Peppol

Peppol is an international network for the secure and standardised exchange of electronic procurement documents between businesses and public contracting authorities. Originally launched as an EU-funded project in 2008 to simplify cross-border public procurement, the network has grown into a global infrastructure with over 2.5 million registered participants across 111 countries.

How does Peppol work?

Peppol uses a "four-corner model" where senders and recipients are connected through certified Access Points. Think of it as a postal network for electronic documents: your organisation sends an invoice to its Access Point, which locates the recipient's address in the network and forwards the document — regardless of what system either party uses. All communication is encrypted and validated, providing protection against fraud and misdirected messages.

The infrastructure relies on three components: a central Service Metadata Locator (SML) that indexes all participants, Service Metadata Publishers (SMP) containing technical details about each recipient, and the Access Points themselves that handle transport. All Access Points must be certified by OpenPeppol, the non-profit association that governs the network.

Peppol in EU/EEA procurement

EU Directive 2014/55/EU requires all public sector entities to accept electronic invoices compliant with the European standard EN 16931. While the directive does not prescribe a specific transmission method, Peppol has become the dominant delivery network — implemented in 23 Member States. The Peppol Business Interoperability Specifications (BIS) standardise documents across the entire post-award chain: invoices, credit notes, orders, catalogues and despatch advice.

Several countries have made Peppol mandatory for public sector invoicing, including Norway, Denmark and Sweden. In Norway, DFO serves as the national Peppol Authority, and the Norwegian document standard EHF is transmitted through the Peppol network. Tools like Cobrief help suppliers discover contract notices where electronic document requirements via Peppol are specified in the tender documents.

Peppol is the backbone of digital procurement across Europe and beyond. Originally focused on public procurement, the network is increasingly adopted for business-to-business transactions, making it an essential component of the modern procurement landscape.