Launch of the electronic European Single Procurement Document (eESPD)

The European Single Procurement Document (ESPD) is a self-declaration of a business’ financial status, abilities and suitability for a public procurement procedure. From 28 January 2019, the ESPD will be provided in exclusively electronic format (eESPD) on the eTenders platform for all procurement processes that are valued above the relevant EU thresholds.

The eESPD offers a number of benefits for both suppliers and contracting authorities:

• Online template form prepared by contracting authorities and filled in by suppliers

• Content can be saved by suppliers and re-used in future tenders and bids

• Information provided is valid across borders in the whole of the European Single Market

• Reduces bidding time and cuts red tape

A short summary of eESPD and its benefits is available here

The Office of Government Procurement has produced a range of supporting materials to assist in using the eESPD:

• an Information Note to assist both suppliers and contracting authorities to understand how the eESPD should be used

• Guidelines on using the eESPD in practice for both suppliers and contracting authorities on etenders.gov.ie

While the eESPD must now be used for all procurement processes above the EU thresholds, competitions initiated prior to the launch of the eESPD may continue to accept the paper based version of the ESPD.