RULES OF PROCEDURE adopted by the EEA Consultative Committee at its Constituent Meeting held on 8 February 1994 in Brussels

CHAPTER I

Article 1

Composition

The EEA Consultative Committee (EEA-CC) set up pursuant to Article 96 of the EEA Agreement shall have 60 members. Thirty of these shall be appointed by the Economic and Social Committee (ESC) and 30 by the EFTA Consultative Committee (CSC).

Article 2

Terms of reference

1. The EEA-CC's area of competence shall embrace all economic and social matters of relevance to the EEA.

2. The EEA-CC may express its views in the form of reports or resolutions, as appropriate.

3. The EEA-CC shall exercise the right of initiative implicitly given to it by the EEA Agreement by means of decisions taken at its plenary sessions.

4. The EEA-CC shall help to strengthen relations between the economic and social partners of the European Union and European Free Trade Association.

Article 3

Appointment of members

EEA-CC members shall be appointed by the ESC and the CSC from among their members, at least three months before each EEA-CC plenary session. The CSC shall be represented by members designated by the EFTA States for which the EEA Agreement has entered into force. The members thus appointed shall remain in office until their appointing body decides otherwise.

Article 4

Permanent observers

1. EEA-CC meetings may also be attended by permanent observers.

2. To this effect, the following bodies will each appoint a permanent observer: Union of Industries of the European Community (Unice), European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and Group III of the ESC.

3. Group III of the ESC, in appointing its permanent observer, will take into consideration the widest possible range of interest groups represented there.

Article 5

Other observers

1. Other observers, including members of the CSC from countries not participating in the EEA, nominated by European socio-economic organizations, may also be invited by the Bureau to attend EEA-CC meetings in order to take part in debates on particular topics.

2. Requests by such organizations to take part in this way may be channelled in the first instance through a recognized group of the ESC or the CSC.

Article 6

Replacement

The members appointed by the two Committees, as well as the permanent observers appointed respectively by Unice, ETUC and Group III of the ESC, may be replaced at any time by their appointed body.

Article 7

EEA authorities and the EEA-CC

1. The President of the EEA Council may appear before the EEA-CC to be heard by it.

2. The competent authorities of the EEA, as well as those of the EU and EFTA may also take part in EEA-CC proceedings.

Article 8

Chair

1. The EEA-CC shall be chaired jointly by the ESC and CSC chairmen.

2. The two chairmen may be replaced in the exercise of their duties, in accordance with the Rules of Procedure of the two Committees.

Article 9

Bureau

1. The EEA-CC shall elect a Bureau which shall be responsible for the preparation, coordination and organization of EEA-CC plenary sessions. The Bureau shall also carry out the necessary duties between plenary sessions.

2. The Bureau shall have 18 members: nine from the ESC and nine from the CSC, including the two chairmen.

3. Bureau members shall be appointed for a period of two years in accordance with each Committee's rules of procedure. However, they may be replaced at any time by their appointing body.

4. In determining the composition of the Bureau, the fullest possible account shall be taken of the representation of the different Member States and the categories of economic and social activity on the two Committees.

CHAPTER II

ORGANIZATION OF WORK

Article 10

Plenary sessions

1. The EEA-CC shall generally meet twice a year, alternately in an EU Member State and an EFTA State.

2. Following a Bureau decision, and for duly motivated reasons, the EEA-CC may hold extraordinary meetings in Brussels or Geneva to coincide with ESC and CSC plenary sessions.

3. The different interest groups (employers, trade unions, and other interests) may hold preparatory meetings immediately prior to a plenary session of the EEA-CC.

Article 11

Decision-taking

1. For EEA-CC decisions to be valid, a majority of EEA-CC members must be present as well as a majority of members delegated by each of the two Committees.

2. In principle, EEA-CC reports and resolutions shall be arrived at by consensus.

3. If, however, the only way of preventing the work of the EEA-CC from becoming deadlocked is by recourse to a vote, then a vote can be taken.

4. Diverging views may be appended to EEA-CC reports and resolutions in order to provide a fuller understanding of the positions held by the social partners.

5. Diverging views are written statements emanating from the different interest groups.

Article 12

Procedure

1. Where recourse is had to a vote, a decision is deemed to have been taken when there is a qualified (two-thirds) majority of EEA-CC members in favour, provided there is, too, a simple majority amongst ESC members on the one hand, and amongst CSC members on the other.

2. If at least one tenth of members present so request, voting may be by name.

3. Explanations of vote may be made, such explanations being recorded in the Record of Proceedings of the meeting in question.

Article 13

Publication

1. Reports and resolutions shall be sent to the EEA decision-making bodies as well as to relevant EU and EFTA bodies, and published in all official EEA languages, in the EEA section and in the EEA Supplement of the Official Journal of the European Communities.

2. The respective secretariats of the two Committees shall disseminate the reports and resolutions, mainly to the European socio-economic organizations.

Article 14

Agenda

1. Plenary agendas shall be drawn up by the Bureau, taking account of topics being discussed at EEA level and taking into account proposals from the two Committees and from members themselves.

2. The agenda shall be adopted at the start of each plenary session. It may include an 'other business` item for discussion at the end of the meeting.

Article 15

Bureau meetings

1. In principle, the Bureau shall meet four times per year. Two of these meetings shall be held immediately prior to the EEA-CC plenary sessions.

2. However, the Bureau may meet at other times where the urgency of a subject so warrants.

3. The Bureau shall meet where the plenary session is being held or at ESC or CSC headquarters.

Article 16

Rapporteurs and working groups

1. To ensure that an EEA-CC resolution or report is approved in good time, a plenary session or the Bureau may decide to appoint a Rapporteur and set up a working group to assist the Rapporteur in drawing up proposals for submission to the plenary session.

2. In principle, working groups shall have three members appointed by the ESC and three members appointed by the CSC. They may be replaced at any time by their appointing body.

3. Working groups shall hold a maximum of three meetings, to be held at ESC or CSC headquarters. A written procedure may also be used.

4. The working groups may be assisted by two experts, appointed respectively by the ESC and CSC on the basis of their specialist knowledge.

5. Other experts may also be invited if the Bureau so decides on a proposal from working group members.

Article 17

Secretariat

1. The secretariat shall be provided by the ESC or CSC secretariats in accordance with the meeting venue.

2. The two secretariats shall work in close coordination.

CHAPTER III

FINANCIAL PROVISIONS

Article 18

Operational expenditure

EEA-CC operational expenditure shall be met by the ESC or the CSC depending on the meeting venue.

Article 19

Members' expenses

EEA-CC members' travel and subsistence expenses shall be reimbursed in accordance with each Committee's rules.

CHAPTER IV

FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 20

Languages

1. The official languages of the EEA-CC are those officially recognized as such by the EU and the EFTA States respectively.

2. The EEA-CC working languages shall be English, French and German.

3. Giving due consideration to the two-pillar nature of the EEA Agreement, a Nordic language shall also be used in plenary sessions (1).

4. If an EEA-CC member wishes to add a further language to those mentioned above, that member shall bear the ensuing additional costs.

5. When requested, the passive use of a limited number of other official languages may be authorized by the Bureau, i.e. languages that may be spoken but not interpreted into.

6. Equally, the number of working languages used in a given working group may be reduced in the light of the membership of that working group and the costs involved.

Article 21

Revision of the Rules of Procedure

1. The present Rules of Procedure may be revised when necessary.

2. Following a decision by a plenary to revise the rules, the Bureau will draw up the necessary proposed revision of the rules.

3. The voting procedure as described in Article 12 will apply.

Done at Brussels, 8 February 1994.

For the EEA Consultative Committee The Presidents Susanne TIEMANN Erik FORSMAN