to any sub-contractor or any other party benefiting from EU budget or EDF funds. 

## ARTICLE 26. INTERIM AND FINAL REPORTS 

26.1. Unless otherwise provided in the Terms of Reference, the Consultant must draw up interim reports and a final report during the period of implementation of the tasks. These reports shall consist of a narrative section and a financial section. The format of such reports is as notified to the Consultant by the Project Manager during the period of implementation of the tasks. 

26.2. All invoices must be accompanied by an interim or final report. All invoices for a fee-based contract must also be accompanied by an up to date financial report and an invoice for the actualcosts of the expenditure verification. The structure of the interim or final financial report shall be the same as that of the contractually approved budget (Annex V). This financial report shall indicate, at a minimum, the expenditure of the reporting period, the cumulative expenditure and the balance available 

26.3. Immediately prior to the end of the period of implementation of the tasks, the Consultant shall draw up a final progress report together which must include, if appropriate, a critical study of any major problems which may have arisen during the performance of the contract. 

26.4. This final progress report shall be forwarded to the Project Manager not later than 60 days after the end of the period of implementation of the tasks. Such report shall not bind the Contracting Authority. 

26.5. Where the contract is performed in phases, the implementation of each phase shall give rise to the preparation of a final progress report by the Consultant. 

26.6. Interim and final progress reports are covered by the provisions of Article 14. 

## ARTICLE 27. APPROVAL OF REPORTS AND DOCUMENTS 

27.1. The approval by the Contracting Authority of reports and documents drawn up and forwarded by the Consultant shall certify that they comply with the terms of the contract. 

27.2. The Contracting Authority shall, within 45 days of receipt, notify the Consultant of its decision concerning the documents or reports received by it, giving reasons should it reject the reports or documents, or request amendments. For the final progress report, the time limit is extended to 60 days. If the Contracting Authority does not give any comments on the documents or reports within the time limit, the Consultant may request written acceptance of them. The documents or reports shall be deemed to have been approved by the Contracting Authority if it does not expressly inform the Consultant of any comments within 45 days of the receipt of this written request. 

27.3. Where a report or document is approved by the Contracting Authority subject to amendments to be made by the Consultant, the Contracting Authority shall, prescribe a period for making the amendments requested. 

27.4. Where the final progress report is not approved, the dispute settlement procedure is automatically invoked. 

27.5. Where the contract is performed in phases, the implementation of each phase shall be subject to the approval, by the Contracting Authority, of the preceding phase except where the phases are carried out concurrently. 

## ARTICLE 28. EXPENDITURE VERIFICATION 

## PAYMENTS & DEBT RECOVERY 

28.1. No expenditure verification report is required for global price contracts. 

28.2. Before payments are made for a fee-based contract, an external auditor who meets the specific conditions of the Terms of Reference for the expenditure verification, notified by the Consultant in accordance with Article 7.8, must examine and verify the invoices and the financial reports sent by the Consultant to the Contracting Authority. 

28.3. The auditor must satisfy himself that relevant, reliable and sufficient evidence exists that: 

(a) the experts employed by the Consultant for this contract have been working as evidenced on the contract (as corroborated by independent, third-party evidence, where available) for the number of days claimed in the Consultant's invoices and in the financial reporting spreadsheet 

