Service contract conditions of December 2018  Contract number: [ complete ]  II. GENERAL CONDITIONS FOR THE SERVICE CONTRACT  II.1. DEFINITIONS  ‘Fraud’:  an act or omission committed in order to make an unlawful gain for the perpetrator  or another by causing a loss to the Union's financial interests, and relating to: i) the use or  presentation of false, incorrect or incomplete statements or documents, which has as its effect  the misappropriation or wrongful retention of funds or assets from the Union budget, ii) the  ‘Formal notification’  (or ‘formally notify’): form of communication between the parties  made in writing by mail or email, which provides the sender with compelling evidence that  the message was delivered to the specified recipient; ‘Force majeure’ : any unforeseeable, exceptional situation or event beyond the control of the  parties that prevents either of them from fulfilling any of their obligations under the contract.  The situation or event must not be attributable to error or negligence on the part of the parties  or on the part of the subcontractors and must prove to be inevitable despite their exercising  due diligence. Defaults of service, defects in equipment or material or delays in making them  available, labour disputes, strikes and financial difficulties may not be invoked as  force  majeure , unless they stem directly from a relevant case of  force majeure ; ‘e-PRIOR’ : the service-oriented communication platform that provides a series of web  services and allows the exchange of standardised electronic messages and documents between  the parties. This is done either through web services, with a machine-to-machine connection  between the parties’  back office  systems ( EDI messages ), or through a web application (the  s upplier portal ). The Platform may be used to exchange electronic documents (e-documents)  such as electronic requests for services, electronic specific contracts, and electronic  acceptance of services or electronic invoices between the parties.  ‘EDI message’  (electronic data interchange): a message created and exchanged through the  electronic transfer, from computer to computer, of commercial and administrative data using  an agreed standard;  ‘Creator’ : means any natural person who contributes to the production of the  result ;  ‘Conflict of interest’ : a situation where the impartial and objective  performance of the  contract  by the contractor is compromised for reasons involving family, emotional life,  political or national affinity, economic interest, any other direct or indirect personal interest,  or any other shared interest with the contracting authority or any third party related to the  subject matter of the contract;  ‘Confidential information or document’ : any information or document received by either  party from the other or accessed by either party in the context of the  performance of the  contract,  that any of the parties has identified in writing as confidential. It may not include  information that is publicly available;  ‘Breach of obligations’:  failure by the contractor to fulfil one or more of its contractual  obligations. ‘Back office’ : the internal system(s) used by the parties to process electronic invoices; For the purpose of this contract, the following definitions (indicated in  italics in the text)  apply:  13 