Prizes shall respect the principles of transparency and equal treatment and shall promote the achievement of policy objectives of the Union.

For this purpose, prizes shall be subject to a work programme to be published prior to its implementation. The work programme shall be implemented through the publication of contests.

Contests for prizes with a unit value of EUR 1 000 000 or more may only be published if they are provided for in the statements or any other relevant document referred to in point (e) of Article 38(3).

F1The rules of the contest shall at least lay down the conditions for participation including the exclusion criteria, the award criteria, the amount of the prize and the payment arrangements. Article 105a, paragraphs 1 to 4, 6 and 7, except point (b) of the first subparagraph and the second subparagraph of that paragraph, paragraphs 8, 9, 11 and 13 to 17 of Article 106 and Article 108 shall apply to participants and winners. Article 107 shall apply to participants.

Prizes may not be awarded directly without a contest and shall be published annually in accordance with Article 35(2) and (3).

Entries in a contest shall be evaluated by a panel of experts on the basis of the published rules of the contest.

Prizes shall then be awarded by the authorising officer responsible, on the basis of the evaluation provided by the panel of experts who shall be free to decide whether to recommend the award of prizes, depending on their appraisal of the quality of the entries.

The amount of the prize shall not be linked to costs incurred by the winner.

Where implementation of an action or work programme requires prizes to be given to third parties by a beneficiary of a Union grant, that beneficiary may give such prizes provided that the minimum content of the rules of the contest, as laid down in paragraph 2, is strictly defined in the grant decision or agreement between the beneficiary and the Commission, with no margin for discretion.

The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on prizes, including programming, rules of contest, ex post publication, evaluation, information and notification of winners.