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inform tenderers of the procurers' right to publish - after consultation with each R&D
provider - public summaries of the results of the PCP project, including information about
key R&D results attained and lessons learnt by the procurers during the PCP (e.g. on the
feasibility of the explored solution approaches to meet the procurers' 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 R&D providers involved in the PCP (e.g.
regarding IPR protected specificities of their individual solution approaches) or could
distort fair competition between the participating R&D providers or others on the market.
To enable the public procurers to establish the correct (best value for money) market price
for the R&D service, in which case the presence of State aid can in principle be excluded,
the distribution of rights and obligations between public procurers and R&D providers,
including the allocation of IPRs, must be published in the PCP call for tender documents
and the PCP call for tender must be carried out in a competitive and transparent way in line
with the Treaty principles which leads to a price according to market conditions. The
public procurers should ensure that the PCP contracts with R&D providers contain a
financial compensation according to market conditions
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compared to exclusive
development price for assigning IPR ownership rights to participating R&D providers, in
order for the PCP call for tender not to involve State aid.
Contract implementation
The PCP contract that will be concluded with each selected tenderer must take the form of
one single framework agreement covering all PCP phases, which does not involve contract
renegotiations after contract award. This framework agreement must 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.
For PCPs implemented by a group of procurers, the R&D service contracts are awarded by
the lead procurer and all selected tenderers can be paid by the lead procurer, or pro rata by
each procurer in the buyers group according to the share of the individual financial
contribution of each procurer of the total PCP procurement budget.
(ii) Specific requirements for Public Procurement of Innovative solutions (PPI)
Definitions
PPIs must comply with the Horizon 2020 definitions:
'Public procurement of innovative solutions (PPI)' means procurement where contracting
authorities act as a launch customer of innovative goods or services which are not yet
available on a large-scale commercial basis, and may include conformance testing
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.
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The financial compensation compared to exclusive development cost should reflect the market value of the
benefits received and the risks assumed by the participating R&D provider. In case of IPR sharing in PCP,
the market price of the benefits should reflect the commercialisation opportunities opened up by the IPRs to
the R&D provider, the associated risks assumed by the R&D provider comprise for instance the cost carried
by the R&D provider for maintaining the IPRs and commercialising the products.
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See Horizon 2020 Rules for Participation Regulation No 1290/2013.
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'Launch customers', also called early adopters, refers to the first approx. 20% customers
on the EU Internal Market in the market segment of the procurers that are deploying
innovative solutions to tackle the challenge addressed by the PPI procurement. PPI must
result in the first application/commercialisation of innovative solutions, meaning that the
solutions have to be new to the procurers' market segment or new to the EU Internal
Market, and relevant to procurers in other Member States and/or Associated Countries.
'Innovative solutions' are innovative goods or services with better than best available
performance levels which suppliers are called to meet through production innovation. This
includes solutions that typically have already been (partially) technically demonstrated
with success on a small scale, and may be nearly or already in small quantity on the
market, but which owing to residual risk of market uncertainty have not been produced at
large enough scale yet to meet mass market price/quality requirements and have therefore
not widely penetrated the market segment of the procurers yet. This also includes
solutions based on existing technologies that are to be utilised in a new and innovative
way. PPI does not include the procurement of R&D.
Eligible activities:
A. Preparation stage
The expected outcomes at this stage: (1) Completed tender documents
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for the PPI, based on
needs analysis of end-users, prior art analysis, open market consultation and (if applicable)
feedback from activities to verify market readiness prior to deployment which may involve
the organisation of conformance testing, / certification or quality labelling of solutions; and
for joint PPIs (2) Signed joint procurement agreement confirming the final collaboration
modus including financial commitment of the procurers in buyers group for the PPI; and (3)
Final confirmation of the lead procurer.
B. Execution stage
Main activities: implementation of the PPI and of the PPI contracts within the timeframe of
the project, ensuring deployment of the solutions according to the requirements defined in the
preparation stage.
It includes the 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. The PPI must be executed by (a) public procurer(s), possibly in
cooperation with private/NGO procurers that have similar procurement needs, that is (are)
responsible for the acquisition 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 PPI, or must be entities with a mandate from such procurer(s) to act on its/their behalf
in the procurement (e.g. central purchasing bodies).
Other entities (e.g. end-users, certification bodies) whose participation is well justified may
participate during stages A and B in additional activities that clearly add value to the action
and support the preparation and execution of the PPI or embed the PPI into a wider set of
demand side activities. This includes dissemination of results, removing obstacles for
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Based on common specifications for PPIs carried out by a group of procurers