ACT OF THE MANAGEMENT BOARD OF EUROPOL of 1 October 1998 laying down its rules of procedure (1999/C 26/08)

THE MANAGEMENT BOARD,

Having regard to the Convention based on Article K.3 of the Treaty on European Union, on the establishment of a European Police Office (Europol Convention) (1), and in particular Article 28(7) thereof,

Whereas it is for the Management Board, acting unanimously, to lay down its rules of procedure,

HAS ADOPTED THESE RULES OF PROCEDURE:

Article 1 Composition of the Management Board

1. In accordance with Article 28(2) and (3) of the Europol Convention, full or alternate members of the Management Board, (hereinafter referred to as 'members`), shall enjoy the requisite authority in the areas in which the Management Board has competence.

2. At Management Board meetings, members, the Director of Europol and the representative of the Commission of the European Communities (hereinafter referred to as 'the Commission`) may be accompanied and advised by experts, the maximum number of which shall be laid down by the chairman of the Management Board.

3. Each Member State shall notify the Director of Europol and the Secretary of the Management Board of a member's appointment and cessation of duties.

Article 2 Administrative support for the Management Board

1. The Management Board shall enjoy the administrative support necessary for it to carry out its duties. Such support shall be provided by Europol. To guarantee its efficient operation, the Management Board shall appoint a Secretary from among the staff of Europol, who is not part of its management team and who fulfils the requirements laid down by the Board, in accordance with the following criteria:

(a) ability to perform the duties involved;

(b) administrative level to be laid down by the Management Board;

(c) availability to fulfil the duties required.

The Secretary shall carry out duties as instructed by the Management Board and shall be responsible to it for their fulfilment. However, with the approval of the Management Board and under its authority, the Secretary may carry out other duties.

The duration of the Secretary's service shall be decided by the Management Board, which may revoke or renew the appointment.

2. Each new Presidency shall oversee the documentation of the Management Board, drawing up for that purpose a document which it shall submit to the Board for approval at the first ordinary meeting.

Article 3 Chairman of the Management Board

The Chairman of the Management Board shall draw up the provisional agenda for meetings and shall chair them.

Article 4 Proceedings of the Management Board

1. The Management Board shall hold at least one ordinary meeting during each Presidency, convened by its Chairman.

2. When the Chairman considers that circumstances so dictate, he/she may call a meeting of the Management Board, either on his/her own initiative or on that of a third of the members. Should a meeting be requested by a Member State, by the Commission or by the Director of Europol, the Chairman shall consult the other members and, if a third of them agree, shall call a meeting.

In the cases mentioned in the previous paragraph, the Chairman must convene the meeting within 30 days of receiving the request.

3. The Management Board may call persons particularly qualified in the matters to be examined to speak on a particular agenda item.

4. On matters for which the Management Board does not consider a plenary meeting necessary, it may appoint an ad hoc committee or committees with as many members as it considers necessary to perform the tasks involved. Such committee(s) shall be chaired by the Chairman of the Management Board and shall be dissolved upon completion of the tasks for which it was/they were set up.

Article 5 Agenda

1. The Chairman of the Management Board shall draw up the provisional agenda for each meeting. It shall be sent by the Secretary to the other members, the Commission and the Director of Europol at least 14 days before the beginning of the meeting. Where an extraordinary meeting is called, the agenda shall be forwarded during the week prior to the meeting.

2. The provisional agenda shall contain the items requested by a member, the Commission or the Director of Europol, provided that the relevant documents arrived at Europol headquarters at least 16 days before the start of that meeting.

3. Only items for which the relevant documents have been forwarded to the members, the Commission and the Director of Europol no later than the date on which the agenda is sent out may be included on the provisional agenda.

4. At the beginning of the meeting the Management Board shall adopt the agenda by simple majority.

Article 6 Deliberations of the Management Board

1. The presence of three-quarters of the Board's members shall constitute a quorum. In the absence of a quorum, the Chairman shall terminate the meeting and convene another as soon as possible. Two-thirds of the members of the Management Board shall constitute a quorum for the second meeting.

2. The Chairman shall conduct the meeting, giving priority to members wishing to raise a question of procedure or a preliminary matter.

3. Other than by a unanimous decision of the Management Board on grounds of urgency, the Board shall take decisions only on the basis of documents and drafts drawn up in the official languages of the European Union.

Article 7 Voting at Management Board meetings

1. The Management Board shall proceed to a vote on the initiative of its Chairman, who shall also be required to put a matter to the vote at the request of any of the members, provided a majority of the members agree.

2. A vote may be delegated only to the alternate member representing the relevant State.

3. The distribution of votes shall be indicated for each decision which the Management Board adopts. The decision shall be accompanied by a note setting out the opinions of the minority should the minority so request. Votes shall be cast by a show of hands or by roll call if the result of a show of hands is disputed.

4. Votes on decisions and appointments shall be by secret ballot at the request of one of the members or if the Chairman so decides. When a secret ballot takes place, the Chairman, assisted by two other members of the Management Board, shall count the votes and immediately announce the results. The Chairman may permit any member to give a brief account of the reason for his/her vote.

Article 8 Adoption of agreements

1. Agreements which come before the Management Board and for which the Europol Convention or its implementing rules do not require unanimity or a two-thirds qualified majority may be approved by simple majority.

Decisions or agreements adopted by the Management Board shall record the distribution of the votes cast, unless the vote was secret in accordance with Article 7.

2. The setting up of ad hoc committees by the Management Board shall require the agreement of two-thirds of the members present.

3. Motions to submit or not to submit a matter to the Management Board for its approval shall be subject to a vote before the substance of the matter is examined.

4. Motions relating to several matters must be subdivided when so requested.

5. Where several motions relate to the same matter, the broadest one shall be voted on first. In the case of amendments, the amendment which most extensively alters the basic text shall be voted on first. In the case of an amendment to an amendment, thze most extesive shall be voted on first. The final vote shall be cast on the version of the text resulting from the previous votes.

Article 9 Minutes of the meetings

1. Minutes of each meeting of the Management Board shall be drawn up, and shall include:

- a list of those present,

- a report on the discussions,

- decisions adopted by the Management Board with an indication of the distribution of votes for each vote held.

2. The Management Board shall approve the minutes at its next meeting.

The draft minutes shall be submitted for the approval of the Management Board only if the draft text has been sent to the members at least four weeks before the next meeting. The draft minutes shall also be sent to the Director of Europol and to the Commission representative in respect of meetings at which he/she was present. Minutes of meetings at which the Commission representative was not present shall be sent to the latter if the Management Board so decides.

3. If the draft has not been sent in due time, approval shall be postponed until the following meeting of the Management Board.

Where there is a very long interval between two meetings of the Management Board, the members of the Board may make their comments or signify their agreement by written procedure.

4. Proposals for amendments to the draft minutes shall be submitted in writing to the chairman no later than two hours before the beginning of the meeting at which the minutes are to be approved.

5. Once approved, the minutes shall be signed by the Chairman of the Management Board and by the Secretary.

Article 10 Annual report

1. The annual report on the activities of Europol shall be unanimously approved by the Management Board during the first half of the following calendar year.

During the previous six months the Management Board shall approve the report on Europol's future activities referred to in Article 28(10) of the Europol Convention.

Both reports shall be drawn up by the Europol Directorate in sufficient time to comply with the time limits laid down in the previous paragraphs.

2. The report shall contain the following sections:

A. Introduction.

B. Extent to which objectives have been met during the year.

- Activities carried out.

- Budgetary costs.

- Human and technical resources needed.

C. Study of future objectives.

- Short-term costs.

- Medium-term costs.

D. Conclusions.

3. In accordance with Article 34 of the Europol Convention, the Management Board shall approve within the first quarter of each year a special annual report including a summary of sections A and B referred to in paragraph 2, which shall be forwarded by the Council Presidency to the European Parliament.

Article 11 Correspondence

Correspondence addressed to the Management Board shall be forwarded to the headquarters of Europol for the attention of the Chairman of the Management Board. Such correspondence shall be dealt with by the Secretary.

Article 12 Management Board expenses

1. Europol shall meet the travel expenses of members of the Management Board and up to two experts per Member State attending meetings. Each Member State shall pay for the accommodation expenses of its members and experts. The expenses of other experts shall be met by the Member States.

2. In accordance with Article 4(3) of these rules of procedure, the expenses of experts invited to advise the Management Board shall be met by Europol.

Article 13 Entry into force of the rules of procedure

These rules shall enter into force on the day following their approval by the Management Board.

Article 14 Revision of the rules of procedure

If these rules are revised, the Secretary shall forward the updated version to all members, to the Director of Europol and to the Commission. The new rules shall enter into force on the day following their approval.

Done at The Hague, 1 October 1998.

For the Management Board

The Chairman

K. RUSO

(1) OJ C 316, 27.11.1995, p. 1.