The ESPD in plain English: what the European Single Procurement Document asks

Most tenders above the EU thresholds ask bidders to fill in the European Single Procurement Document, or ESPD. It looks bureaucratic, but it exists to make bidding cheaper: instead of collecting certificates for every tender, you declare that you meet the requirements, and usually only the bidder about to win has to prove it.

This guide explains what the ESPD is, what each part asks, and how to fill it in without mistakes.

What the ESPD is

The ESPD is a standard self-declaration introduced by the 2014 EU procurement directive (Directive 2014/24/EU, Article 59). Its form is set by an EU regulation (Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/7), so it has the same structure in every member state.

With it you confirm that:

• you are not in a situation that excludes you from public contracts;
• you meet the selection criteria the buyer has set;
• you can provide the supporting documents without delay when asked.

The ESPD is submitted only in electronic form. Depending on the country, you fill it in on the buyer's e-procurement platform or in a national ESPD service, and upload the result with your bid. The buyer usually provides a pre-filled request that shows exactly which questions apply.

Part by part

Part I – Information concerning the procurement procedure. Filled in by the buyer: which tender this is. Check that the reference matches the tender you are bidding for.

Part II – Information concerning the economic operator. Your company's name, address, VAT number, contact person and size (micro, small or medium-sized enterprise). This part also asks:

• whether you bid alone or together with other companies;
• whether you rely on the capacity of other companies to meet the criteria;
• whether you intend to subcontract part of the contract.

Each company whose capacity you rely on fills in its own, separate ESPD.

Part III – Exclusion grounds. A series of yes/no questions in four groups: criminal convictions (such as fraud, corruption, money laundering or participation in a criminal organization); unpaid taxes or social security contributions; insolvency, conflicts of interest or grave professional misconduct; and purely national grounds. Some grounds apply everywhere; others depend on national law and on the buyer's choice.

If something applies to you, answering "yes" is not automatically fatal. You can describe the measures you have taken to show you are reliable again (often called self-cleaning). Answering "no" when the answer is "yes" is a much bigger problem.

Part IV – Selection criteria. Here you show you meet the buyer's requirements: suitability (for example registration in a professional or trade register), economic and financial standing (turnover, insurance), technical and professional ability (references, staff, equipment), and quality assurance or environmental management standards such as ISO 9001 or ISO 14001. Some buyers let you give a single global answer that you meet all selection criteria; others ask for details.

Part V – Reduction of the number of qualified candidates. Only used in procedures where the buyer invites a limited number of qualified candidates, such as a restricted procedure or a competitive procedure with negotiation. You show how you meet the objective criteria the buyer will use to choose among them.

Part VI – Concluding statements. You confirm that the information is accurate and that you can provide the supporting documents without delay. The document is then signed in the way the platform requires.

Prepare once, reuse many times

Most of the ESPD is the same for every tender. Keep a master version with:

• company details and the people authorized to represent the company;
• annual turnover for the last three financial years, and turnover in your main area of activity;
• a list of reference contracts with client, value, dates and a short description;
• certificates and registrations, with numbers and expiry dates;
• your answers to the exclusion questions, checked with whoever manages tax and legal matters.

Most ESPD services can export a completed ESPD as a file and import it again for the next tender, so you only adjust the parts that differ.

Mistakes that get bids rejected

• Missing parts. Leaving Part IV blank because "the documents show it" can get a bid rejected. Some buyers ask you to complete it; you can't count on that.
• Inconsistent figures. Turnover or references in the ESPD that don't match what you later prove.
• No ESPD for partners. Each consortium member, and each company whose capacity you rely on, needs its own ESPD.
• Wrong signature. Some platforms require a qualified electronic signature by an authorized representative.
• Using an old template. Always start from the request attached to the tender you are bidding for.

After you win

Before awarding the contract, the buyer asks the bidder it has chosen for supporting documents: tax and social security certificates, an extract from the company register, financial statements, reference letters. It can ask other bidders too, at any point, if that is needed for the procedure to run properly. Where the buyer can get a document directly from a free national database, you only need to say where it is.

If you bid outside your home country, prepare these documents early. The European Commission's e-Certis service shows which certificates are used in each country and which are considered equivalent, which helps when a buyer asks for a document that does not exist under that name in your country. Our guide on bidding for a tender in another EU country covers the rest of what changes.