Lots: bidding for part of an EU contract

Procedures & timing · This guide was generated with the help of an AI system. Its legal references were checked against the official EU texts listed under Sources on 10 October 2026. Next review due by 10 October 2027, or sooner if the law changes. EU rules only. Not legal advice.

Short answer. Buyers may split a contract into lots and decide their size and subject-matter. If they don’t, they must give the main reasons (Article 46(1)). The notice must say whether you may bid for one, several or all lots. It may cap how many lots one bidder can win, but then the documents must state the rules that decide which lots you get (Article 46(2)). Combined awards of several lots are possible only where national law allows them and the notice reserves them (Article 46(3)). Selection requirements apply lot by lot (Article 58(3)), so a smaller lot can be within reach even if the whole contract isn’t. And the documents can tie lots together in ways that matter, as in BibMedia (C‑737/22).

EU law · What Article 46 requires

Dividing or not. The buyer decides whether to divide and how. Unless national law makes division mandatory, it must give the main reasons for not dividing, in the documents or in its procurement report (Article 46(1)). Member States may make division into lots obligatory under conditions set in national law (Article 46(4)).

What you may bid for. The contract notice, or the invitation to confirm interest, must say whether tenders may be submitted for one, several or all lots (Article 46(2)).

A cap on lots per bidder. Even where you may bid for several or all lots, the buyer may limit the number of lots one tenderer can be awarded, if the maximum is in the notice. The documents must then set out the objective and non-discriminatory rules for deciding which lots you get if the award criteria would give you more than the maximum (Article 46(2)).

Combined awards. Where national law allows it, the buyer may award several or all lots together, if the notice reserved that possibility and indicated which lots or groups of lots may be combined (Article 46(3)).

How lots affect value and selection

• Thresholds. The value of all lots is added up to see whether the Directive applies. If the total reaches the threshold, the Directive applies to every lot, but small lots can be taken out within limits (Article 5(8)–(10); see EU procurement thresholds).
• Turnover per lot. The financial selection rules, including the cap of twice the estimated value for minimum turnover, apply to each lot. The buyer may set turnover by reference to groups of lots for a bidder that may win several to be performed at the same time (Article 58(3); see selection criteria).

EU law · What the Court has said

Second-placed bidder takes a smaller lot at the winner’s price. In BibMedia (C‑737/22), a Danish central purchasing body tendered a framework agreement for library materials in eight lots, on lowest price. Two lots, East and West, were linked: a tender for one counted for both, and the aim was to have two suppliers in that market. The larger lot went to the best tender. The smaller one was to go, preferably, to the second-best bidder if it accepted to perform it at the winner’s price (paragraphs 11–14). The Court held that equal treatment and transparency don’t preclude such a method, as long as it is set out in the documents. It doesn’t involve negotiation, because the award still rests on the prices offered before the deadline (paragraphs 33–34 and ruling).

Switching lots after the deadline. Under the earlier Directive, a bidder that had tendered for the whole contract couldn’t ask, after the tenders were opened, to be considered only for certain lots (Partner Apelski Dariusz, C‑324/14, ruling point 3).

Our analysis · Choosing your lots

This table is our reading of the provisions and cases above.

Practice · Bidding for lots

1. Decide your lots before you price. Changing which lots you’re bidding for after the deadline isn’t possible (C‑324/14).
2. Check selection per lot. A lot you qualify for alone may be better than a larger one that needs a partner (see bidding with partners).
3. Read any rule that links lots and work out the outcomes: first place, second place, and the price you’d have to accept.
4. If there’s a cap, model which lots the tie-breaking rule would give you, and make sure you’d still want them.
5. If the buyer didn’t divide, its reasons should be in the documents or its report (Article 46(1)). If division would make the contract accessible to you, raise it early.

What this page doesn’t cover

National rules making division mandatory. Lots in utilities and defence contracts. Lots within framework agreements in detail.