Article 31 Public procurement procedures, grant award procedures, rules of origin

Participation in the award of procurement or grant contracts financed under this Regulation shall be open to all natural persons who are nationals of, or legal persons who are established in, a Member State of the Community, in an official candidate country as recognised by the European Community or in a Member State of the European Economic Area.

Participation in the award of procurement or grant contracts financed under a geographic programme as defined in Articles 5 to 10 shall be open to all natural persons who are nationals of, or legal persons who are established in, any developing country eligible by virtue of Annex I.

F1Participation in the award of procurement or grant contracts financed under a thematic programme as defined in Articles 11 to 16, and the programmes set out in Articles 17 and 17a, shall be open to all natural persons who are nationals of, or legal persons who are established in, a developing country, as specified by the OECD/DAC and in Annex II, in addition to natural or legal persons eligible by virtue of the thematic programme or the programmes set out in Articles 17 and 17a. The Commission shall publish and update Annex II in accordance with regular reviews of the list of aid recipients of the OECD/DAC, and inform the Council thereof.

Participation in the award of procurement or grant contracts financed under this Regulation shall also be open to all natural persons who are nationals of or legal persons who are established in any country other than those referred in paragraph 1, where reciprocal access to their external assistance has been established.

Reciprocal access shall be granted whenever a country grants eligibility on equal terms to the Member States and to the recipient country concerned.

Reciprocal access shall be established by means of a specific decision concerning a given country or a given regional group of countries. Such a decision shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 35(2) and shall be in force for a minimum period of one year.

The granting of reciprocal access shall be based on a comparison between the Community and other donors and shall proceed at sectoral level, as defined by the OECD/DAC categories, or at country level, whether it be a donor or a recipient country. The decision to grant such reciprocity to a donor country shall be based on the transparency, consistency and proportionality of the aid provided by that donor, including its qualitative and quantitative nature. The recipient countries shall be consulted as part of the procedure described in this paragraph.

Reciprocal access in the least developed countries as defined by the OECD/DAC shall be automatically granted to OECD/DAC members.

Participation in the award of procurement or grant contracts financed under a Community instrument shall be open to international organisations.

The above is without prejudice to the participation of categories of eligible organisations by nature or by localisation in regard to the objectives of the action to carry out.

Experts may be of any nationality, without prejudice to the qualitative and financial requirements set out in the Community's procurement rules.

All supplies and materials purchased under a contract financed under this Regulation shall originate from the Community or from an eligible country as defined in paragraph 1 and 2. The term ‘origin’ for the purpose of this Regulation is defined in the relevant Community legislation on rules of origin for customs purposes.

The Commission may, in duly substantiated cases, authorise the participation of natural and legal persons from countries having traditional economic, trade or geographical links with neighbouring countries or other third countries, and the use of supplies and materials of different origin.

The Commission may, in duly substantiated exceptional cases, authorise the participation of natural persons who are nationals of or legal persons who are established in other countries than those referred to in paragraph 1 and 2, or the purchase of supplies and materials of different origins from that set out in paragraph 6.

Derogations may be justified on the basis of the unavailability of products and services in the markets of the countries concerned, for reasons of extreme urgency, or if the eligibility rules would make the realisation of a project, a programme or an action impossible or exceedingly difficult.

Whenever Community funding covers an operation implemented through an international organisation, participation in the appropriate contractual procedures shall be open to all natural or legal persons who are eligible pursuant to paragraph 1 and 2 as well as to all natural or legal persons who are eligible pursuant to the rules of that organisation, care being taken to ensure that equal treatment is afforded to all donors. The same rules shall apply in respect of supplies, materials and experts.

Whenever Community funding covers an operation co-financed with a third country, subject to reciprocity as defined in paragraph 2, or with a regional organisation, or with a Member State, participation in the appropriate contractual procedures shall be open to all natural or legal persons who are eligible pursuant to paragraph 1, 2 and 3 as well as to all natural or legal persons who are eligible under the rules of such third country, regional organisation or Member State. The same rules shall apply in respect of supplies, materials and experts.

For the purposes of aid channelled directly through non-State actors under the thematic programme defined in Article 14, the provisions of paragraph 1 shall not apply to the eligibility criteria established for the selection of grant beneficiaries.

Beneficiaries of these grants shall abide by the rules established in this Article where the implementation of aid requires the award of procurement contracts.

In order to accelerate the eradication of poverty through the promotion of local capacities, markets and purchases, special consideration shall be given to local and regional procurement in partner countries.

Tenderers who have been awarded contracts shall respect internationally agreed core labour standards, e.g. the ILO core labour standards, conventions on freedom of association and collective bargaining, elimination of forced and compulsory labour, elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation, and the abolition of child labour.

Access by developing countries to Community assistance shall be rendered possible by all such technical assistance as is deemed appropriate.