diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 93d77386ff2b53032f5171485c8c33fa6e81c9ff..3f84bc99fb90bf5910a3e37bd0986770bbac48c3 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -2,10 +2,16 @@ variables:
   # note: GitLab cannot reference variables defined by users in the include ref:, we need to use a YAML anchor for this
   # see https://docs.gitlab.com/ci/yaml/includes/#use-variables-with-include for more information
   IVAS_CODEC_CI_REF: &IVAS_CODEC_CI_REF main
+  # If you need to set some config variable only in a local branch, then add an overwrite here
+  # One example is DISABLE_HRTF - this will be set on a branch which is about to be merged and will be removed in a subsequent second MR
+  # this is more easily done directly here in the child repo
 
+  # these lines are suposed to stay commented out to serve as an example
+  # # set this to true to skip the external HRTF testcases in pytest calls
+  # DISABLE_HRTF: "true"
+
+# all CI code and config is included from https://forge.3gpp.org/rep/ivas-codec-pc/ivas-codec-ci
 include:
   - project: ivas-codec-pc/ivas-codec-ci
     ref: *IVAS_CODEC_CI_REF
     file: main-basop.yml
-  - local: .gitlab-ci/variables.yml
-  - local: .gitlab-ci/rules-basis.yml
diff --git a/.gitlab-ci/rules-basis.yml b/.gitlab-ci/rules-basis.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 0b374e3024b0b45360d18e6351d9ab11c77841e6..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/.gitlab-ci/rules-basis.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,56 +0,0 @@
-# overwrites the default rules in the IVAS CI repository
-# should be refactored and unified
-.rules-basis:
-  rules:
-    # see https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/yaml/workflow.html#switch-between-branch-pipelines-and-merge-request-pipelines
-    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH && $CI_OPEN_MERGE_REQUESTS && $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "push"
-      when: never
-    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'merge_request_event'
-      variables:
-        IVAS_PIPELINE_NAME: 'MR pipeline: $CI_MERGE_REQUEST_SOURCE_BRANCH_NAME'
-    ### disabled for now because pipeline cd is redundant with MR pipeline with current workflow
-    # - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'push' && $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH # Pushes to main
-    #   variables:
-    #     IVAS_PIPELINE_NAME: 'Push pipeline: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH'
-    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'web' && $MANUAL_PIPELINE_TYPE == 'default' # for testing
-      variables:
-        IVAS_PIPELINE_NAME: 'Web run pipeline: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH'
-    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'web' && $MANUAL_PIPELINE_TYPE == 'pytest-compare'
-      variables:
-        IVAS_PIPELINE_NAME: 'Run comparison tools against float ref: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH'
-    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'web' && $MANUAL_PIPELINE_TYPE == 'pytest-compare-enc-dmx'
-      variables:
-        IVAS_PIPELINE_NAME: 'Run encoder dmx comparison against float ref: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH'
-    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'web' && $MANUAL_PIPELINE_TYPE == 'pytest-compare-long'
-      variables:
-        IVAS_PIPELINE_NAME: 'Run comparison tools against float ref (long test vectors): $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH'
-    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'web' && $MANUAL_PIPELINE_TYPE == 'pytest-compare-to-input'
-      variables:
-        IVAS_PIPELINE_NAME: 'Run comparison tools against input (pass-through only): $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH'
-    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'web' && $MANUAL_PIPELINE_TYPE == 'pytest-saturation-smoke-test'
-      variables:
-        IVAS_PIPELINE_NAME: 'Run saturation smoke-test: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH'
-    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'web' && $MANUAL_PIPELINE_TYPE == 'evs-26444'
-      variables:
-        IVAS_PIPELINE_NAME: 'EVS 26.444 test: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH'
-    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'web' && $MANUAL_PIPELINE_TYPE == 'sanitizer'
-      variables:
-        IVAS_PIPELINE_NAME: 'Short testvectors sanitizers'
-    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'web' && $MANUAL_PIPELINE_TYPE == 'pytest-renderer'
-      variables:
-        IVAS_PIPELINE_NAME: 'Renderer test: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH'
-    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'web' && $MANUAL_PIPELINE_TYPE == 'complexity'
-      variables:
-        IVAS_PIPELINE_NAME: 'Complexity Measurement on $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH'
-    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'web' && $MANUAL_PIPELINE_TYPE == 'voip-be-test'
-      variables:
-        IVAS_PIPELINE_NAME: 'Voip BE test on $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH'
-    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'web' && $MANUAL_PIPELINE_TYPE == 'peaq-enc-passthrough'
-      variables:
-        IVAS_PIPELINE_NAME: 'PEAQ encoder pass-through test: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH'
-    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'web' && $MANUAL_PIPELINE_TYPE == 'ivas-conformance'
-      variables:
-        IVAS_PIPELINE_NAME: 'IVAS conformance: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH'
-    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'schedule' # Scheduled in any branch
-      variables:
-        IVAS_PIPELINE_NAME: 'Scheduled pipeline: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH'
diff --git a/.gitlab-ci/variables.yml b/.gitlab-ci/variables.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index e6419a3dce3530df4036fc75ec5eb55b61127972..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/.gitlab-ci/variables.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,108 +0,0 @@
-variables:
-  TESTV_DIR: "/usr/local/testv"
-  LTV_DIR: "/usr/local/ltv"
-  EVS_BE_TEST_DIR_BASOP: "/usr/local/be_2_evs_basop"
-  # TODO: cleanup and use global var defined in ivas-codec-ci
-  FLOAT_REF_BRANCH: "ivas-float-update"
-  FLOAT_REF_BRANCH_MERGE_SOURCE: ""
-  BUILD_OUTPUT: "build_output.txt"
-  SCRIPTS_DIR: "/usr/local/scripts"
-  EXIT_CODE_NON_BE: 123
-  EXIT_CODE_FAIL: 1
-  LONG_TEST_SUITE: "tests/codec_be_on_mr_nonselection tests/renderer --param_file scripts/config/self_test_ltv.prm --use_ltv"
-  LONG_TEST_SUITE_NO_RENDERER: "tests/codec_be_on_mr_nonselection --param_file scripts/config/self_test_ltv.prm --use_ltv"
-  SHORT_TEST_SUITE: "tests/codec_be_on_mr_nonselection"
-  SHORT_TEST_SUITE_ENCODER: "tests/codec_be_on_mr_nonselection/test_param_file.py --param_file scripts/config/self_test_basop_encoder.prm"
-  LONG_TEST_SUITE_ENCODER: "tests/codec_be_on_mr_nonselection/test_param_file.py --param_file scripts/config/self_test_ltv_basop_encoder.prm"
-  TEST_SUITE: ""
-  # These path variables are used by the pytest calls.
-  # They can be overwritten in the job templates to e.g. only test encoder or decoder in the chain
-  DUT_ENCODER_PATH: "./IVAS_cod_dut"
-  DUT_DECODER_PATH: "./IVAS_dec_dut"
-  DUT_RENDERER_PATH: "./IVAS_rend_dut"
-  DUT_POST_RENDERER_PATH: "./ISAR_post_rend_dut"
-  REF_ENCODER_PATH: "./IVAS_cod_ref"
-  REF_DECODER_PATH: "./IVAS_dec_ref"
-  REF_RENDERER_PATH: "./IVAS_rend_ref"
-  REF_POST_RENDERER_PATH: "./ISAR_post_rend_ref"
-  MERGE_TARGET_ENCODER_PATH: "./IVAS_cod_merge_target"
-  MERGE_TARGET_DECODER_PATH: "./IVAS_dec_merge_target"
-  MERGE_TARGET_RENDERER_PATH: "./IVAS_rend_merge_target"
-  MERGE_TARGET_POST_RENDERER_PATH: "./ISAR_post_rend_merge_target"
-  MERGE_SOURCE_FLOAT_REF_ENCODER_PATH: "./IVAS_cod_merge_source_float_ref"
-  MERGE_SOURCE_FLOAT_REF_DECODER_PATH: "./IVAS_dec_merge_source_float_ref"
-  MERGE_SOURCE_FLOAT_REF_RENDERER_PATH: "./IVAS_rend_merge_source_float_ref"
-  MERGE_SOURCE_FLOAT_REF_POST_RENDERER_PATH: "./ISAR_post_rend_merge_source_float_ref"
-  # These path variables are used for building the binaries
-  # They should never be overwritten!
-  DUT_ENCODER_PATH_FOR_BUILD_DO_NOT_MODIFY: "./IVAS_cod_dut"
-  DUT_DECODER_PATH_FOR_BUILD_DO_NOT_MODIFY: "./IVAS_dec_dut"
-  DUT_RENDERER_PATH_FOR_BUILD_DO_NOT_MODIFY: "./IVAS_rend_dut"
-  DUT_POST_RENDERER_PATH_FOR_BUILD_DO_NOT_MODIFY: "./ISAR_post_rend_dut"
-  REF_ENCODER_PATH_FOR_BUILD_DO_NOT_MODIFY: "./IVAS_cod_ref"
-  REF_DECODER_PATH_FOR_BUILD_DO_NOT_MODIFY: "./IVAS_dec_ref"
-  REF_RENDERER_PATH_FOR_BUILD_DO_NOT_MODIFY: "./IVAS_rend_ref"
-  REF_POST_RENDERER_PATH_FOR_BUILD_DO_NOT_MODIFY: "./ISAR_post_rend_ref"
-  MERGE_TARGET_ENCODER_PATH_FOR_BUILD_DO_NOT_MODIFY: "./IVAS_cod_merge_target"
-  MERGE_TARGET_DECODER_PATH_FOR_BUILD_DO_NOT_MODIFY: "./IVAS_dec_merge_target"
-  MERGE_TARGET_RENDERER_PATH_FOR_BUILD_DO_NOT_MODIFY: "./IVAS_rend_merge_target"
-  MERGE_TARGET_POST_RENDERER_PATH_FOR_BUILD_DO_NOT_MODIFY: "./ISAR_post_rend_merge_target"
-  MERGE_SOURCE_FLOAT_REF_ENCODER_PATH_FOR_BUILD_DO_NOT_MODIFY: "./IVAS_cod_merge_source_float_ref"
-  MERGE_SOURCE_FLOAT_REF_DECODER_PATH_FOR_BUILD_DO_NOT_MODIFY: "./IVAS_dec_merge_source_float_ref"
-  MERGE_SOURCE_FLOAT_REF_RENDERER_PATH_FOR_BUILD_DO_NOT_MODIFY: "./IVAS_rend_merge_source_float_ref"
-  MERGE_SOURCE_FLOAT_REF_POST_RENDERER_PATH_FOR_BUILD_DO_NOT_MODIFY: "./ISAR_post_rend_merge_source_float_ref"
-  LEVEL_SCALING: "1.0"
-  IVAS_PIPELINE_NAME: ''
-  PRM_FILES: "scripts/config/self_test.prm scripts/config/self_test_ltv.prm"
-  TESTCASE_TIMEOUT_STV: 900
-  TESTCASE_TIMEOUT_LTV: 2400
-  TESTCASE_TIMEOUT_LTV_SANITIZERS: 10800
-  CI_REGRESSION_THRESH_MLD: "0.1"
-  CI_REGRESSION_THRESH_MAX_ABS_DIFF: "50"
-  CI_REGRESSION_THRESH_SSNR: "-1"
-  CI_REGRESSION_THRESH_ODG: "-0.05"
-  GIT_CLEAN_FLAGS: -ffdxq
-  INSTR_DIR: "scripts/c-code_instrument"
-  TESTS_DIR_CODEC_BE_ON_MR: "tests/codec_be_on_mr_nonselection"
-  BUILD_WITH_DEBUG_MODE_INFO: ""
-  ENCODER_TEST: ""
-  DELTA_ODG: ""
-  COMPARE_DMX: ""
-  SPLIT_COMPARISON: ""
-  SKIP_REGRESSION_CHECK: ""
-  FAILED_TESTCASES_LIST: "failed-testcases.txt"
-  ERRORS_TESTCASES_LIST: "errors-testcases.txt"
-  PYTEST_CACHE_ARTIFACT: "pytest_cache.zip"
-  MEASURES_FOR_REPORT: "MLD MAX_ABS_DIFF MIN_SSNR MIN_ODG"
-  FLOAT_REF_COMMIT_FILE: "float-ref-git-sha.txt"
-  CUT_COMMIT_FILE: "CuT-git-sha.txt"
-  MERGE_TARGET_COMMIT_FILE: "merge-target-git-sha.txt"
-  MERGE_SOURCE_FLOAT_REF_COMMIT_FILE: "merge-source-float-ref-git-sha.txt"
-  RUNNER_TAG: "ivas-basop-linux"
-  LOGS_BACKUP_SOURCE_DIR: ""
-  LOGS_BACKUP_TARGET_DIR: ""
-  # set this to true to skip the external HRTF testcases in pytest calls
-  DISABLE_HRTF: "false"
-  MANUAL_PIPELINE_TYPE:
-    description: "Type for the manual pipeline run. Use 'pytest-compare' to run comparison test against reference float codec."
-    value: 'default'
-    options:
-      - 'default'
-      - 'pytest-compare'
-      - 'pytest-compare-enc-dmx'
-      - 'pytest-compare-long'
-      - 'pytest-compare-long-fx-fx'
-      - 'pytest-compare-to-input'
-      - 'pytest-saturation-smoke-test'
-      - 'evs-26444'
-      - 'sanitizer'
-      - 'pytest-renderer'
-      - 'complexity'
-      - 'coverage'
-      - 'voip-be-test'
-      - 'renderer-framesize-be'
-      - 'peaq-enc-passthrough'
-      - 'long-term-logs'
-      - 'backup-long-term-logs'
-      - 'test-long-self-test'
-      - 'ivas-conformance-linux'