PRELIMINARYPROVISIONS ARTICLE 1. DEFINITIONS  ARTICLE 2. NOTICES AND WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS  ARTICLE 3. ASSIGNMENT  ARTICLE 4. SUBCONTRACTING  Page 2 of 19  4.5. If a subcontractor is found by the Contracting Authority or the Project Manager to be incompetent in  4.4. The Consultant shall be responsible for the acts, defaults and negligence of its subcontractors and  their experts, agents or employees, as if they were the acts, defaults or negligence of the Consultant,  its experts, agents or employees. The approval by the Contracting Authority of the sub-contracting of  any part of the contract or of the engagement by the Consultant of sub- contractors to perform any  part of the services shall not relieve the Consultant of any of its obligations under the contract.  4.3. No subcontract can create contractual relations between any subcontractor and the Contracting  Authority.  4.2. The Consultant must seek the prior written authorisation of the Contracting Authority before entering  into a subcontract. This authorisation will be based on the services to be subcontracted and the identity  of the intended sub-contractor. The Contracting Authority shall, with due regard to the provisions of  Article 2.2, within 30 days of receipt of the notification, notify the Consultant of its decision, stating  reasons, should it withhold such authorisation.  4.1. Any agreement by which the Consultant entrusts performance of a part of the services to a third party  is considered to be a sub-contract. For this purpose, individual experts recruited for the project as key  or non key experts are not regarded as subcontractors. The conditions for sub- contracting are  specified in the Special Conditions.  3.4. Assignees must satisfy the eligibility criteria applicable to the award of the contract and they can not  be in any of the exclusion situations stipulated under Article 57 of European Parliament and Council  Directive 2014/24/EU.  3.3. The approval of an assignment by the Contracting Authority shall not relieve the Consultant of its  obligations for the part of the contract already performed or the part not assigned.  3.2. The Consultant shall not, without the prior written consent of the Contracting Authority, assign the  contract or any part thereof, or any benefit or interest hereunder.  3.1. An assignment is any agreement by which the Consultant transfers its contract or part thereof to a  third party.  2.3. Any oral instructions or orders shall be confirmed in writing.  2.2. Any notice, consent, approval, certificate or decision by any person required under the contract shall  be in writing, unless otherwise specified, and shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed.  2.1. Whenever there is a deadline for the receipt of a written communication, the sender should ask for an  acknowledgement of receipt of its communication. In any event, the sender shall take all the necessary  measures to ensure timely receipt of the communication  1.5. The definitions of the terms used throughout this General Conditions are laid down in the "Glossary of  terms", annex A1 to the Practical Guide to contract procedures for EU external actions, which forms  an integral part of this contract.  1.4. Words importing persons or parties shall include firms and companies and any organisation having  legal capacity.  1.3. The word “country” shall be deemed to include State or Territory.  1.2. Where the context so permits words importing the singular shall be deemed to include the plural and  vice versa and words importing the masculine shall be deemed to include the feminine and vice versa.  1.1. The headings and titles in these General Conditions shall not be taken as part thereof or be taken into  consideration in the interpretation of the Contract. 