GETC Awards Rules & Eligibility

GETC 2027 — AWARDS RULES & ELIGIBILITY

Working draft for external legal review — not for publication in this form Applies to: GETC 2027 website (getc2027.eu) and the GETC 2027 participant app Version 0.3 (working draft)

GDPR & DATA PROTECTION AT A GLANCE

Submitting an Awards application means sharing organisation, project and contact data, and sometimes commercially sensitive material, with GETC and its independent reviewers/jury. This is processed under Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) primarily on the basis of steps taken at the applicant's request (Art. 6(1)(b)) and, for reviewer/jury administration, legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f)); see Article 10 of the Privacy & Cookie Policy for the layered Application & Accreditation Notice that applies at submission.

RECITALS

A. The GETC Awards ("the Awards") recognise technology, innovation, and leadership contributions to the energy transition, and are run as part of the Congress. B. Under Spanish law, a merit-based competition judged on objective criteria by an independent panel ("concurso de méritos") is not treated as a game of chance and does not require the gaming-authorisation regime applicable to prize draws under Law 13/2011 on Gambling Regulation; this qualification should be confirmed by Spanish counsel before the Awards are promoted as free of such authorisation requirements. C. These Rules apply to every category of the Awards unless a category-specific addendum states otherwise, and apply in addition to the Terms & Conditions of Attendance for any element of the Awards that takes place at the Congress itself (e.g. the Awards Ceremony).

ARTICLE 1 — DEFINITIONS

"Applicant" means the individual or entity submitting an application to the Awards. "Application" means the full set of materials submitted for a given category. "Reviewer" means an independent expert assigned to score an Application. "Jury" means the final panel responsible for confirming shortlists and selecting winners.

ARTICLE 2 — WHO CAN APPLY

Technology companies, innovative SMEs, scaleups, utilities, industrial companies, university spinouts, universities, cities and regional projects, public-private initiatives, and international consortia may apply, subject to any category-specific eligibility criteria published on the Awards page.

ARTICLE 3 — CATEGORIES, DEADLINES AND REQUIRED EVIDENCE

3.1 Award categories, application deadlines, and required supporting evidence are published on the Awards page and in the application form, using the same category names in both places and in the CRM. 3.2 An Applicant is responsible for submitting a complete Application by the published deadline; GETC is not obliged to consider a late or incomplete submission, though it may do so at its discretion. 3.3 GETC reserves the right to extend a deadline, or to cancel or merge a category with insufficient eligible Applications, and will publish any such change on the Awards page.

ARTICLE 4 — EVALUATION AND SCORING METHODOLOGY

4.1 A structured 100-point framework applies across 8 weighted criteria (see the Awards page for the full breakdown of criteria and weights). 4.2 Applications are scored independently by at least two Reviewers per Application; where scores diverge materially (by a margin to be defined operationally), a moderation step involving a third Reviewer or a Jury discussion is applied before a shortlist is finalised. 4.3 The Jury reviews the shortlist and Reviewer scoring and confirms the final winners; the Jury's decision on scoring and category winners is final and not subject to appeal, save as provided in Article 8 (verification and disqualification) and Article 9 (complaints process).

ARTICLE 5 — INDEPENDENCE FROM COMMERCIAL PURCHASES

Awards scoring is independent of any ticket, exhibitor, partner, or sponsorship purchase. Sponsorship or exhibition participation does not influence scoring outcomes and does not guarantee shortlisting or a win; GETC will maintain organisational separation between its commercial teams and the Reviewers/Jury to safeguard this independence.

ARTICLE 6 — CONFLICT OF INTEREST

6.1 Reviewers and Jury members must disclose, before scoring begins, any personal, professional, or financial connection to an Applicant (including current or recent employment, consultancy, investment, or close personal relationship) and must recuse themselves from scoring that Application. 6.2 A conflict-of-interest declaration will be collected in writing from every Reviewer and Jury member before the evaluation period opens. 6.3 An undisclosed conflict discovered after judging may result in re-scoring of the affected Application by an unconflicted Reviewer, or disqualification of the Application, at GETC's discretion.

ARTICLE 7 — CONFIDENTIALITY

Application materials and Jury deliberations are treated as confidential and are shared only with the Reviewers, Jury members, and internal staff who need them to run the process, consistent with the confidentiality and data-minimisation obligations described in the Privacy & Cookie Policy. Reviewers and Jury members will be bound by a confidentiality undertaking covering Application content and deliberation discussions.

ARTICLE 8 — VERIFICATION AND DISQUALIFICATION

GETC reserves the right to verify claims made in an Application (including by requesting supporting evidence or contacting references) and to disqualify a submission that is materially false, misleading, or ineligible, at any stage of the process, including after a shortlist or winner announcement, in which case GETC may name a replacement finalist or winner, or leave the category vacant, at its discretion.

ARTICLE 9 — COMPLAINTS PROCESS

An Applicant who believes these Rules were not followed in the handling of their Application may raise a complaint via the website contact route within a defined period (e.g. 14 days) of the relevant decision being communicated; GETC will review the complaint and respond, but the complaints process does not extend to challenging the Jury's substantive scoring judgment under Article 4.3.

ARTICLE 10 — INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN SUBMISSIONS

10.1 Applicants warrant that submitted materials (text, images, video, data) can lawfully be reviewed and displayed within the Awards process — including on the website, in Reviewer/Jury tools, and, where shortlisted, at the Awards Ceremony and in related app content — and remain responsible for ensuring they hold the necessary rights to any third-party material included. 10.2 By submitting an Application, the Applicant grants GETC a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use the submitted name, logo, and project description for the purposes described in Article 11, and indemnifies GETC against third-party claims arising from a breach of the warranty in Article 10.1.

ARTICLE 11 — SHORTLIST AND WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT

Shortlist and winner decisions are communicated by e-mail and mirrored in the app, and may be announced publicly on the website and at the Awards Ceremony, using the Applicant's name, logo, and project information as described in the application form, unless the Applicant has requested otherwise in writing before the announcement and GETC has agreed.

ARTICLE 12 — PRIZES

Where a category carries a prize beyond public recognition (e.g. a speaking slot, media coverage, or a monetary or in-kind prize), the exact description, value, and fulfilment method of that prize will be published per category, together with a statement of any tax treatment applicable to the winner under Spanish law (which may require GETC to apply a withholding on a monetary prize above a statutory threshold); this must be confirmed by Finance/Legal before being promoted.

ARTICLE 13 — DELEGATES' CHOICE / PUBLIC VOTE (IF USED)

If a separate Delegates' Choice or public-vote award is offered, its specific voting mechanism, eligibility, one-vote-per-person safeguards, and anti-manipulation measures will be published as an addendum to these Rules before voting opens, and will be assessed separately against the gambling- law qualification referred to in Recital B if it involves any element of chance.

ARTICLE 14 — FORCE MAJEURE

GETC is not liable for a failure or delay in running the Awards process, including the Awards Ceremony, to the extent caused by an event beyond its reasonable control, and may adjust deadlines, the evaluation process, or the Ceremony format as reasonably necessary in such circumstances.

ARTICLE 15 — GENERAL PROVISIONS

15.1 Entire agreement. These Rules, together with the Privacy & Cookie Policy and, for the Ceremony itself, the Terms & Conditions of Attendance, constitute the entire agreement governing participation in the Awards. 15.2 Severability. If a provision of these Rules is held invalid or unenforceable, that provision is severed and the remainder continues in full force and effect. 15.3 Amendments. GETC may update these Rules between Awards cycles; the version published at the time an Application is submitted governs that Application. 15.4 Language. These Rules are drafted in English; a Spanish version will be published and, for a Spanish Applicant who is a consumer, the version more favourable to the Applicant under applicable law prevails in the event of a discrepancy.

ARTICLE 16 — GOVERNING LAW AND JURISDICTION

These Rules are governed by Spanish law. Disputes will be submitted to the courts of Valencia, Spain, without prejudice to any mandatory forum rule that cannot be excluded.

LEGAL REVIEW NOTE

Recital B (gambling-law qualification), Article 12 (prize tax treatment), and Article 13 (public vote, if used) are the highest-risk sections and must be reviewed by Spanish counsel before the Awards are promoted publicly. The warranty and indemnity language in Article 10, the disqualification power in Article 8, and the jurisdiction clause in Article 16 should also receive a final legal pass before the application period opens.

Source: GETC 2027 Legal Pages Master v1, section 15, and the GETC Awards Rules & Eligibility v1 document, expanded using standard competition/ awards-rules drafting practice: the Spanish merit-based-competition qualification, a full conflict-of-interest and confidentiality framework, a complaints process, prize/tax disclosure, force majeure, and a full general-provisions block. Final sign-off from Spanish counsel is still required before the application period opens.