2. When support expenditure is not included in the action plans or special measures referred to in Article 7, the Commission shall adopt, where applicable, support measures. Union financing under support measures may cover:

(a) studies, meetings, information, awareness-raising, training, preparation and the exchange of lessons learnt and best practices, publication activities and any other administrative or technical assistance expenditure necessary for the programming and management of actions, including fact-finding missions or remunerated external experts;

(b) expenditures related to the provision of information and communication actions, including the development of communication strategies and corporate communication and visibility of the political priorities of the Union.

Article 9

Methods of cooperation

Financing under the Instrument shall be implemented by the Commission, as provided for by the Financial Regulation, either directly by the Commission itself or indirectly through any of the entities listed in point (c) of Article 62(1) of the Financial Regulation.

Article 10

Forms of and methods of implementation of Union funding

1. The Union funding under the Instrument may be provided in the forms laid down in the Financial Regulation, in particular:

(a) grants;

(b) procurement contracts for services or supplies;

(d) blending.

2. Support under the Instrument may also be implemented under the rules applicable to the External Action Guarantee established under Regulation (EU) 2021/947 (‘External Action Guarantee’) and contribute to the provisioning for the External Action Guarantee. The External Action Guarantee shall also support the operations on the basis of Council Decision 77/270/Euratom (17).

The provisioning rate for the operations of the External Action Guarantee to which the support under the Instrument contributes shall be 9 %.

3. The provisioning rates shall be reviewed every three years from the date of application of this Regulation.

Article 11

Eligible persons and entities

1. Priority shall be given to persons and entities from acceding countries, candidate countries, potential candidate countries and European Neighbourhood Policy countries. The participation in procurement, grant and prize award procedures for actions financed under the Instrument shall be open to international organisations as well as all legal entities that are nationals of and, in the case of legal persons, are also effectively established in the following countries or territories:

(a) Member States, beneficiaries under the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA III) established by a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA III), and Contracting Parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area (18);

(b) partner countries in the Neighbourhood area referred to in point (a) of Article 4(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/947;