Prior Information Notice in Public Procurement Law

The prior information notice is the voluntary EU announcement of planned public contracts up to 12 months in advance and allows shorter tender deadlines in the later procedure.

Definition: The prior information notice is a voluntary – and in certain cases mandatory – announcement by public contracting authorities of planned supply, service or works contracts, published on TED up to twelve months before the actual procurement procedure is launched, which under certain conditions allows the subsequent tender deadline to be shortened.

Last updated: January 2026 · Legal basis: Art. 48 Directive 2014/24/EU; AT: § 58 BVergG 2018; DE: § 38 VgV

What is the prior information notice?

The prior information notice is a planning tool in public procurement: it allows public contracting authorities to inform the market about upcoming contracts at an early stage before the actual procurement procedure is launched. Through the prior information notice, companies can plan their resources and capacities over the long term and prepare for upcoming tenders. For contracting authorities, it offers the advantage that shorter tender deadlines are permissible in the later procedure under certain conditions.

The prior information notice ("Vorinformation") must not be confused with the award decision notice ("Vorabinformation"), which denotes the notification of the award decision to bidders. Both terms denote entirely different legal institutions.

Significance and function

The prior information notice serves market transparency and facilitates strategic planning in public procurement, both for contracting authorities and for bidders. Through early announcement, companies – in particular SMEs with limited capacity – can prepare in good time and form bidding consortia or subcontractor arrangements.

Conditions for, and effect of, shorter deadlines

Where a contracting authority has published a prior information notice on TED, it may shorten the tender deadline in the subsequent procurement procedure provided the following conditions are met (Art. 48(2) Directive 2014/24/EU):

The prior information notice contained all the information required in the contract notice, to the extent that this was available at the time of publication.
The prior information notice was published between 35 days and 12 months before the date on which the contract notice was sent.

If these conditions are met, the usual 30-day tender deadline can be reduced to at least 15 days.

Prior information notice as a call for competition (Art. 48(3) Directive 2014/24/EU)

In a special application, the prior information notice can also be used as a call for competition, without a separate contract notice being required later. This requires the prior information notice to contain all relevant information and to allow bidders to express their interest. This use is in particular available for the procurement of social and other specific services.

Content of a prior information notice

Under Art. 48 in conjunction with Annex V Part B of Directive 2014/24/EU, a prior information notice must contain information on:

Name and contact details of the contracting authority
Brief description of the subject matter of the contract and the estimated contract value
Anticipated date of launching the procurement procedure
Where applicable, CPV codes (Common Procurement Vocabulary)

Publication and form

The prior information notice is published via the SIMAP system on TED. In Austria this takes place under § 58 BVergG 2018, in Germany under § 38 VgV. Publication only at national level is possible where the expected contract value is below the EU thresholds.

Legal basis

The prior information notice is expressly regulated at EU level and transposed into national law.

EU: Art. 48 Directive 2014/24/EU (prior information notices)
Austria: § 58 BVergG 2018 (prior information notice above the thresholds)
Germany: § 38 VgV (prior information notice)

Related terms

FAQ

Is publication of a prior information notice mandatory? In principle the prior information notice is voluntary. A duty to publish a prior information notice arises under Art. 48(1) Directive 2014/24/EU only where contracting authorities intend to award contracts for social and other specific services (Annex XIV of the directive) and wish to conduct the call for competition by means of a prior information notice.

Can the prior information notice replace the contract notice? In certain cases yes: for social and other specific services (Art. 75 Directive 2014/24/EU) and under the narrow conditions of Art. 48(3), a detailed prior information notice can act as the call for competition. As a rule, however, a separate contract notice is required after the prior information notice.

How does the prior information notice differ from the award decision notice? The prior information notice announces planned contracts in advance (planning phase). The award decision notice, by contrast, informs bidders of the award decision after evaluation (closing phase) and triggers the standstill period. The two institutions serve different purposes in the procurement procedure.

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