- 963 of 9,301 lab-instrument award notices (10.4%) used a negotiated procedure without prior publication, October 2025 to September 2026.
- Netherlands 46%, Germany 33%, Austria 21%; Romania, Slovakia and Greece close to 0%.
- 95% of these direct-award lots had a single bid.
- 736 voluntary ex-ante transparency (VEAT) notices announced lab-instrument direct awards in the same period, mostly in Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands.
EU procurement rules let a public buyer award a contract without a tender in narrow cases: only one supplier can deliver (typically an upgrade, add-on or service for an instrument already installed), extreme urgency, or a failed earlier tender. The award notice then says the procedure was "negotiated without prior publication".
We counted those notices for lab, analytical and precision instruments (CPV 38 as the main code) over twelve months. Across all countries, 963 of 9,301 award notices, or 10.4%, skipped the call for competition.
Direct-award share by country
| Buyer country | Bar | Without a call | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 46% | 166 notices | |
| Germany | 33% | 1,172 notices | |
| Austria | 21% | 230 notices | |
| Belgium | 12% | 178 notices | |
| Sweden | 10% | 248 notices | |
| Spain | 9% | 561 notices | |
| France | 7% | 453 notices | |
| Italy | 6% | 303 notices | |
| Bulgaria | 5% | 428 notices | |
| Latvia | 4% | 270 notices | |
| Poland | 4% | 1,648 notices | |
| Portugal | 4% | 221 notices | |
| Ireland | 3% | 177 notices | |
| Czechia | 3% | 821 notices | |
| Lithuania | 1% | 295 notices | |
| Hungary | 1% | 181 notices | |
| Romania | 0% | 492 notices | |
| Slovakia | 0% | 254 notices | |
| Greece | 0% | 271 notices |
Red: one in five or more awarded without a call. Award notices with CPV 38 as the main code, October 2025 to September 2026, countries with 150 or more notices. All countries: 10%. Source: TED API, analysed by Reblys.
The mirror image of the single-bid map
The countries where almost everything is tendered, Poland, Czechia, Romania and Greece, are the same countries where most tenders draw a single bid. Germany, where a third of contracts skip the tender, has a below-average single-bid rate (47%) on the tenders it does publish. Low competition shows up either as no tender or as a tender nobody else answers.
How suppliers can see a direct award coming
Before signing a direct award, a buyer can publish a voluntary ex-ante transparency notice (VEAT) on TED. It names the intended supplier and the reason, and the contract can only be signed ten days later. During those ten days, a supplier who can deliver an equivalent instrument can contact the buyer or challenge the award.
In the twelve months we looked at, 736 VEAT notices covered lab instruments, most of them in Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands. In a sample of the 127 published in the 60 days to 10 October 2026, roughly two in three cited technical reasons (only one supplier can deliver), and about one in three named a large brand such as Bruker, Leica, Zeiss, Thermo Fisher or Waters as the intended supplier.
Ten days is short. A supplier who reads TED weekly, or only in their own language, will usually find these notices after the window has closed. This is why Reblys Pro sends direct-award warnings the day a VEAT notice is published.
The full report, free
This article covers one section of the European Lab Tender Report, Q3 2026. The 18-page PDF adds price benchmarks by segment and country, cross-border flows, who wins where, seasonality and what the end of EU Recovery money means for 2027.
Questions
What is a direct award in EU public procurement?
A contract awarded through a negotiated procedure without prior publication, i.e. without a call for competition. It is allowed in narrow cases such as when only one supplier can deliver (for example an upgrade to an installed instrument) or in extreme urgency.
What is a VEAT notice?
A voluntary ex-ante transparency notice, published on TED by a buyer that intends to award a contract without a tender. It names the intended supplier and the justification; the contract can only be signed after a standstill period, usually ten days.
Which countries award most lab-instrument contracts without a tender?
In the year to September 2026: the Netherlands (46% of lab-instrument award notices), Germany (33%) and Austria (21%). Romania, Slovakia and Greece were close to 0%.
More from the report
Method: our own queries of the TED search API, run on 4 October 2026, covering award notices whose first CPV code starts with 38. Values converted at ECB reference rates. TED covers tenders above EU thresholds only. Reblys is AI-assisted: data processing and drafting are done with AI, and every figure is reviewed by a person before publication.