What is TED, and what does it mean if you want to sell across Europe?

Most suppliers know the tender portal in their own country, the place where public contracts at home are advertised. Fewer know its big brother: TED. But if you want to sell across Europe, this is where the opportunities are. Here we explain what TED is, and how it connects to the national portals.

What TED is

TED stands for Tenders Electronic Daily, and it is the EU's official database for public tenders across the entire EEA. It is run by the EU's Publications Office in Luxembourg, and this is where the larger public contracts in Europe are advertised. Think of it as your national portal, but for the whole market: the EU countries plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

How it connects to the national portals

This is the important link. When a contracting authority buys something above the EU threshold, the notice is submitted through the national channel, which checks it and passes it on to TED. It is published there first, and on the national portal right afterwards. The large contracts therefore sit in both places. In Norway that channel is Doffin, in Denmark udbud.dk, in the Netherlands TenderNed.

The other way around, it means that the large contracts from the rest of Europe are on TED, not on your own national portal. If you settle for the national portal alone, you only see your corner of the picture.

What it means if you want to go abroad

If you want to sell to contracting authorities in other EEA countries, TED is the place to follow. You will find notices from across Europe there, spanning countries and sectors. The rules are largely the same as at home. Much of what you already know about public tenders travels straight across the border.

The challenge is volume. TED is big, and finding what is relevant to you specifically can be demanding without good filters. In Cobrief you get an overview of the tenders from TED, so you can follow the opportunities across Europe in the same place as the ones at home. The principle is the same as with tender alerts on a national portal: set the search up properly, and the pile becomes manageable.

In closing

TED is the way into the European tender market, and for suppliers it is closer than many think. The large contracts in your own country are already there. If you are planning to move abroad, this is a good place to start getting your bearings.

We at Cobrief are happy to talk about how you can follow opportunities across Europe, not just at home.