What is the Most Economically Advantageous Tender?
The most economically advantageous tender (MEAT) is the bid in a procurement procedure that offers the best price-quality ratio considering all award criteria. It is a core principle of German and European procurement law: the contract is awarded not to the cheapest bid, but to the most economically advantageous one.
Legal Framework
- § 127(1) GWB: "The contract shall be awarded to the most economically advantageous tender."
- § 58 VgV: Award — determining the most economically advantageous tender
- Art. 67 Directive 2014/24/EU: Award criteria
Cheapest vs. Most Economical
| Feature | Cheapest Bid | Most Economical Bid |
|---|---|---|
| Decision basis | Price only | Price AND quality |
| Award criteria | 100% price | Price + qualitative criteria |
| Result | Lowest price wins | Best value for money wins |
Award Criteria
Price criteria: Bid price, life-cycle costs (TCO), operating costs, maintenance costs.
Qualitative criteria: Quality of service/product, technical value, sustainability, personnel qualifications, project management concept, delivery conditions.
Determining the Most Economical Bid
Example evaluation for an IT service:
| Criterion | Weight | Bidder A | Bidder B | Bidder C |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 8 pts (€420k) | 10 pts (€380k) | 6 pts (€490k) |
| Quality concept | 25% | 9 pts | 6 pts | 10 pts |
| Personnel | 15% | 8 pts | 7 pts | 9 pts |
| Project plan | 10% | 7 pts | 8 pts | 8 pts |
| Total | 8.15 | 8.05 | 7.90 |
Result: Bidder A wins despite Bidder B being cheaper.
Life-Cycle Costs
A modern approach under § 59 VgV considers: acquisition costs, usage costs, maintenance costs, disposal costs, and external costs (CO₂ emissions).
Sustainability Criteria
Modern procurement increasingly considers energy efficiency, carbon footprint, social standards in supply chains, and recyclability.
Importance for Bidders
- Price is not everything — invest in a strong quality concept
- Analyze the weighting — focus on highest-weighted criteria
- Personnel as differentiator — qualified staff can make the difference
- Use life-cycle costs — higher acquisition costs may be offset by lower operating costs
Patterno hilft
Patterno automatically extracts award criteria and their weighting from tender documents. You instantly see whether price or quality is decisive — and can target your bid strategy accordingly.