On registering each participant obtains a Participant Identification Code (PIC, 9-digit number) which acts as its unique identifier in the Participant Register. A participant needs to register only once – the information provided can be further updated or re-used by the participant in other European Commission's calls for tenders or calls for proposals. 

  Please provide information about the SME status of the participant in the Participant Register by filling in the SME Declaration section in the Participant Register. The section becomes available only when updating/modifying the details of the registered organisation. 

At any moment during the procurement procedure the Research Executive Agency Validation Services (hereafter the EU Validation Services) may contact the participant and ask for supporting documents on legal existence and status. The requests will be made through the register's messaging system to the e-mail address of the participant's contact person indicated in the register. It is the responsibility of the participant to provide a valid e-mail address and to check it regularly. The documents that may be requested by the EU Validation Services  are listed in the EU Grants and Tenders Rules on Legal Entity Validation, LEAR appointment and Financial Capacity assessment. 

  Please note that a request for supporting documents by the EU Validation Services  in no way implies that the tenderer has been successful. 

## 2.4. Ways to submit a tender: how can economic operators organise themselves to submit a tender? 

Economic operators can submit a tender either as a sole tenderer or as a group of tenderers. In either case subcontracting is permitted. 

In order to fulfil the selection criteria set out in Section 3.2 the tenderer can rely on the capacities of subcontractors or other entities (not subcontractors). 

The role of each entity involved in a tender (hereafter referred to as “ involved entity ”) must be clearly specified in the eSubmission application: i) sole tenderer, ii) Group leader  of a group of tenderers, iii) member of a group of tenderers, or iv) subcontractor. For an entity on whose capacities the tenderer relies to fulfil the selection criteria (that is not a subcontractor), this role is defined in the commitment letter ( Annex 5.2 ). This applies also where the involved entities belong to the same economic group. 

## 2.4.1. Joint tenders 

A joint tender is a situation where a tender is submitted by a group (with or without legal form) of economic operators regardless of the link they have between them. The group as a whole is considered a tenderer$^{4}$. 

