1.Participating countries shall be the Member States and the countries referred to in paragraph 2 (‘participating countries’).
2.The Programme shall be open to the participation of any of the following countries:
(a)acceding States, candidate countries and potential candidates benefiting from a pre-accession strategy, in accordance with the general principles and general terms and conditions for the participation of those States and countries in Union programmes established in the respective framework agreements, Association Council decisions or similar agreements;
(b)partner countries under the European Neighbourhood Policy provided that these countries have reached a sufficient level of alignment of the relevant legislation and administrative methods with those of the Union. The partner countries concerned shall participate in the Programme in accordance with provisions to be determined with those countries following the establishment of framework agreements concerning their participation in Union programmes;
(c)the countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) participating in the European Economic Area (EEA), in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Agreement on the European Economic Area.
3.Representatives of countries forming part of the stabilisation and association process for countries of South-Eastern Europe, the Russian Federation, of certain countries with which the Union has concluded an agreement for mutual assistance in fraud-related matters, and of international and other relevant organisations, may take part in activities organised under the Programme wherever this is useful for the achievement of the general and specific objectives provided for in Articles 3 and 4 respectively. Those representatives shall participate in the Programme in accordance with the relevant provisions of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012.