Selection criteria: proving you can do the job

Eligibility · 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. Selection criteria test whether your company can perform the contract. They can concern only three things: your right to pursue the activity, your economic and financial standing, and your technical and professional ability (Article 58(1)). They must be related and proportionate to the contract, and the minimum levels must be in the notice. A minimum yearly turnover can’t exceed twice the estimated contract value without a stated reason (Article 58(3)). Past contracts count for up to five years for works and three years for supplies and services, unless the buyer allows older ones (Annex XII). If you fall short, you can rely on another entity’s capacities. But if you rely on its experience, it must do that part of the work, and its commitment and documents must be in your tender, not supplied after the award.

EU law · The three kinds of criteria

Selection criteria may relate only to (Article 58(1)):

1. Suitability to pursue the professional activity: for example enrolment in a professional or trade register in your Member State of establishment, or, for services, a particular authorisation or membership where it is required in that state (Article 58(2)).
2. Economic and financial standing (Article 58(3)).
3. Technical and professional ability (Article 58(4)).

The buyer may impose only these. It must limit them to what is appropriate to ensure you have the legal and financial capacities and the technical and professional abilities to perform the contract, and “all requirements shall be related and proportionate to the subject-matter of the contract” (Article 58(1)). The required conditions, which may be expressed as minimum levels of ability, and the means of proof must be in the contract notice or the invitation to confirm interest (Article 58(5)).

Selection is a separate step from the award. Points are given for the tender, not for the company’s general ability (see how quality is scored). Educational and professional qualifications of your managerial staff can be used as a selection criterion only if they aren’t also evaluated as an award criterion (Annex XII, Part II, point (f)).

EU law · Financial standing

• The buyer may require a minimum yearly turnover, including turnover in the area of the contract, information on annual accounts (for example the ratio of assets to liabilities), and professional risk indemnity insurance (Article 58(3)).
• The two-times cap. The minimum yearly turnover “shall not exceed two times the estimated contract value”, except in duly justified cases such as special risks. The buyer must give the main reasons in the documents or its procurement report (Article 58(3)).
• For lots, the rules apply per lot, but the buyer may set the turnover by reference to groups of lots if a winner may perform several at the same time. For framework agreements with reopened competition, the cap is calculated on the expected maximum size of contracts performed at the same time, or, if unknown, on the framework’s estimated value (Article 58(3)).
• Turnover in the area of the contract is a financial criterion (Klaipėdos, C‑927/19, ruling point 1).
• Turnover earned in a group. To meet such a requirement with income of a temporary group you belonged to, you must have actually contributed to an activity of that group analogous to the one in the new contract (Klaipėdos, ruling point 2).
• Proof. As a general rule: bank statements or evidence of indemnity insurance, financial statements, and turnover statements for at most the last three financial years available (Annex XII, Part I). If for a valid reason you can’t provide the references requested, you may prove your standing with any other document the buyer considers appropriate (Article 60(3)). Under the earlier Directive, the Court accepted that a bank’s refusal to issue the specific statement required could be such a reason, if it was objectively impossible to provide it (Ingsteel, C‑76/16).

EU law · Technical and professional ability

• The buyer may require the human and technical resources and experience needed to perform the contract to an appropriate quality standard, in particular “a sufficient level of experience demonstrated by suitable references from contracts performed in the past” (Article 58(4)).
• Reference periods. Works carried out over at most the past five years, and principal deliveries or services over at most the past three years. Where necessary for adequate competition, the buyer may say it will take older references into account (Annex XII, Part II, point (a)).
• Other means of proof include technicians and technical bodies, quality facilities, supply-chain systems, qualifications, environmental management measures, average workforce, equipment, and samples or certificates for supplies (Annex XII, Part II).
• A buyer may set stricter technical requirements than the national minimum, if they are appropriate, related and proportionate to the contract (C‑195/21).
• A buyer may require compliance with obligations under special national laws as selection criteria, but procurement documents can’t be automatically supplemented with qualification criteria the buyer chose not to impose (C‑403/21, ruling points 1–2).
• Under the earlier Directive, requiring a registration or approval from the Member State where the contract is performed, when the bidder already holds an equivalent one from its own state, was precluded (C‑6/20).

EU law · If you fall short: relying on others

You may rely on other entities’ capacities for financial standing and for technical and professional ability, whatever the legal links with them (Article 63(1)). The full rules on groups, relied-on entities and subcontractors are in bidding with partners. For selection, these points matter most:

• Partial reliance is possible. Under the earlier Directive, the Court accepted reliance on one or more entities to meet a requirement you meet only partly (Pippo Pizzo, C‑27/15).
• Experience and qualifications travel with the work. You can rely on another entity’s professional experience or educational and professional qualifications only where that entity will perform the works or services for which they are required (Article 63(1)). Earlier, the Court had accepted that reliance can be limited where a capacity can’t be transferred, so that the entity must take part in performance directly (Partner Apelski Dariusz, C‑324/14).
• Combining experience has limits. Under the earlier Directive, a buyer could refuse reliance on the combined experience of two entities that individually lacked it, where the contract had to be performed by a single operator and that limit was proportionate. And a bidder couldn’t claim the experience of a group it had belonged to unless it actually and directly took part in that contract (Esaprojekt, C‑387/14, ruling points 2 and 3).
• Everything goes in the tender. National rules requiring the relied-on entity’s qualification documents and commitment only after the award are precluded (Ambisig, C‑469/22, order). After the deadline, new documents proving you meet the conditions can’t be added (Esaprojekt, ruling point 1; see when the buyer asks you to clarify your tender).
• The entity is checked too. It must meet the relevant selection criteria and have no exclusion grounds, or you may have to replace it (Article 63(1); see exclusion grounds).

Our analysis · Checking the requirements before you bid

The checks are our reading of the provisions. A requirement that looks disproportionate may still be lawful in the circumstances. Raise it with the buyer early (see clarification questions).

Practice · Preparing your selection evidence

1. Map every criterion to a document you can supply, using the means of proof the notice names.
2. Pick your best references, not your most numerous. Selection is pass or fail against the minimum. Extra references rarely add anything.
3. Check the dates of your references against the five-year or three-year window.
4. Prepare the ESPD for yourself and every entity you rely on (see the ESPD).
5. Keep the supporting documents ready. The buyer can ask for them at any time, and must ask the winner before the award (Article 59(4)).

What this page doesn’t cover

National registers and approvals in detail. Qualification systems and official lists of approved operators (Article 64). Utilities and defence contracts. Reducing the number of candidates in restricted procedures (Article 65). The lower turnover cap in the Commission’s 2026 proposal, which isn’t law (see what the proposed Public Procurement Act would change).