What are eForms?
eForms are the new standardized electronic forms for publishing public procurement notices in the European Union. They replaced the previous standard forms (known as TED forms) and became mandatory for EU-level procurement notices as of October 25, 2023, in Germany. The eForms standard provides a structured, machine-readable format based on XML that enables consistent and comparable procurement data across all EU member states.
The eForms system was introduced through EU Implementing Regulation 2019/1780 to address limitations of the previous notice formats, which varied significantly between member states and were often published in non-standardized ways. eForms define a comprehensive set of data fields covering all aspects of a procurement notice, from the description of the contracting authority and the subject matter to the procedure type, qualification criteria, award criteria, and submission deadlines.
Germany implemented the eForms standard through the eForms-DE specification, which extends the base EU standard with Germany-specific fields and business rules. This national tailoring, known as the German eForms profile, ensures compatibility with the German legal framework while maintaining full interoperability with the EU-level TED system. Contracting authorities must generate eForms-compliant notices through their procurement platforms, which then transmit the data to TED for EU-wide publication.
Why It Matters for Bidders
For bidders, the transition to eForms has improved the quality and consistency of procurement notices across Europe. The structured data format makes it easier to search, filter, and compare procurement opportunities across borders. Automated monitoring tools can now parse procurement notices more reliably, reducing the risk of missing relevant opportunities due to inconsistent data formatting.
Bidders using procurement intelligence or tender monitoring services benefit from the enhanced data quality of eForms, as the standardized fields enable more precise matching algorithms. Companies engaged in cross-border procurement can also leverage the multilingual capabilities of the eForms system, which supports automated translation of key notice fields.
Legal Framework
eForms are mandated by EU Implementing Regulation 2019/1780, adopted under Directive 2014/24/EU Article 51. In Germany, the eForms-DE standard is maintained by the Coordination Office for IT Standards (KoSIT) and referenced in the VgV. The eForms SDK (Software Development Kit) provides the technical specification for implementation. The German Datenservice Oeffentlicher Einkauf (DoeE) serves as the national publication infrastructure connecting German platforms with TED.