The guide focuses on suppliers from the EU, EEA, and Switzerland and is based primarily on the rules for above-threshold public contracts. For below-threshold contracts, some rules may differ; the status of suppliers from other countries is a separate topic.
To participate in a Czech contract, you do not need to incorporate a limited liability company or open a branch in the Czech Republic.The Public Procurement Act generally prohibits making participation in a procedure conditional on a specific legal form of the supplier. At the same time, the contracting authority must not without a legal reason restrict the participation of suppliers based in the EU, EEA, or Switzerland.
However, the non-discrimination principle does not exempt you from the obligation to meet regulatory requirements necessary for performing a contract in the Czech Republic.
"A foreign supplier does not enter a special type of procurement procedure. It is subject fundamentally to the same conditions as a domestic participant. What may differ, however, is the method used to prove compliance," says attorney JUDr. Bc. Matej Šandor, Ph.D., MBA.
For above-threshold contracts, the European TED is the primary source of notices. For below-threshold contracts, it is usually not enough. The key is the Public Procurement Bulletin and the profiles of individual contracting authorities. Without them, you might miss many opportunities that do not make it into European sources.
Czech contracting authorities use a number of different systems – NEN, E-ZAK, Tender arena, and others. Each has its own registration, authentication, and technical requirements.
Do not leave registration until the last minute. We covered electronic submission and the most common technical errors in more detail in the article Public Procurement Act: A Practical Guide for Suppliers.
You prove qualifications obtained abroad with documents according to the legal system of the country where you obtained them, to the extent required by the contracting authority. A similar foreign document is also accepted where the law The Public Procurement Act refers to a Czech document. If a certain document is not issued at all under the relevant legal system, it can it replace a written affidavit.
For certain basic eligibility requirements, such as tax and insurance compliance, you must provide proof of fulfillment both in the supplier's country of residence and in the Czech Republic. When preparing your bid, therefore, verify which documents you will also need in relation to the Czech Republic.
For a document in a language other than the one required, prepare it with a translation. A certified translation The Public Procurement Act is not standardly required – the contracting authority may request it if there are doubts about the accuracy of the translation. Documents in Czech or Slovak and educational documents in Latin do not require translation. The contracting authority may allow bids or parts thereof to be submitted in other languages, typically for technical data sheets.
You can demonstrate professional eligibility using corresponding foreign documents. You do not need to submit documents regarding professional eligibility if the legal regulations of your country of residence do not require similar professional qualifications. However, if authorization is required in the Czech Republic to perform the contract, you must verify for yourself whether you meet the relevant requirements and, if necessary, obtain the required authorization.
The Public Procurement Act offers several ways to simplify the qualification process. Choose the one that best fits your situation.
The ESPD and general self-declarations simplify the preliminary qualification process. The contracting authority may request documents during the procedure and will call upon the selected supplier to submit any required documents they do not already have before the contract is signed.
We will tell you which documents are sufficient and what needs to be added. And if the conditions are set in a discriminatory way, we will prepare a defense.
You will be assisted by attorney Matej Šandor – with 15+ years of experience in the field, including managing public procurement at Czech Television. Write to us via the contact form or at info@endors.cz. We will get back to you within 24 hours.
Not every condition, that is more difficult for you as a foreign supplieris automatically discriminatory. What matters is whether it has a substantive link to the subject of the contract and whether it is proportionate. We have prepared some examples from case law for you.
The Regional Court in Brno allowed a requirement for B2 level Czech or Slovak for selected team members in a specific large-scale construction contract. The contracting authority justified it for individual positions bythe need for rapid communication and familiarity with regulations.
In another case, the court concluded that a requirement forexperience with Czech accounting standardsdoes not in itself discriminate against foreign suppliers. After all, a company without a registered office in the Czech Republic can also gain such experience. However, the court conditioned this conclusion on the qualification requirement itself being proportionate and non-discriminatory.
Service capacity? Yes, if the requirement fora technician to intervene within a fewhours has a substantive link to the contract and is proportionate. A physical office or warehouse in the Czech Republic at the time of bid submission? Such a requirement will be harder to justify if the same result can be achieved in another way.
"A simple test can help when assessing requirements. Consider whether the contracting authority is asking for a result necessary for the performance of the contract, or just a method of achieving it that is typical for domestic companies," says attorneyMatej Šandor.
%20(1).jpg)
If you encounter an unreasonable or discriminatory requirement, you have the sameprocedural remediesas a Czech supplier: a request for clarification, objections to the contracting authority, or, under the statutory conditions, a proposal to theOffice for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS). The deadlines are short – we have broken down the details in ourpractical guide to the Public Procurement Act.
As a foreign legal entity, you do not need to register in theCzech register of beneficial ownerssolelybecause of your participation in a tender.If you become the selected supplier, the contracting authority will ask you to submit an extract from a similar register abroad. If no such register exists, you must provide the identification details of all your beneficial owners and document their relationship to the supplier.
For international holdings or multi-level ownership structures, it is wiseto have the documents prepared during the tender process. Failure to submit the required data and documents upon request will lead to the exclusion of the selected supplier.
An action taken via an electronic tool or data box is considered signed. Therefore, when submitting a standard bid via an electronic tool, you do not need a separate electronic signature for the bid itself. However, you must submit the bid in the manner specified by the contracting authority; a data box does not automatically replace the required electronic tool. This rule also does not replace signatures required for the validity of specific attached documents.
When you do need an electronic signature in a specific situation, the rules of the eIDAS regulation apply.A qualifiedelectronicsignaturebased on a qualified certificate issuedin Germany, Austria, or the Netherlandsisinthe Czech Republic recognizedasa qualified electronic signature. Cross-border recognition between EU member states is mandatory.
Whether you are entering a Czech tender from Germany, Italy, Austria, or elsewhere, we will review the documentation with you and tell you what your real chances are and what needs to be prepared.
You will be assisted byMatej Šandor. Write toinfo@endors.czor via ourcontact form. We will get back to you within 24 hours.
Matej ŠandorHe spent 4 years heading public procurement at Czech Television and has been working on both the contracting authority and supplier sides for over 15 years. He combines legal, commercial, and strategic perspectives, providing clients with the know-how of someone who understands how a contracting authority actually thinks when evaluating bids.
