Malta public procurement explained: a plain-English guide to ePPS

What public procurement is, and why it matters

Public procurement is the process by which government bodies — ministries, departments, agencies, local councils, and state-owned entities — purchase goods, services, and works using public funds. In Malta, this covers everything from buying office supplies and IT systems to contracting engineering consultancies, cleaning services, and major infrastructure works.

The scale is significant. The Maltese government and its entities collectively spend hundreds of millions of euros per year through procurement. Any business supplying goods or services that government bodies buy is a potential tenderer — and the market is open to both Maltese and EU-based suppliers by law.

The rules governing public procurement exist to ensure value for money, fair competition, transparency, and equal treatment of bidders. They set out when a contracting authority must run a formal tender, how it must advertise it, how bids must be evaluated, and how awards must be justified. Understanding those rules is the first step to competing effectively.

The legal framework

EU Directives

Malta's procurement rules derive primarily from two EU Directives adopted in 2014: Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement, and Directive 2014/25/EU on procurement by utilities entities. These Directives set out the core principles — transparency, equal treatment, non-discrimination, mutual recognition, and proportionality — and establish the procedural rules that apply to contracts above the EU financial thresholds.

Public Procurement Regulations 2016

The EU Directives were transposed into Maltese law as the Public Procurement Regulations, 2016 (Legal Notice 352 of 2016, as amended). This is the primary domestic legislation governing procurement in Malta. It sets out the rules for contracting authorities, the applicable procedures, the thresholds, the qualification requirements that may be applied to bidders, and the remedies available when rules are breached.

Amendments have been made to the regulations since 2016, and the Department of Contracts periodically issues guidance notes that clarify interpretation. Always check the current consolidated version on the Department of Contracts website before relying on a specific provision.

The Department of Contracts

The Department of Contracts is the central government authority for public procurement in Malta. Its functions include publishing procurement notices, operating the ePPS portal, issuing standard tender documents and guidance to contracting authorities, monitoring compliance, and handling procurement review board complaints. The Director General of the Department of Contracts also acts as the reviewing authority for procurement challenges below EU thresholds.

For tenders above EU thresholds, the Public Contracts Review Board (PCRB) is the independent appeals body. It hears challenges from unsuccessful tenderers and can suspend award processes pending review.

What ePPS is and how it works

ePPS — the Electronic Public Procurement System — is Malta's mandatory e-procurement platform, accessible at etenders.gov.mt. All contracting authorities covered by the Public Procurement Regulations 2016 are required to use ePPS for tenders above the applicable national thresholds.

The platform handles the full procurement lifecycle:

• Publication: contracting authorities publish calls for tenders, prior information notices, and contract award notices on ePPS.
• Document access: registered economic operators can download tender documents, specifications, and award criteria.
• Clarifications: tenderers submit questions through the platform; the contracting authority's answers are posted as addenda visible to all registered tenderers.
• Submission: bids are uploaded electronically through ePPS before the submission deadline. Paper submissions are no longer accepted for tenders managed through the system.
• Notifications: registered suppliers can set up email alerts based on category codes (CPV codes) so that relevant new tenders are flagged automatically.

To participate in any tender published on ePPS, a supplier must first register as an Economic Operator. Registration is free. The process and a step-by-step account of how to set up and use the platform is covered in our guide to how to register on ePPS Malta.

Types of procurement procedure

The type of procedure used in a given tender depends on the contract value, the complexity of what is being procured, and the circumstances of the contracting authority. The main procedures you will encounter in Malta are as follows.

Open Procedure

The most common procedure for contracts above EU thresholds. Any economic operator that meets the qualification criteria can submit a tender. The contracting authority publishes the tender documents simultaneously with the call for tenders, and all interested parties respond in a single stage. There is no pre-qualification stage. The minimum tender period is 35 days from publication of the contract notice — reducible to 15 days in cases of duly justified urgency, or where a prior information notice was published at least 35 days in advance.

Restricted Procedure

Used where the contracting authority wants to limit the number of bidders invited to submit full tenders. It runs in two stages: first, a selection stage in which all interested parties submit a request to participate and are assessed against qualification criteria; then an invitation stage in which the shortlisted candidates (typically five to twenty) receive the full tender documents and submit bids. This procedure is less common in Malta than the Open Procedure but is used for high-value or technically complex contracts.

Competitive Procedure with Negotiation

Permitted in specific circumstances, including where works, goods, or services cannot be procured without prior negotiation due to complexity or legal/financial risk, or where the technical specifications cannot be established with sufficient precision. The contracting authority negotiates with selected candidates after receiving initial tenders, with the aim of improving offers. The final tender submitted after negotiation is binding.

Competitive Dialogue

Used for particularly complex contracts — typically major infrastructure, large ICT systems, or public-private partnerships — where the contracting authority cannot define the technical means or legal/financial structure of the solution in advance. The authority enters into dialogue with pre-selected candidates to identify and define the means best suited to its needs, then invites final tenders based on the solutions discussed.

Negotiated Procedure without Prior Publication (Direct Order)

Used in tightly defined circumstances: extreme urgency, contracts that for technical or artistic reasons can only be performed by a specific operator, and contracts below the applicable thresholds under national rules. A direct order — procurement from a single supplier without a competitive process — is permitted below certain value thresholds and in genuine emergencies. It is not a general discretionary route and its use is subject to internal approval and audit scrutiny.

Thresholds: which rules apply when

The applicable rules depend on the estimated contract value. There are two tiers: EU thresholds (above which full EU procedure rules apply) and national thresholds (below which simplified domestic rules apply).

EU thresholds are revised by the European Commission every two years. The figures above apply for 2024–2025; confirm current thresholds with the Department of Contracts or on the official EU procurement portal.

Below EU thresholds: national rules

Below EU thresholds, the Public Procurement Regulations 2016 apply lighter-touch national rules. The key approximate bands under current national rules are:

• Up to €10,000: a single quotation (direct order) is generally permitted, subject to the internal approval procedures of the contracting authority.
• €10,001 to €75,000 (approximately): a minimum of three quotations is required, with selection based on value for money. These tenders may be published on ePPS or managed more informally.
• Above €75,000 up to the EU threshold: simplified open or restricted procedure via ePPS, with a shorter publication period than full EU-procedure tenders but with formal evaluation requirements.

How to use etenders.gov.mt

The workflow on etenders.gov.mt follows a consistent pattern across all tender types:

1. Search or browse active tenders. Use the search function and filter by CPV category, contracting authority, or deadline. Tenders can also be found by reference number.
2. Register interest. Click on a tender and register your interest. This is required before you can download the full documents and receive notifications about addenda and deadline extensions.
3. Download documents. Once registered for a specific tender, the full call for tenders document (CFT), technical specifications, draft contract, and evaluation criteria schedules are available to download.
4. Submit clarification questions. The CFT will specify a deadline for questions. Submit through the platform; the contracting authority's responses are published as addenda to all registered tenderers simultaneously.
5. Prepare and upload your bid. Compile all required documents, complete all forms, and upload through the submission portal before the stated deadline. Late submissions are automatically rejected by the system.
6. Track the outcome. Award notices are published on ePPS and in the EU Official Journal (for above-threshold contracts). Unsuccessful tenderers are entitled to a debriefing on request.

For a detailed walkthrough of registration and the full setup process on the portal, see our ePPS Malta registration guide.

Practical tips for first-time bidders

Read the entire CFT before doing anything else

The Call for Tenders document governs everything. Before committing time to bid preparation, read all sections — especially the qualification criteria (typically Section III in standard EU format), the award criteria and their weightings, the scope of work, and the contract conditions. First-time bidders frequently invest significant time in preparation before discovering that the qualification thresholds (minimum turnover, years of experience, specific certifications) rule them out entirely.

Check the qualification criteria rigorously

Qualification in Malta procurement is typically split into three categories: economic and financial standing (minimum annual turnover, financial ratios, insurance levels); technical and professional ability (past experience, key personnel CVs, certifications); and personal situation (absence of grounds for exclusion — criminal convictions, tax debts, insolvency). If you do not meet any one of these criteria, your bid will be rejected at the administrative compliance stage regardless of how strong your technical offer is.

Use the clarification period

If any requirement in the CFT is unclear, submit a clarification question through ePPS. Contracting authorities are obliged to respond within a reasonable timeframe and to publish responses to all registered tenderers simultaneously. Do not assume an ambiguous requirement means flexibility — clarify it. Unexplained deviations from tender requirements are grounds for disqualification.

Understand the evaluation matrix before writing your offer

Most tenders in Malta use a MEAT (Most Economically Advantageous Tender) approach, combining quality and price in a defined weighting — often 60/40 or 70/30 in favour of quality. Each quality sub-criterion has a defined scoring methodology. Read the evaluation criteria before writing your technical proposal. A proposal that does not address the scoring criteria directly will score poorly regardless of its intrinsic quality. For a detailed breakdown of how evaluation works, see our guide to Malta tender evaluation criteria.

Do not underestimate administrative compliance

Malta tender evaluations typically begin with an administrative compliance check before the technical or financial evaluation. Any missing document, incorrect form, unsigned declaration, or non-compliant format at this stage can result in rejection without any consideration of the substance of your bid. Use the Malta tender submission checklist to verify compliance before upload.

Consider using a bid support specialist

For higher-value or technically complex tenders, professional bid support often pays for itself. A specialist can assess your eligibility accurately before you invest in preparation, identify gaps in your evidence, structure the technical narrative to align with evaluation criteria, and manage the document compliance process. Bastion Advisory provides procurement and bid support services to businesses new to the Maltese tender market and to established operators looking to improve their win rate.

Frequently asked questions