Time a European bid calendar from each country’s own spring peak, not from a single European month. A quiet July in Sweden is a Swedish fact. It does not describe Germany, France, or Spain in the same month.
The lines below index monthly TED notices to each country’s busiest month among March, April, and May 2026. One hundred is that country’s spring peak. The index is not a share of Europe, so a small market and a large one can both sit at 100 in their own peak month.
July against the spring peak
| Country | Spring peak | July 2026 notices | July as a share of that peak |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sweden | March, 1,399 | 421 | 30% |
| Finland | April, 743 | 248 | 33% |
| Norway | March, 808 | 408 | 50% |
| Germany | March, 8,672 | 8,363 | 96% |
| Spain | March, 2,402 | 2,571 | 107% |
| France | April, 5,227 | 5,799 | 111% |
Sweden in July is 30% of its March peak. Finland is 33% of its April peak. Norway holds about half of its March peak. Germany stays at 96% of March. Spain in July is above its March peak. France in July is above its April peak.
Staff Nordic bids for spring and early autumn. Hold capacity for Germany, France, and Spain through July. A pipeline review that treats July as a European holiday will under-staff the markets that are still publishing at full rate, and it will over-read a Nordic dip as a continental one.
July against each country's own year
The spring index compares July with one peak month. The chart below compares July and August with each country's own average month, from October 2025 to September 2026. These are new competition notices.
Finland published 248 notices in July, against a monthly average of 581.3. That is 57.3% below its own average. Sweden published 421, against an average of 1,086.5, which is 61.3% below. Germany published 8,363 in July, 14.8% above its average of 7,287. August is the wider slowdown: France is 29.5% below its average in August, after a July that was 23.0% above it.
Finland, month by month
Finland's own year makes the July drop concrete. New competition notices peak in April at 743 and fall to 248 in July. The columns on the same chart are awarded lots, grouped by how many bids each lot received. The award month is the publication date of the award notice, which typically follows the bid deadline by a few weeks. July's award bars are the competitions that closed, not the 248 notices published that month.
Where the notices are
The same twelve months, October 2025 through September 2026, counted as totals rather than indexes, put 423,642 TED standard contract and concession notices on the map. Germany (87,444), Poland (68,356), and France (56,566) account for half of those records. Sweden's July, at 30% of its March peak, moves a few hundred notices. It does not move the European total.
Use the lines to time the team. Use the map to see which countries carry the volume. Use the response window to judge whether a notice that does appear can be answered in the days it allows. A busy July in France with an 18-day window is a different problem from a quiet July in Sweden with a 30-day window.
Sources
- TED standard contract and concession notices, EU27 and Norway, October 2025 to September 2026. The index sets 100 at each country's highest month among March, April, and May 2026.
- The July and August comparison uses each country's own 12-month average of new competition notices over the same year. Finland's July is 248 notices against an average of 581.3.
- The Finland month chart uses new competition notices for the line and awarded lots with a bid count for the columns. Award month is the publication date of the award notice.
