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1. Union institutions may select and remunerate external experts to assist them in the evaluation of grant applications, projects and tenders, and to provide opinions and advice in specific cases.

2. A call for expression of interest shall be published on the website of the Union institution concerned. The call for expression of interest shall include a description of the tasks, their duration and the fixed conditions of remuneration.

3. Any interested natural person may submit an application at any time during the period of validity of the call for expression of interest, with the exception of the last three months of that period.

4. A list of experts shall be drawn up following the call for expression of interest. It shall be valid for no more than 5 years from its publication or for the duration of a multiannual programme related to the tasks. The validity of the list may be longer than the duration of the multiannual financial programme when a rotation of the experts is ensured.

5. The value of the contract shall be below the thresholds referred to in Article 178(1). This value may be exceeded only exceptionally and in duly justified cases, in order to allow Union institutions to compete on equal footing with other actors in the market.

6. Remunerated external experts shall be remunerated on the basis of a fixed amount announced in advance and shall be chosen on the basis of their professional capacity. The selection shall be done on the basis of selection criteria respecting the principles of non-discrimination, equal treatment and absence of conflict of interests.

7. For the purpose of Section 2 of Chapter 2 of Title V, such experts shall be treated as recipients.