Article 14 Rules of participation and 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 European Union, a country that is or has been defined as beneficiary of assistance in an Action Programme adopted under the present Regulation, a country that is beneficiary of the Instrument of Pre-Accession or the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument, or a non-EU Member State of the European Economic Area.

The Commission may, in duly substantiated cases, authorise the participation of natural persons who are nationals of, or legal persons who are established in a country having traditional economic, trade or geographical links with a beneficiary country.

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 to in paragraph 1, whenever 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 to the award of procurement or grant contracts financed under this Regulation and under other Community external assistance instruments 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 by the Commission in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 19(2) and shall be in force for a minimum period of one year.

The granting of reciprocal access to the award of procurement or grant contracts financed under this Regulation and under other Community external assistance instruments shall be based on a comparison between the Community and other donors and shall proceed at sectoral level or entire country level, whether it be a donor or a recipient country. The decision of granting this 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 beneficiary countries shall be consulted as part of the procedure described in this paragraph.

Reciprocal access to the award of procurement or grant contracts financed under this Regulation for the benefit of least-developed countries as defined by the OECD Development Assistance Committee shall automatically be granted to OECD Development Assistance Committee members.

Participation in the award of procurement or grant contracts financed under this Regulation shall be open to international organisations.

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

All supplies and materials purchased under contracts financed under this Regulation must originate from the Community or a country eligible under this Article. 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 persons who are nationals of, or legal persons who are established in other countries than those referred to in paragraphs 1, 2, and 3, or the purchase of supplies and materials of different origin 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 financing 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 paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 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 financing covers an operation cofinanced with a third country, subject to reciprocity as defined in paragraph 2, 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 paragraphs 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.

Tenderers who have been awarded contracts under this Regulation shall respect core labour standards as defined in the relevant ILO Conventions.