For concessions the contracting authority/entity is free to organize the procedure freely, provided that the general principles are upheld.

Different rules apply for public procurement procedures above the threshold values set by the European Commission and for public procurement procedures below those threshold values as well. If, and when, these procedures can be used are also different in the Public Procurement Act, the Utilities Procurement Act and the Defense Procurement Act. Contracting authorities/entities may employ the following procedures for procurements above the threshold value;

• open procedure, in which all interested contractors may submit a bid (not available for procurements under the Defense Procurement Act);
• restricted procedure (two-step-procedure), in which, first, a call for competition is published and the contracting authority selects a limited number of the interested economic operators to submit a bid subsequently;
• negotiated procedure with call for competition, in which, first, a call for competition is published and the contracting authority selects a limited number of the interested economic operators to submit a first bid and subsequently negotiates the terms of the contract based on the first bids with a call for final bids when negotiations have been concluded;
• competitive dialogue, in which a contract notice is published and the contracting authority conducts a dialogue with the candidates admitted to that procedure with the aim of developing one or more suitable alternatives capable of meeting its requirements and on the basis of which the chosen candidates are invited to bid;
• innovation partnership, in which the procedure is structured in successive phases following the sequence of steps in the research and innovation process, which may include the manufacturing of the products, the provision of the services or the completion of the works (not available for procurements under the Defense Procurement Act); and
• in exceptional cases direct awards, i.e. award of a contract without publishing a contract notice and/or without conducting a formal competitive procedure (also called negotiated procedure without call for competition).

When the value of a contract is below the EU threshold value the following procedures may be used:

• simplified procedure, where all interested suppliers may submit bids and the contracting authority/entity is allowed to negotiate with the bidders. The contract must be advertised in a publically available database;
• selective procedure, where, qualified suppliers are invited to submit a bid, but all suppliers may apply to be invited to submit a bid. The contracting authority/entity must state the required qualifications to be invited to submit a bid in the advertisement of the contract. The contract must be advertised in a publically available database;
• competitive dialogue, as described above, if a simplified procedure or selective procedure does not allow for award of contract;
• direct procurement, but only under certain circumstances, please refer to 7 below; and
• for dynamic purchasing systems, restricted procedure, as described above.

According to chapter 12 section 1 and chapter 19 section 16 of the Procurement Act and chapter 12 section 1 and chapter 19 section 16 of the Utilities Procurement Act contracting authorities/entities are required to use electronic means for the entire procurement procedure.

According to chapter 10 section 1 of the Concessions Procurement Act contracting authorities/entities are required to use electronic means for the entire procurement procedure if the threshold values contained in the European Directives are equalled or exceeded. For concessions below the threshold values there is no such requirement.

For procurements under the Defense Procurement Act the contracting authorities are allowed, but not required, to use electronic means for the procurement process following chapter 10 section 1.

EU-wide calls for tenders are published on the website Bids Electronic Daily (TED): http://ted.europa.eu/

TED is the online version of the Supplement to the Official Journal of the EU, dedicated to European public procurement.

Most contracting authorities and entities use electronic databases to call for tenders and where it is also possible to ask questions during the procedure, submit tenders etc. The most popular databases are the following:

• E-avrop - https://www.e-avrop.com
• Licitio - http://www.licitio.se/
• Mercell - https://www.mercell.com/sv-se/62475383/startsida.aspx
• Offentliga upphandlingar - http://www.offentligaupphandlingar.se/
• VISMA OPIC - http://www.opic.se/
• Primona - http://www.primona.se/

In the Public Procurement Act, the Utilities Procurement Act and the Concessions Procurement Act, there are mandatory grounds of exclusion for bidders who have been convicted of any of the offences listed therein have to be excluded from the competition. The relevant offences include, e.g., forming criminal organizations, money laundering, fraud and giving bribes as an incentive to the recipient's violating his official duties. Moreover, exclusion is mandatory if the bidder is in breach of its obligations relating to the payment of taxes or social security contributions.

The contracting authority may furthermore exclude a bidder in cases of anticompetitive behavior (e.g. if the respective bidder has entered into an agreement with other bidders aimed at distorting competition or if the respective bidder has made attempts to unduly influence the contracting authority), bankruptcy or upcoming insolvency, a negative contracting track-record, a grave professional misconduct, a conflict of interest, a prior involvement in the preparation of the bid which grants the respective bidder a competitive advantage which cannot be balanced otherwise (see also below under e.), or supplying misleading information during the procurement procedure. The exclusion has to be proportionate.

Similar, but not identical, rules applies for procurements under the Defense Procurement Act.