The European Single Procurement Document (ESPD), known in Belgium as the UEA (Uniform Europees Aanbestedingsdocument), is a standardised self-declaration that you fill in as a contractor when participating in public procurement. It is your passport for every European tender — a document in which you declare that you meet the requirements, without having to provide all supporting evidence with every submission.
Since October 2018, the ESPD in Belgium has been offered exclusively in electronic form. In this article we explain when it is mandatory, how to fill it in, and how to reuse it.
When is the ESPD mandatory?
The ESPD is mandatory for all public contracts whose estimated value reaches or exceeds the European thresholds. For the 2026–2027 period, those thresholds are (excl. VAT):
- Works: €5,404,000
- Supplies and services (federal authorities): €140,000
- Supplies and services (other authorities): €216,000
For contracts below the European thresholds, the ESPD is not legally required, but some contracting authorities request it anyway. Always check the specifications to know whether an ESPD is required.
What does the ESPD contain?
The ESPD consists of six parts:
Part I — Information about the procurement procedure. This part is filled in by the contracting authority. It contains the identification of the contract, the publication number and the reference to the applicable criteria.
Part II — Information about the contractor. Here you fill in the basic details of your company: name, address, company number, contact person, size (SME or not), and whether you are tendering as part of a consortium.
Part III — Exclusion grounds. You declare that your company is not in any of the mandatory or optional exclusion situations: no criminal convictions (corruption, fraud, money laundering, terrorism financing), no tax or social security debts, no serious professional misconduct, no conflicts of interest, and no previous poor performance in public contracts.
Part IV — Selection criteria. Depending on what the contracting authority requires, you declare here that you meet the criteria regarding economic and financial standing (e.g. minimum turnover, ratios) and technical and professional ability (e.g. references, qualifications, certifications).
Part V — Reduction of the number of candidates. Only relevant for two-phase procedures (restricted procedure, competitive procedure with negotiation). Here you provide additional information if the authority wants to limit the number of candidates.
Part VI — Concluding statements. You confirm that the information provided is correct and that you can produce the supporting evidence if requested.
Filling in the ESPD: the workflow
The Belgian workflow for the ESPD runs through the e-Procurement platform and consists of three steps:
Step 1 — Download the ESPD request
The contracting authority creates an ESPD request when publishing the contract. This is an XML file (espd-request.xml) specifying exactly which exclusion grounds and selection criteria apply. You download this file from e-Notification, under the contract documents.
Step 2 — Fill in your ESPD response
You import the ESPD request into the Belgian ESPD service (available via the e-Procurement platform) or into the European ESPD service. The system then shows you only the fields relevant to that specific contract — so you do not need to work through the entire form.
When filling in, you can use the link with Telemarc in the Belgian ESPD service. Via Telemarc, certain data are automatically retrieved from authentic sources (CBE, NSSO, VAT database), reducing manual input.
Fill in all requested fields carefully. Be specific with references and amounts — vague or incomplete answers may lead to your submission being assessed as non-compliant.
Step 3 — Export and submit
After filling in, you export your ESPD response in two formats:
- XML (
espd-response.xml) — the structured file you can reuse for subsequent tenders. - PDF — a readable version for reference.
You submit both files together with your tender via e-Tendering.
Reuse: the power of XML
The XML format is not just a technical detail. It is the mechanism that makes the ESPD practical for repeated tender participation.
When you need to tender for a new contract, you import your previous espd-response.xml into the ESPD service. The system automatically fills in all previously completed fields. You then only need to make contract-specific adjustments: add a new reference, update a turnover figure, or mention a new certification.
Therefore, always save your most recent espd-response.xml in a fixed location. Make it a habit to archive the XML version after every submission.
Common pitfalls
Starting too late. Filling in the ESPD takes more time than you expect, especially the first time. Plan at least half a day, so you do not make mistakes under time pressure.
Underestimating Part III. The exclusion grounds seem self-evident (“no, we have not been convicted of fraud”), but some grounds are subtler. Do you have a dispute with social security about a contribution? You must mention this here, with an explanation of the corrective measures you have taken.
Not preparing references. In Part IV, the authority often asks for specific references: contracts of comparable nature and size, executed in the last three to five years. Ensure you maintain an up-to-date list with project names, clients, amounts and execution periods.
Ignoring the ESPD request. Do not simply fill in the generic ESPD form. Always import the specific ESPD request from the contracting authority, so you only see the relevant fields and do not accidentally miss information.
Not saving the XML. If you only export the PDF and do not save the XML, you lose the ability to quickly reuse the ESPD for a subsequent tender.
What happens after the ESPD?
The ESPD is preliminary evidence. The contracting authority can request the underlying supporting documents at any point during the procedure. In practice, this usually only happens with the winning tenderer, after the award decision but before contract conclusion.
The supporting documents you may need to produce include:
- An extract from the criminal record (exclusion grounds Part III)
- NSSO certificate (social security debts)
- Tax certificate (VAT and direct taxes)
- Annual accounts or bank statement (financial standing)
- Reference list with certificates of good execution (technical ability)
In Belgium, the contracting authority retrieves part of this information itself via Telemarc, but not all documents. Check the specifications to see which supporting documents you must provide yourself.