Competitive Procedure with Negotiation
A two-stage EU procurement procedure in which selected candidates submit initial tenders that the buyer can negotiate to improve their content, before final tenders are evaluated.
In Detail
The competitive procedure with negotiation is set out in Article 29 of Directive 2014/24/EU. The contracting authority publishes a contract notice describing its needs, the minimum requirements every tender must meet and the award criteria. Any economic operator may submit a request to participate, within a minimum time limit of 30 days, and only the candidates the authority invites after assessing their information (at least three, where enough suitable candidates apply) may submit an initial tender.
The authority then negotiates with the tenderers on their initial and any subsequent tenders to improve their content, but the minimum requirements and the award criteria are not open to negotiation. Negotiation can take place in successive stages to reduce the number of tenders, and the authority may award on the basis of the initial tenders without negotiating at all if it reserved that possibility in the contract notice. When it intends to conclude negotiations, it informs the remaining tenderers and sets a common deadline for new or revised tenders.
Under Article 26(4), the procedure may be used only on specific grounds, the same as for competitive dialogue: for example, when needs cannot be met without adapting readily available solutions, when the contract includes design or innovative solutions, when technical specifications cannot be established precisely enough, or when an open or restricted procedure produced only irregular or unacceptable tenders. National names include procédure concurrentielle avec négociation (France), Verhandlungsverfahren mit Teilnahmewettbewerb (Germany), procedimiento de licitación con negociación (Spain), procedura competitiva con negoziazione (Italy), mededingingsprocedure met onderhandeling (Netherlands) and procedimento de negociação (Portugal). In the UK it is the competitive procedure with negotiation under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015; procurements started under the Procurement Act 2023 use the competitive flexible procedure instead.
Practical Context
How it works in practice
Suppliers in a competitive procedure with negotiation should expect several rounds: an initial tender that is a genuine offer, then negotiation meetings or written rounds, then a final tender. Because the minimum requirements cannot be negotiated, the first task is checking that the initial tender meets every one of them, and because the buyer may award without negotiating, the initial tender should be a competitive one. On Tender Radar, notices for this procedure are usually labelled 'Request to participate', with the request deadline shown as 'Requests to participate by'; where the only published step is an offer deadline open to anyone, the notice is treated as open to all.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can and cannot be negotiated?
The content of the tenders can be negotiated to improve it, including price, except for the minimum requirements and the award criteria set out in the procurement documents. The buyer must treat all tenderers equally during negotiations and must not give information that could advantage some tenderers over others.
Is the competitive procedure with negotiation the same as a negotiated procedure without publication?
No. The competitive procedure with negotiation starts with a published call for competition that any supplier can respond to. The negotiated procedure without prior publication (Article 32) has no call at all: the buyer approaches one or more suppliers directly, and it is allowed only on narrow grounds such as extreme urgency or technical exclusivity.
How many suppliers are invited to tender?
At least three, where enough suitable candidates apply. In the contract notice the buyer states the objective criteria it will use to select candidates and the minimum, and any maximum, number it intends to invite.
Related Terms