European Single Procurement Document (ESPD) in Public Procurement

The ESPD is the EU standard form for preliminary suitability documentation that replaces extensive evidence at bid submission – governed by Art. 59 Directive 2014/24/EU.

Definition: The European Single Procurement Document (ESPD) – German: Einheitliche Europäische Eigenerklärung (EEE) – is a standardised EU form with which companies provisionally declare in a procurement procedure that they meet the suitability criteria and that no grounds for exclusion apply, without having to submit all evidence in the original immediately.

Last updated: January 2026 · Legal basis: Art. 59 Directive 2014/24/EU, § 79 BVergG 2018, § 50 VgV

What is the European Single Procurement Document?

The ESPD is the central instrument of EU procurement law for simplifying suitability documentation: bidders and candidates do not have to provide extensive certificates, register extracts or capability evidence in the original when submitting their bid, but instead declare by self-declaration that they meet the suitability criteria and that no grounds for exclusion apply. Only the prospective successful tenderer is then required to provide the actual supporting documents.

The ESPD was introduced by Directive 2014/24/EU and aims to significantly reduce the bureaucratic burden for companies – especially SMEs – when participating in cross-border procurement procedures. It must be used with the same basic structure in all EU Member States.

Significance and function

The ESPD is not just a form but the pivotal point of the preliminary suitability check in EU-wide procurement procedures.

Content of the ESPD

The ESPD is divided into six parts (in accordance with Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/7):

Part I: Information on the procurement procedure and the contracting authority
Part II: Information on the economic operator (identity, reliance on the capacities of other entities, subcontractors)
Part III: Grounds for exclusion (mandatory and optional pursuant to Art. 57 Directive 2014/24/EU)
Part IV: Suitability criteria (suitability to pursue the professional activity, economic and financial standing, technical and professional ability)
Part V: Reduction of the number of qualified candidates (in multi-stage procedures)
Part VI: Concluding declarations and signature

Grounds for exclusion

The declaration that no grounds for exclusion apply is the part of the ESPD most significant under substantive law. Companies must be mandatorily excluded if they have been convicted by final judgment of certain criminal offences (corruption, fraud, money laundering, terrorism, etc.), if they have not paid their taxes or social security contributions, or if they are insolvent.

In addition, contracting authorities may include optional grounds for exclusion (e.g. serious breaches of professional duty, false declarations in earlier procurement procedures) in the ESPD.

Reliance on the capacities of others

The ESPD also allows companies to indicate that they are relying on the capacities of other companies in their self-declaration. In this case, a separate ESPD must also be completed for the entity whose capacities are being relied on.

Subsequent submission of evidence

The actual evidence is submitted only at the request of the contracting authority and, in principle, only by the prospective successful tenderer. However, the contracting authority may at any time require bidders or candidates to submit all or part of the supporting documents if this is necessary for the proper conduct of the procedure.

Typical evidence includes: criminal record extracts, tax compliance certificates, commercial register extracts, balance sheets, reference lists, certificates (e.g. ISO standards).

Electronic ESPD

The contracting authority must provide the ESPD in machine-readable form; bidders can complete it via the European Commission's official ESPD service (espd.eu) or on the platform side. Many procurement platforms offer an integrated ESPD wizard that simplifies completion.

Legal basis

The ESPD is uniformly regulated across the EU and transposed nationally.

EU: Art. 59 Directive 2014/24/EU; Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/7 (ESPD standard form)
Austria: § 79 BVergG 2018 (European Single Procurement Document); §§ 73 et seq. BVergG 2018 (suitability in general)
Germany: § 50 VgV (European Single Procurement Document); § 48 VgV (suitability evidence in general); § 6e EU VOB/A (construction procurement)

Related terms

FAQ

Must the ESPD also be used below the EU thresholds? Under EU law, the ESPD is only mandatory for EU-wide procurement procedures. Below the thresholds, the contracting authority may use the ESPD voluntarily or provide its own self-declaration forms. In Austria and Germany, there are simplified self-declaration templates for the below-threshold area.

Can the ESPD be reused? Yes. A company can use a completed ESPD for several procurement procedures, provided the information is still up to date. It only has to confirm that no changes have occurred. New procurement procedures, however, require an update to Part I (procedure-specific information).

What happens if a bidder makes false declarations in the ESPD? False declarations in the ESPD may lead to exclusion from the ongoing procurement procedure and may give rise to an optional ground for exclusion in future procurement procedures (Art. 57(4)(h) Directive 2014/24/EU). Civil and criminal consequences may also follow.

Last updated: January 2026 All information provided without guarantee. For legally binding advice, please consult a law firm specialising in public procurement law.