Created under the EU's 2014 Directive on Procurement[1] and implemented, for example, by Regulation 59 of the UK's Public Contracts Regulations 2015,[2] the ESPD is intended to simplify the process of qualification for tendering by permitting businesses to self-declare that they meet the necessary regulatory criteria or commercial capability requirements of the public authority concerned, without needing to submit proof unless subsequently selected as the appointed contractor.
[3] Annex 1 of the regulation provides instructions on the use of the ESPD, for example when it can be used, exclusions due to misrepresentation, and what information will be needed.
[5] For England and Wales, the Crown Commercial Service "is currently (January 2016) discussing the most suitable option for ensuring that government's guidance and standard documents on selection are aligned with the ESPD".
[6] The Commission provided a free web service enabling buyers, bidders and other parties to complete an ESPD electronically,[7] until this was withdrawn on 2 May 2019.
According to the report, 22 government of Member States have started to use the ESPD and 6 (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania, and Sweden) indicated that it is not the case, mainly where the Directive had not yet been transposed into national law.