One of four procedures through which a public body may award a contract under the Public Sector Procurement Directive (www.practicallaw.com/8-385-1357). The open procedure does not include a pre-qualification stage and allows any interested party to submit a tender for the contract. The other procedures are the Restricted procedure (www.practicallaw.com/8-385-1376), the Competitive dialogue procedure (www.practicallaw.com/0-385-1375) and the Negotiated procedure (www.practicallaw.com/5-385-1373).