information should be small. The information should be automatically prefilled from data in national or regional business registries. Alternatively, it can be submitted by the company itself (e.g. as part of the ESPD) to the buyer, who then (automatically or manually) puts it in the notice.

Procurement Service Provider
code

in the codelist for

Organisation Role (BT-08)

Art. 2(17) of Dir. 2014/24/EU:

‘procurement service provider’ means a public or private body which offers ancillary purchasing activities on the market;

Art. 2(15) of Dir. 2014/24/EU:

‘ancillary purchasing activities’ means activities consisting in the provision of support to purchasing activities, in particular in the following forms:

(a) technical infrastructure enabling contracting authorities to award public contracts or to conclude framework agreements for works, supplies or services;

(b) advice on the conduct or design of public procurement procedures;

(c) preparation and management of procurement procedures on behalf and for the account of the contracting authority concerned;

Procurement service providers (PSP) help buyers procure. Besides central purchasing bodies, procurement service providers are often consulting companies specialized in procurement, law, EU funds or a particular sector (construction, IT, etc.)

This field would fill an important information gap on the extent to what procurement is done and influenced by other organisations than the buyer. For example, in some countries, practitioners estimate that up to 50% of procurement procedures are actually done/influenced by private consultancies and law firms. Unfortunately, there is no data to confirm or verify such claims - even though this could have significant implications for policy makers. For example:

·From a professionalisation point of view, if external organisations often play a role, then training individual buyers may be less important. On the other hand, perhaps there should be certifications, reviews, or ratings for PSPs.

·If PSPs seldom play a role, perhaps there is space for improving professionalisation through better support from (private or public) procurement expert centres.

Where external organisations often play a role, it might also be worth paying more attention to the prevention of conflict of interest (as mentioned in 2014/24/EU Art. 24, paragraph 2).

(1) http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM%3A2015%3A550%3AFIN , p. 13, p.59 (shortened)

(2) The current update is planned for April 2019. In the past, the implementing regulation has been updated in November 2015, August 2011, and September 2005.

(3) Article 52(2) of Directive 2014/24/EU, Article 72(2) of Directive 2014/25/EU and Article 32(5) of Directive 2009/81/EC. The Article may cause legal uncertainty in particular depending on the interpretation of “notice” (e.g. what information from national contract registers may be seen as a notice) and whether this Article is read literally or teleologically (e.g. whether it should apply only to information which could plausibly lead to unequal competition).

(4) This approach replaces the “extensions” approach discussed in previous versions of the consultation. Fields marked as “extensions” have been added as optional fields in the current proposal (if they have been sufficiently mature) or will be revisited in future updates of the standard forms (if they require more reflections).

(5) Optional fields can be made mandatory in individual countries, regions or IT systems.

(6) In fact, Tenders Electronic Daily data is the most popular dataset on the EU Open Data portal.

(7) Buyers should use these registries regardless of the field on winner nationality, as they are useful as a reference point to comply with the Directives’ provisions on exclusion grounds, in particular the last paragraph of Art. 57 of Directive 2014/24/EU.

(8) See e.g. OECD, “Detecting bid rigging in public procurement” (point 6), URL: http://www.oecd.org/competition/cartels/42594486.pdf

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