Source: https://tendernation.io/guides/eu-tenders-for-uk-companies

Guide

# Can UK companies bid for EU tenders after Brexit?

What the WTO Government Procurement Agreement and the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement give UK suppliers, which EU contracts they cover, and how to find and bid for them on TED.

Updated 14 Oct 2026

Yes, UK companies can still bid for many EU public contracts. Since Brexit the right no longer comes from EU membership. It comes from two trade agreements: the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) and the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). Together they give UK suppliers equal treatment on higher-value contracts from covered buyers. Below those values, or outside the covered list, a UK bidder has no guaranteed right to take part, and since a 2024 EU court ruling some buyers may feel free to turn you away.

This guide sets out what is covered, using the official texts, and the practical steps for finding and bidding for EU tenders from the UK. It isn't legal advice. Where the law is unsettled, we say so.

## The two agreements that give UK firms access

**The WTO Government Procurement Agreement.** The UK was covered by the GPA as an EU member state from 1996, and became a party [in its own right on 1 January 2021](https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/gproc_e/memobs_e.htm). The WTO's [December 2020 announcement](https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news20_e/gpro_02dec20_e.htm) confirms that the UK deposited its instrument of accession so it could take part "in its own right" from that date. The UK government's guidance on [bidding for overseas government procurement](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/bidding-for-overseas-government-procurement-opportunities) says this means UK businesses "can bid for certain procurement opportunities in the other parties' territories", and the EU and its member states are a GPA party.

**The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.** The [TCA](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/agree_internation/2021/689(1)/oj/eng) has a public procurement title that takes over the main GPA rules and then widens them. "Covered procurement" under the TCA means everything the GPA covers plus extra buyers and services listed in its procurement annex. The gov.uk guidance summarises the extras as including the gas and heat distribution sector, certain private utilities that act as a monopoly, and services including hospitality, telecoms, real estate and education.

The agreements matter in EU law. In the [Kolin judgment of 22 October 2024](https://curia.europa.eu/site/upload/docs/application/pdf/2024-10/cp240183en.pdf), the EU Court of Justice said that suppliers from countries bound by an agreement such as the GPA must be given treatment no less favourable than EU suppliers, and "may rely on the provisions" of the procurement directive. Suppliers from countries with no such agreement cannot. For covered contracts, the UK is on the right side of that line.

## Which EU contracts are covered

Coverage turns on three questions: who is buying, what they are buying, and how much the contract is worth.

**Who is buying.** The GPA lists each party's covered buyers in annexes: central government bodies (Annex 1), sub-central bodies such as regions and municipalities (Annex 2) and other entities, mainly utilities (Annex 3). The [WTO's coverage pages](https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/gproc_e/gp_app_agree_e.htm) set out the EU's lists. The TCA adds gas and heat network operators and certain privately owned utilities that operate under special or exclusive rights.

**How much it is worth.** The GPA sets thresholds in Special Drawing Rights (SDR), an IMF unit. The EU turns them into euro figures every two years. For 2026 and 2027, the European Commission's [thresholds page](https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/single-market/public-procurement/legal-rules-and-implementation/thresholds_en) gives these values, set by [Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/2152](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2025/2152/oj/eng) and its utilities counterpart, 2025/2150:

| Buyer | Supplies and services | Works |
|---|---|---|
| Central government | €140,000 | €5,404,000 |
| Sub-central (regions, municipalities and other public bodies) | €216,000 | €5,404,000 |
| Utilities (water, energy, transport, postal) | €432,000 | €5,404,000 |

The underlying GPA figures on the [WTO thresholds table](https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/gproc_e/thresh_e.htm) are 130,000 SDR (central), 200,000 SDR (sub-central) and 400,000 SDR (utilities) for goods and services, and 5,000,000 SDR for construction. The extra utilities the TCA adds are covered from 400,000 SDR for goods and services and 5,000,000 SDR for construction. The TCA's added hotel, catering and education services are covered from €750,000 (central and sub-central buyers) or €1,000,000 (utilities).

**What they are buying.** Not every service is in. The TCA's annex states that its procurement title does not cover human health services, administrative healthcare services or the supply of nursing and medical staff. Procurement that falls under the GPA's security and general exceptions (Article III) is also carved out. If a notice is for clinical healthcare or for something a government treats as a security matter, assume you have no treaty right to take part unless the buyer says otherwise.

Even when a contract is covered, check the notice: GPA and TCA coverage are set by detailed annexes and notes, and we haven't reproduced every exclusion here.

### Rules that help UK bidders on covered contracts

The TCA adds a few practical protections on top of the GPA. For covered procurement, the [agreement text](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/agree_internation/2021/689(1)/oj/eng) says:

- Buyers must not require you to have **prior experience in their own country** as a condition for taking part.
- Buyers should not ask for **all the supporting evidence up front** (proof that you aren't excluded and that you meet the conditions) unless it's needed for the procedure to run properly.
- Notices must be **free to access electronically through a single point of access**. For the EU, that's TED.

## Where UK bidders can be excluded

**Below the thresholds.** Lower-value contracts aren't covered by the GPA or the TCA's market access rules. The EU's [Your Europe](https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/public-tenders/tools-database/index_en.htm) business portal notes that lower-value tenders are usually only published on national portals. A buyer may still accept your bid, but you have no treaty right to equal treatment.

**Outside the covered lists.** The same applies to buyers or services outside the annexes, such as the health services listed above.

**After the Kolin ruling.** The Court held that suppliers from a country with no procurement agreement with the EU can't claim equal treatment, and that only the EU, not individual member states, can decide their access. The case concerned a Turkish company. How far that reasoning reaches a UK firm bidding for a contract outside GPA and TCA coverage hasn't been settled by the Court. A cautious reading is that, on a non-covered contract, an EU buyer may be able to exclude or treat a UK-based bidder differently, and the UK bidder may not be able to challenge the decision under the directive. If a contract matters to you, read the notice's eligibility rules and take advice.

**The established-subsidiary route.** The TCA also gives national treatment to suppliers of the other party that are established in a country through a local company. The UK government's [treaty state supplier guidance](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6903873de2ebc0fb39a52032/Guidance_-_Treaty_State_Suppliers_FINAL_pdf_links_.docx.pdf) explains that Article 288 extends non-discrimination "to the procurement of any contract and not just public contracts", and prohibits discrimination against EU suppliers established in the UK "(and vice versa)", with exceptions for clinical healthcare services and the security and general exceptions. In practice, a UK group with a genuine subsidiary in, say, Ireland or the Netherlands is in a stronger position on lower-value work there than a company bidding directly from the UK. Whether that's worth setting up is a question for your lawyer and accountant.

**EU institutions.** The Your Europe portal says mid-value and higher-value tenders from EU institutions, agencies and bodies are published on TED, in full in the official EU languages. Whether a given institution's tender is open to UK bidders depends on the coverage rules above and on the tender's own eligibility terms, so read the "who can take part" section of the documents before you start.

## How to find and bid for EU tenders from the UK

### 1. Search TED

[TED (Tenders Electronic Daily)](https://ted.europa.eu/en/) is the online version of the Supplement to the Official Journal of the EU, where higher-value EU tenders must be published. It's free. According to [Your Europe](https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/public-tenders/tools-database/index_en.htm), you can search and sort notices by subject, country and buyer, and if you register you can save searches and set up email alerts. Search by **CPV code** as well as keywords, because buyers must classify notices with CPV codes and keywords in English will miss notices written in other languages. Our free [CPV code finder](https://tendernation.io/tools/cpv-code-finder) helps you pick the right codes.

### 2. Expect to work in the buyer's language

Your Europe explains that basic information about each TED notice is published in all 24 official EU languages, but the full notice only has to be published in one. The tender documents themselves are usually in the buyer's language too. Budget for translation, and check the tender documents for the language your bid must be written in before assuming English is fine.

### 3. Don't look for an "eSender" account

eSenders are for buyers, not bidders. The [European Commission's TED page](https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/single-market/public-procurement/digital-procurement/tenders-electronic-daily_en) says notices are submitted by public buyers through national or commercial solutions (eSenders) or the eNotices2 application. As a supplier, you register on TED only for saved searches and alerts. To bid, you register on the buyer's own e-procurement platform, which is linked from the notice. Your Europe notes that in most cases you must submit your offer electronically.

### 4. Fill in the ESPD

For tenders published on TED, Your Europe says you declare your professional and financial capacity on the **European Single Procurement Document (ESPD)**, a self-declaration form. You don't send the supporting certificates when you bid, but you'll need them if you win. The Commission's own ESPD service was [switched off on 2 May 2019](https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/single-market/public-procurement/digital-procurement/european-single-procurement-document-and-ecertis_en), so you complete it through the national service the buyer uses. The Commission's e-Certis tool helps you work out which certificates a buyer in another country will expect.

### 5. Price for the extra work

Translation, local legal review, currency risk and, for some contracts, a local partner all add cost. Consortia are allowed: Your Europe notes you can pool resources with business partners if you don't have the capacity alone. Run the numbers before you commit, the same way you would for a [UK tender](https://tendernation.io/guides/how-to-write-a-tender).

## How TenderNation helps with EU tenders

TenderNation imports TED notices alongside UK sources, so EU opportunities appear in the same search, fit score and alerts as [UK tenders](https://tendernation.io/opportunities). Here is exactly what the product does today:

- **English first.** When a TED notice includes an English version of its title or description, we show that. When it doesn't, we show the first language the notice gives.
- **Documents from some EU portals.** Where a portal publishes tender documents openly, we fetch them from the notice: TenderNed in the Netherlands, Spain's Plataforma de Contratación del Sector Público, and the EPPS platform behind eTenders in Ireland and Malta and Lithuania's CVP IS. If a portal needs a sign-in, upload the documents yourself.
- **Page-by-page translation.** On paid plans, a document page that isn't in English can be translated into British English by AI in the source panel, keeping headings, clauses, amounts and dates. A page is only translated once and then cached.
- **Drafting in English.** The [AI bid writer](https://tendernation.io/features/ai-bid-writing) builds a requirements checklist from the pack and drafts answers in British English from your own bid library. You'll still need a native-language review if the buyer wants the bid in its language.

One naming trap: **EU-Supply** is the name of an e-tendering platform, not an EU source. The EU-Supply feeds we read (uk.eu-supply.com and YORtender) carry tenders from UK councils, police forces, universities and utilities.

TenderNation doesn't check GPA or TCA coverage for you. Use the thresholds and exclusions above, and the eligibility section of each notice.

## Quick checklist before you bid for an EU tender

1. Is the buyer a central, sub-central or utility body on the EU's GPA or TCA lists?
2. Is the estimated value at or above the 2026 to 2027 threshold for that buyer?
3. Is the service outside the excluded list (clinical health, nursing and medical staffing, security)?
4. If not covered, does the notice itself say third-country bidders may take part?
5. Can you bid in the buyer's language, and complete the ESPD through its national service?
6. Do you have, or need, a local subsidiary or partner?

If the answer to the first three is yes, you have the same right to take part as an EU company. If not, you may still be welcome, but get that in writing from the buyer.

New to public sector bidding? Start with [how to find UK government tenders](https://tendernation.io/guides/how-to-find-uk-government-tenders) and [how to win your first public sector contract](https://tendernation.io/guides/how-to-win-your-first-public-sector-contract), then [browse live tenders](https://tendernation.io/opportunities) from the UK and the EU. See [pricing](https://tendernation.io/pricing) for what each plan includes.

Put this guide to work

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