Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) Cofund actions Description: PCP cofund actions aim to encourage public procurement of research, development

and validation of new solutions that can bring significant quality and efficiency improvements in areas of public interest, whilst opening mar et opportunities for industry and researchers active in !urope" # PCP cofund action provides $nion cofunding for a group of procurers (%buyers group&) to underta e together one 'oint PCP procurement, so that there is one 'oint call for tender, one 'oint evaluation of offers, and a lead procurer () awarding the (* C(+,(-).+,, (. /he reimbursement rate for the action applies also to the unit costs" /his would result in a ma0imum $nion contribution per beneficiary per year of !$12 (()3+,4 () /he lead procurer is the beneficiary appointed by the buyers group to coordinate and lead the 'oint procurement" 5t can be either one of the procurers in the buyers group or another beneficiary in the action that is established or designated by the procurers in the buyer group to act as lead procurer" 6215728 +,+, 9 :21; P12<1#==! +,(>-+,(4 <eneral #nne0es Part (. - Page (> of -> 1?D service contracts in the name and on behalf of the buyers group" !ach procurer in the buyers group contributes its individual financial contribution to the total budget necessary to 'ointly finance the PCP, enabling the procurers to share the costs of procuring 1?D services from a number of providers and comparing together the merits of alternative solutions paths to address the common challenge" Consortia can choose to have all selected tenderers paid by the lead procurer, or pro rata by each procurer according to the share of the individual financial contribution of each procurer of the total budget" /he PCP shall e0plore alternative solution paths from a number of competing providers to address one concrete procurement need that is identified as a common challenge+, in the innovation plans of the procurers in the buyers group that requires new 1?D" Cross-border PCP cooperation should aim to better

address issues of common !uropean interest, for e0ample where interoperability and coherence of solutions across borders is required" @pecific participation requirements: /he buyers group in the consortium that provides the financial commitments for underta ing the 'oint procurement shall represent the critical mass that can trigger wide implementation of the innovative solutions and shall consist of minimum two independent legal entities which are public procurers that are established in two different =ember @tates or associated countries" /he procurers in the buyers group shall be responsible for the acquisition andAor regulatory strategy for the targeted innovative solutions with the aim to obtain ambitious quality and efficiency improvements in the area of public interest addressed by the 'oint procurement, or shall be entities with a mandate from one or more of such procurers to act on their behalf in the 'oint procurement (e"g" central purchasing bodies)" /he lead procurer and the public procurers in the buyers group must be contracting authorities or contracting entities as defined in the !$ public procurement Directives" 5n addition other types of procurers (e"g" private, 8<2s) that provide services of public interest and share the same procurement need, and other entities (e"g" end-users, certification bodies) that add value to the action and whose participation is well 'ustified may participate, on condition that they are not potential suppliers of solutions sought for by the procurement and have no other type of conflict of interest with the procurement underta en in the action" @ole participants shall e0plicitly indicate which of its BmembersB are the procurers contributing to the budget of the proposed 'oint procurement that satisfy the above specific participation requirements and which are the respective procurement budgets of each of these members that are at the disposal for carrying out the procurement" # sole participant acting as buyers group shall have a mandate, well-defined procurement need and budget from its procurers to act on their behalf in the procurement""

!ligible activities: #" Preparation stage - Preparation of the 'oint PCP to be carried out in the e0ecution stage" /his shall be based on feedbac from the needs analysis of the buyers group, prior art analysis and an open mar et consultation (ref #nne0 !)" #ctive participation of the final end-users of the solutions shall be ensured at this stage" - #llocation and training of additional resources for implementation (if appropriate) - Cuilding cooperation with other sta eholders (if appropriate) +, # PCP that addresses a challenge that consists of several facets (sub-challenges or building bloc s) is considered one 'oint PCP procurement as long as all procurers in the buyers group share the need for - and are willing to co-finance - all the facets of the common challenge" 6215728 +,+, 9 :21; P12<1#==! +,(>-+,(4 <eneral #nne0es Part (. - Page (4 of -> /he e0pected outcomes of the preparation stage are: (() Completed tender documents based on the 6oriDon +,+, PCP model contract documents, using common functionalAperformance based specifications and common evaluation criteriaE (+) @igned 'oint procurement agreement confirming the final collaboration modus including the financial commitment of the buyers group to pool resources for the PCPE and (-) Final confirmation of the lead procurer" C" !0ecution stage - Goint PCP procurement and implementation of the PCP contracts under the supervision of the buyers group, ensuring e0ecution of the 1?D services by the providers according to the action plan and requirements defined in the preparation stage" - Halidation and comparison of the performance of the competing PCP solutions against 'ointly defined criteria by the buyers group (and other concerned final end-users, if applicable) in real-life operational conditions to verify fitness for purpose in view of potential

conversion into permanent service of the solutions" - Dissemination of results and confirmation of the e0-post e0ploitation strategy based on the outcomes of the PCP #lso eligible are additional coordination and networ ing activities that embed the PCP into a wider set of demand side activities and clearly add value to the action" /his includes activities to remove obstacles for introducing the solutions into the mar et (e"g" contribution to standardisation, regulation certification), awareness raising and e0perience sharing, activities preparing the ground for further cooperation among procurers in future PCPs or PP5s" Funding rate: /he $nion contribution will be limited to ma0imum *,I of the total eligible costs+( for the Beligible activitiesB defined above, on condition that the PCP is e0ecuted in compliance with #nne0 !" !ligible costs include the price of the 1?D services procured via the 'oint PCP and the costs of the eligible coordination and networ ing activities defined above" !ligible costs may include in- ind contributions of third parties lin ed to the grant beneficiaries (e"g" corresponding to resources put at the disposal of grant beneficiaries to carry out the pro'ect)" H#/ is an eligible cost e0cept for beneficiaries that can deduct it" /he requested reimbursement of the estimated eligible costs of coordination and networ ing activities may not e0ceed -,I of the requested grant" /he consortium may choose to use part of the $nion contribution to increase the support to coordination and networ ing activities as long as the $nion contribution does not e0ceed *,I of the sum of those costs and the price of the PCP call for tender" /he consortium may choose to use part of the $nion contribution to increase the support to the budget for the PCP call for tender as long as the $nion contribution does not e0ceed *,I of the sum of those costs and the costs of the coordination and networ ing activities" 5ndirect eligible costs are calculated as a flat rate of +4I of direct eligible costs, e0cluding direct eligible costs for subcontracting and the costs of resources made available by third parties which are not used on the premises of the beneficiary" /hus, on the price of the PCP

procurement carried out during the PCP Cofund action, no indirect costs are eligible" +( @ee 1ules for Participation on programme co-fund type actions" 6215728 +,+, 9 :21; P12<1#==! +,(>-+,(4 <eneral #nne0es Part (. - Page (3 of -> Public Procurement of 5nnovative @olutions (PP5) Cofund actions Description: /he ob'ective of PP5 cofund actions is to enable groups of procurers to share the ris s of acting as early adopters of innovative solutions, whilst opening mar et opportunities for industry" # PP5 Cofund action provides $nion cofunding for a group of procurers (%buyers group&) to underta e together one 'oint PP5 procurement, so that there is one 'oint PP5 call for tender launched by the %lead procurer&++ and one 'oint evaluation of offers++" 5n case framewor contractsAagreements with lots are used, the specific contracts for procuring specific quantities of goodsAservices for each procurer can be awarded either all by the lead procurer or by each procurer in the buyers group individually" !ach PP5 Cofund action focuses on one concrete unmet need that is shared by the participating procurers and requires the deployment of innovative solutions that are to a significant e0tent similar across countries and are therefore proposed to be procured 'ointly" /his means that the innovative solutions procured by all procurers in the buyers group shall have the same core functionality and performance characteristics (described in the common specifications for the 'oint call for tender), but may have additional BlocalB functionality due to differences in the local conte0t of each individual procurer (which can be reflected in the specificities of the specific contracts)" @pecific participation requirements: /hese are the same as for PCP Cofund actions described above, e0cept that for PP5 Cofund actions the procurers in the buyers group shall be directly responsible for the acquisition of the targeted innovative solutions, or shall be entities that have a mandate from one or more of such procurers to act on their behalf as contracting party in the PP5 procurement (e"g" central purchasing bodies)" !ligible activities:

#" Preparation stage - Preparation of the PP5 to be carried out in the e0ecution stage" #ctive participation of the final end-users of the solutions shall be ensured in this stage" - #llocation and training of additional resources for implementation (if appropriate) - Cuilding cooperation with other sta eholders (if appropriate) - #ctivities to verify mar et readiness prior to deployment (if applicable), which can involve the organisation of conformance testing, certification or quality labelling of solutions" /he e0pected outcomes of the preparation stage are: (() Completion of common specifications for the PP5, using functional A performance based specifications and common agreed evaluation criteria" /his shall be based on needs analysis of the buyers group (and final end-users if not the same), prior art analysis, and (if applicable) feedbac from testing A certification and open mar et consultation (see #nne0 !)E (+) @igned 'oint procurement agreement confirming the final collaboration modus including financial commitment of the procurers in buyers group for the PP5E and (-) Final confirmation of the lead procurer" C" !0ecution stage ++ 8o matter whether the lead procurer only does the procurementAtendering or also the contracting for the public procurement of innovative, in any case the evaluation of all tenders shall be carried out based on common specifications defined 'ointly by all procurers in the buyers group" 6215728 +,+, 9 :21; P12<1#==! +,(>-+,(4 <eneral #nne0es Part (. - Page (* of -> - Goint PP5 procurement and implementation of the PP5 contracts within the timeframe of the pro'ect under supervision of the buyers group, ensuring deployment of the solutions according to the requirements defined in the preparation stage" - Deployment of the innovative solutions and evaluation of results of operating the procured solutions in real-life operating conditions with a duration that allows for appropriate

evaluation of the impact of the innovative solutions on the conversion into permanent service" - :ide dissemination of the results of the PP5 Cofund action and confirmation of the e0ploitation strategy based on outcomes of the PP5" #lso eligible are additional coordination and networ ing activities that embed the PP5 into a wider set of demand side activities are also eligible and clearly add value to the action" /his includes for e0ample activities to remove obstacles for introducing the PP5 innovations into the mar et (e"g" contribution to standardisation, regulation and certification), awareness raising and e0perience sharing, activities preparing the ground for further cooperation among procurers in future PCPs or PP5s" Funding rate: /he $nion contribution will be limited to a ma0imum +,I of the total eligible costs+> for the Beligible activitiesB defined above, on condition that the PP5 is e0ecuted in compliance with #nne0 !" !ligible costs include the price of the innovative solutions procured via the 'oint PP5 and the costs of the eligible coordination and networ ing activities defined above" !ligible costs may include in- ind contributions of third parties (e"g" corresponding to resources put at the disposal of grant beneficiaries)" Costs for procurement of 1?D are not eligible" H#/ is an eligible cost e0cept for beneficiaries that can deduct it" /he requested reimbursement of the estimated eligible costs of coordination and networ ing activities may not e0ceed 4,I of the requested grant" /he consortium may choose to use part of the $nion contribution to increase the support to coordination and networ ing activities as long as the $nion contribution does not e0ceed +,I of the sum of those costs and the price of the PP5 call for tender" /he consortium may choose to use part of the $nion contribution to increase the support to the budget for the PP5 call for tender as long as the $nion contribution does not e0ceed +,I of the sum of those costs and the costs of the coordination and networ ing activities" 5ndirect eligible costs are calculated as a flat rate of +4I of direct eligible costs, e0cluding direct eligible costs for subcontracting and the costs of resources made available by third

parties which are not used on the premises of the beneficiary" /hus, on the price of the PP5 procurement carried out during the PP5 Cofund action, no indirect costs are eligible" JJJ /he 1is Finance instruments are described under section 3 of the wor programme" 6215728 +,+, 9 :21; P12<1#==! +,(>-+,(4 <eneral #nne0es Part (. - Page (. of -> !" @pecific requirements for innovation procurement (PCPAPP5) supported by 6oriDon +,+, grants /he following requirements apply to PCPs and PP5s for which the tender preparation andAor the call for tender implementation is supported by 6oriDon +,+,, and apply to PCPs and PP5s supported by Cofund actions (ref #nne0 D) or subcontracting activities in other types of actions" (i) @pecific requirements for Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) /he following requirements apply to ensure that the definition and requirements for PCP in the 6oriDon +,+, rules for participation and the conditions for the 1?D services e0emption of the !$ public procurement directives+- are respected, that the sharing of 5P1 rights in PCP ta es place according to mar et conditions and that the /reaty principles+> and competition rules are fully respected in the PCP process: K PCPs shall be compliant with the 6oriDon +,+, definitions: BPre-commercial procurementB means procurement of 1?D services involving ris benefit sharing under mar et conditions, and competitive development in phases, where there is a clear separation between the procurement of the 1?D services procured from the deployment of commercial volumes of end-products+4" B1is -benefit sharing under mar et conditionsB refers to the approach in PCP where procurers share with suppliers at mar et price the benefits and ris s related to the 5P1s resulting from the 1?D" BCompetitive development in phasesB refers to the competitive

approach used in PCP by procurers to buy the 1?D from several competing 1?D providers in parallel, to compare and identify the best value for money solutions on the mar et to address the PCP challenge" /o reduce the investment ris for the procurer, reward the most competitive solutions and facilitate the participation of smaller innovative companies, the 1?D is also split in phases (solution design, prototyping, original development and validation A testing of the first products), with the number of competing 1?D providers being reduced after each phase subsequent to intermediate evaluations" B@eparation from the deployment of commercial volumes of end-productsB refers to the complementarity of PCP, which focuses on the 1?D phase before commercialisation, and PP5, which does not focus on 1?D but on the commercialisationAdiffusion of solutions" K /he PCP call for tender shall be launched by a contracting authority or contracting entity as defined in !$ public procurement directives +,,>A(.A!C, +,,>A(*A!C, and +,,)A.(A!C" K PCP only covers the procurement of 1?D services, in a way that is clearly separated from any potential subsequent purchases of commercial volumes of end-products" Procurers +- #rticle (3f of Directive +,,>A(.A!C, #rticle" +>e of Directive +,,>A(*A!C, #rticle (-(f)(') of Directive +,,)A.(A!C +> 5n particular the fundamental /reaty principles on the free movement of goods and wor ers, the freedom to provide services, the freedom of establishment and the free movement of capital, as well as the principles deriving there from, such as the principles of non-discrimination, transparency and equal treatment +4 @ee 1ules for Participation and PCP communication C2=A+,,*A*)) and associated @!C((33.)+,,* 6215728 +,+, 9 :21; P12<1#==! +,(>-+,(4 <eneral #nne0es Part (. - Page () of -> underta ing a PCP can if they so desire, but are not obliged to, after the PCP procure at mar et price 1?D results generated during a PCP+3" K 5n preparation of the PCP call for tender, an open dialogue+* with potential tenderers and

end-users shall be held to broach the views of the mar et about the intended 1?D scope" /he results of this open mar et consultation shall be duly ta en into account to fine-tune the tender specifications, so that the gap between state-of-the art industry development and the procurement needs 'ustifies the need to procure 1?D+. services" K 5n respect of the /reaty principles, !$ wide publication shall be ensured for the PCP call for tender+) in at least !nglish, offers shall be accepted and communication with sta eholders shall be enabled at all stages throughout the PCP in at least !nglish, and all offers shall be evaluated according to the same ob'ective criteria regardless of the geographic location, organisation siDe or governance structure of the tenderers" K /he prior information notice for the open mar et consultation and the PCP contract notice shall be promoted and advertised widely using in particular also 6oriDon +,+, 5nternet sites and 8ational Contact Points" /he Commission shall be informed at least 4 days prior to the e0pected date of publication of the P58 for the open mar et consultation and -, days prior to the e0pected date of publication of the PCP contract notice and its content" /he PCP call for tender shall remain open for the submission of tenders for at least 3, days" K /he PCP contract notice shall contain information on the intended number of 1?D providers that will be selected (minimum three) to start the PCP, the number of PCP phases and the e0pected duration and budget for each PCP phase" /he PCP procurement shall cover the full PCP life cycle of solution design, prototyping, and original development including testing of a limited volume of test series productsAservices" !ach of the three PCP phases can be split up into further phases if appropriate" K Procurers should avoid the use of selection criteria based on disproportionate qualification and financial guarantee requirements (e"g" with regards to prior customer references and minimum turnover)" FunctionalAperformance based specifications shall be used, to formulate the ob'ect of the PCP tender as a problem to be solved, without prescribing a specific solution approach to be followed" !valuation of the tenders shall be based on best value for money criteria, not 'ust lowest price" +3 8egotiated procedure without publication, #rticle -((+)(a) resp" #rticle >,(-)(b) resp"#rticle +.(+)(b) of

public procurement directives +,,>A(.A!C resp" +,,>A(*A!C" +* /he open dialogue should be organised in a way not to preclude or distort competition" 5n respect of the /reaty principles, the open dialogue shall be announced well in advance and widely via a prior information notice (P58) in the 2fficial Gournal of the !$ (2G!$) and enable potential tenderers regardless of the geographic location to participate at least in !nglish" #ll information given in answers to questions from participants in the dialogue should be documented and published" +. 5n line with :/2 <P# #rticle LH (e, 1?D can cover activities such as solution e0ploration and design, prototyping, up to the original development of a limited volume of first products or services in the form of a test series" 2riginal development of a first product or service may include limited production or supply in order to incorporate the results of field testing and to demonstrate that the product or service is suitable for production or supply in quantity to acceptable quality standards" 1?D does not include quantity production or supply to establish commercial viability or to recover 1?D costs, nor commercial development activities such as incremental adaptations or routine or periodic changes to e0isting products, services, production lines, processes or other operations in progress, even if such changes may represent improvements" +) /hrough the 2G!$, using the /!D (/enders !lectronic Daily) web Portal 6215728 +,+, 9 :21; P12<1#==! +,(>-+,(4 <eneral #nne0es Part (. - Page +, of -> K /he PCP process shall be organised while ta ing care to avoid any conflict of interests, including in the use of e0ternal e0perts" Potential providers of solutions sought for by a PCP cannot be beneficiaries in an action during which this PCP is planned or underta en"

K /he PCP process shall require selected 1?D providers to locate the ma'ority of the 1?D activities for the PCP contract, including in particular the principal researcher(s) wor ing for the PCP contract, in the =ember @tates or #ssociated Countries" K 5n PCP, procurers do not reserve the 1?D results e0clusively for their own use" 5n line with the 6oriDon +,+, 1ules for Participation, an 1?D provider generating results in PCP shall own the attached 5P1s" /he procurers shall en'oy royalty-free access rights to use the 1?D results for their own" /he procurers shall also en'oy the right to grant or to require participating 1?D providers to grant non-e0clusive licenses to third parties to e0ploit the results under fair and reasonable mar et conditions without any right to sublicense" # callbac provision shall ensure that if an 1?D provider fails to commercially e0ploit the results within a given period after the PCP as identified in the contract or uses the results to the detriment of the public interest, including security interests, it shall transfer any ownership of results to the procurers" /he procurers shall inform tenderers of the procurersB right to publish - after consultation with each participating 1?D provider - public summaries of the results of the PCP pro'ect, including information about ey 1?D results attained and lessons learnt by the procurers during the PCP (e"g" on the feasibility of the e0plored solution approaches to meet the procurersB requirements and lessons learnt for potential future deployment of solutions)" Details should not be disclosed that would hinder application of the law, would be contrary to the public interest, would harm the legitimate business interests of the 1?D providers involved in the PCP (e"g" regarding 5P1 protected specificities of their individual solution approaches) or could distort fair competition between the participating 1?D providers or others on the mar et" K /o enable the public procurers to establish the correct (best value for money) mar et price for the 1?D service, in which case the presence of @tate aid can in principle be e0cluded, the distribution of rights and obligations between public procurers and 1?D providers, including the allocation of 5P1s, shall be published in the PCP call for tender documents and the PCP call for tender shall be carried out in a competitive and transparent way in line with the /reaty principles which leads to a price according to mar et conditions" /he

public procurers should ensure that the PCP contracts with 1?D providers contain a financial compensation according to mar et conditions-, compared to e0clusive development price for assigning 5P1 ownership rights to participating 1?D providers, in order for the PCP call for tender not to involve @tate aid" K /he PCP contract that will be concluded with each selected tenderer shall ta e the form of one single framewor agreement covering all PCP phases, which does not involve contract renegotiations after contract award" /his framewor agreement shall contain information on the future procedure for implementing the different phases (through specific contracts), including the format of the intermediate evaluations (incl" evaluation criteria and weightings) after the solution design and prototype development phases"