Design and execution of research and development market in Europe: size, suppliers and public contracts

Market size and key facts

In 2025, public buyers in 30 European countries awarded 2 supply contracts for design and execution of research and development through award notices on TED; the 2 of them that state a value (100%) add up to €980,571.

  • Since November 2023, 6 companies have won 6 public supply contracts for design and execution of research and development in 30 European countries, in 6 award notices from 5 public buyers.
  • 16.7% of these awards went to a company registered in a different country from the buyer; the most frequent foreign origin is Netherlands.
  • The five companies that win most often hold 83.3% of all awards across Europe.
  • 50% of the awards whose notice states the number of tenders received a single bid.

In proportion

All public purchasing in the EU-27 — general government spending on goods, services and investment, the measure the OECD and the European Commission use for public procurement — came to €2.93 trillion in 2025, 15.5% of GDP (Eurostat). Award notices on TED cover only the contracts above the EU thresholds, so they show who wins, not the whole of that spending.

Source: Eurostat, government finance statistics (gov_10a_main, gov_10a_exp) and GDP (nama_10_gdp), retrieved 9 November 2026.

Updated · counted daily from contract award notices on TED and Eurostat international trade data · figures as JSON · free to quote with attribution (CC BY 4.0)

How to cite: Cresques, "Design and execution of research and development market in Europe", https://cresques.com/markets/europe/733-design-and-execution-of-research-and-development, from TED contract award notices (© European Union) and Eurostat Comext, updated 11 November 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.

CPV group 733 across the EU, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein: how much public buyers award, who wins, where from, and how the market splits by country.

The market in numbers

Public supply contracts in Europe: award notices published on TED from 2023-11 to 2026-11, by publication year.

Contracts awarded
6
in 6 award notices
Awarded value
€8.2M
from 83% of awards with a published value
Winning companies
6
with at least one award
Public buyers
5
hospitals, cities, agencies
Contracts awarded by year
Contracts awarded by year2024: 1120242025: 2220252026: 332026
Table view
Contracts awarded by year
20241
20252
20263
Awarded value by year (EUR)
Awarded value by year (EUR)2024: €0€020242025: €980.6K€980.6K20252026: €7.2M€7.2M2026
Table view
Awarded value by year (EUR)
2024€0
2025€980.6K
2026€7.2M
Who buys: contracts by buyer sector
  1. Universities, schools and research: 3
  2. Cities, regions and central administration: 2
  3. Economic affairs: 1
Table view
Who buys: contracts by buyer sector
Universities, schools and research3
Cities, regions and central administration2
Economic affairs1
Contracts by buyer country
  1. France2
    2 companies
    France: 2
  2. Denmark1
    1 companies
    Denmark: 1
  3. Czechia1
    1 companies
    Czechia: 1
  4. Norway1
    1 companies
    Norway: 1
  5. Spain1
    1 companies
    Spain: 1
Table view
Contracts by buyer country
France2
Denmark1
Czechia1
Norway1
Spain1
Who wins, by company size as declared in the notice
Who wins, by company size as declared in the notice: Large companies 33.3%, SME (size not stated) 50%, Size not stated 16.7%Large companies: 2 (33.3%)33%SME (size not stated): 3 (50%)50%Size not stated: 1 (16.7%)17%
  • Large companies
  • SME (size not stated)
  • Size not stated
Table view
Who wins, by company size as declared in the notice
Large companies2 · 33.3%
SME (size not stated)3 · 50%
Size not stated1 · 16.7%
Foreign winners: where they are registered
  1. Netherlands1
    Netherlands: 1
Table view
Foreign winners: where they are registered
Netherlands1

Awards to companies registered in the buyer's own country

83.3%

Awards to companies registered in the buyer's own country: 83.3%

1 awards went to companies registered elsewhere.

Share of the 5 biggest winners

83.3%

Share of the 5 biggest winners: 83.3%

Of all awards; a high share means a concentrated market.

Lots with a single bid

50%

Lots with a single bid: 50%

Among 6 awards whose notice states the number of tenders.

How we count: one award per procedure, lot and winning company, from live contract award notices; a joint procurement counts on every buyer's market. Values are the awarded amounts published in the notice (framework ceilings and estimates are never added), converted to euro at the ECB yearly average. Company size is the SME flag of the notice (eForms BT-165). Read the methodology.

Country pages

    Countries with fewer than 25 winning companies in this group have no separate page; their awards are counted above.

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    Questions

    How big is the design and execution of research and development market in Europe?
    In 2025, public buyers in 30 European countries awarded 2 supply contracts for design and execution of research and development through award notices on TED; the 2 of them that state a value (100%) add up to €980,571.
    How many public contracts for design and execution of research and development are awarded in Europe?
    Since November 2023 public buyers in 30 European countries awarded 6 supply contracts for design and execution of research and development in 6 TED award notices; the 5 awards with a published value add up to €8.2M.
    Which countries buy the most design and execution of research and development through public tenders?
    France (2 awards), Denmark (1 awards), Czechia (1 awards) lead; 6 companies won at least one award across Europe.
    How often do foreign suppliers win design and execution of research and development contracts?
    16.7% of the awards went to a company registered in another country than the buyer; the most frequent foreign origin is Netherlands.

    Source: contract award notices on TED — Tenders Electronic Daily (ted.europa.eu), © European Union, published since November 2023; processed by Cresques. Numbers updated 2026-11-11.