Where tenders are published
TED, for tenders above the EU thresholds
When a public contract is worth more than a set amount, the buyer has to publish it across the EU. Those notices appear on TED (opens in a new tab), Tenders Electronic Daily, the online version of the Supplement to the Official Journal of the EU. Searching it is free.
National platforms, for the rest
Each country has its own platform as well. In the Netherlands that's TenderNed (opens in a new tab). Most Dutch tenders above the EU threshold, and many smaller national ones, appear there. Some buyers also use other platforms, such as Negometrix (now Mercell) or CTM, or their own portal, so no single source has everything.
The EU thresholds for 2026 and 2027
These amounts apply from 1 January 2026, excluding VAT, under Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/2152 and its sister regulations.
| Type of contract | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Supplies and services, central government | €140,000 |
| Supplies and services, sub-central buyers (provinces, municipalities and others) | €216,000 |
| Supplies and services, utilities (water, energy, transport, postal) | €432,000 |
| Social and other specific services (classical directive) | €750,000 |
| Works | €5,404,000 |
Source: European Commission, DG GROW thresholds page and TED. The thresholds are revised every two years.
How to set up your own tender tracking
- Write down what you sell in the words a buyer would use, in English and in the local language.
- Find your CPV codes. The easiest way is to look up 2 or 3 tenders you would have liked to win and copy their codes.
- Add words that rule a tender out. "Cleaning" finds office cleaning, but also road sweeping. Exclusion words keep the list short.
- Pick your countries. Start with your own country and the ones you can actually deliver in.
- Save the search on each platform and check it on a fixed day every week. Both TED and TenderNed let you save searches once you register.
- Track deadlines. A tender you find with three days left is usually a tender you skip.
The annoying parts
- The same tender often shows up on both TED and the national platform, with slightly different titles.
- Many buyers don't publish an estimated value.
- CPV codes are chosen by the buyer and aren't always the ones you'd expect, so keyword searches still matter.
- Checking several platforms by hand every week is easy to let slide.
If you'd rather get a list every Monday
I build a tender alert feed from the official TED and TenderNed open data. It's filtered on your CPV codes and keywords, merges the duplicates, and flags what closes soon. Setup takes 1, 2 or 3 days depending on the package, and the weekly feed is $40 a month per sector profile. No contact names or other personal data, only the organisation and the link to the official notice.
Want to run the filters yourself?
Rather run it yourself? My tools on the Apify Store, pay per use. The EU + NL tender alert feed (opens in a new tab) pulls TED and TenderNed, filters by CPV and keywords, and merges duplicates. Organisation-level fields only, no personal data. Also there: EU procurement market stats (opens in a new tab) if you want award-value and competition numbers instead of a deal list ($0.01 per result row).
Prefer a filtered Monday Excel done for you? Use the tender alert packages above.
Want a fixed price?
Send me what you need and you'll get a reply by email with a scope and a price. Nederlands mag ook.