COUNCIL DECISION

of 1 December 2009

adopting the Council's Rules of Procedure

(2009/937/EU)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 240(3) thereof,

Whereas:

The Treaty of Lisbon brings several modifications to the functioning of the Council and of its Presidency, to the Council structure, as well as to the different types of Union legal acts and to the process for adopting acts, notably by distinguishing between legislative and non-legislative acts.

It is therefore necessary to replace the Rules of Procedure adopted on 15 September 2006 (1) by Rules of Procedures which comprise the modifications necessary for the implementation of the Treaty of Lisbon,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The Council's Rules of Procedure of 15 September 2006 shall be replaced by the provisions in the Annex.

By derogation from Article 2(2) of Annex III to the Council's Rules of Procedure, the population figures which are inserted by this Decision in Article 1 of that Annex shall apply for the period from 1 December 2009 to 31 December 2010.

Article 2

In accordance with the Protocol on the role of national Parliaments in the European Union, Article 3(3) of the Council's Rules of Procedure as adopted by this Decision shall apply to draft legislative acts adopted and forwarded as from the day on which the Treaty of Lisbon comes into force.

Article 3

This Decision shall take effect of the day of its adoption.

It shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

(1) Council Decision 2006/683/EC, Euratom of 15 September 2006 adopting the Council's Rules of Procedure (OJ L 285, 16.10.2006, p. 47).

ANNEX

RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE COUNCIL

Article 1

General provisions, notice and venue of meetings

1. The Council shall meet when convened by its President on his or her own initiative or at the request of one of its members or of the Commission (1).

2. Seven months before the beginning of the six-month period concerned, for each Council configuration, and after appropriate consultations, the Presidency shall make known the dates which it envisages for meetings that the Council will have to hold in order to complete its legislative work or take operational decisions. Those dates shall be set out in a single document applying to all Council configurations.

3. The Council shall have its seat in Brussels. During the months of April, June and October, the Council shall hold its meetings in Luxembourg (2).

In exceptional circumstances and for duly substantiated reasons, the Council or the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the governments of the Member States (hereinafter referred to as Coreper), acting unanimously, may decide that a Council meeting will be held elsewhere.

4. (3) The Presidency of the Council, with the exception of the Foreign Affairs configuration, shall be held by pre-established groups of three Member States for a period of 18 months. The groups shall be made up on a basis of equal rotation among the Member States, taking into account their diversity and geographical balance within the Union.

Each member of the group shall in turn chair for a six-month period all configurations of the Council, with the exception of the Foreign Affairs configuration. The other members of the group shall assist the Chair in all its responsibilities on the basis of a common programme. The members of the team may decide alternative arrangements among themselves.

5. The decisions adopted by the Council or Coreper pursuant to these Rules of Procedure shall be adopted by a simple majority, unless these Rules provide for other voting arrangements.

Unless otherwise specified, references in these Rules of Procedure to the Presidency or the President shall apply to any person chairing one of the Council configurations or, as appropriate, one of its preparatory bodies.

Article 2

Configurations of the Council, role of the General Affairs configuration and the Foreign Affairs configuration and programming

1. The Council shall meet in different configurations according to the subject-matter dealt with. The list of Council configurations, other than the General Affairs and Foreign Affairs configurations, shall be adopted by the European Council acting by a qualified majority (4). The list of Council configurations is set out in Annex I.

2. The General Affairs Council shall ensure consistency in the work of the different Council configurations. It shall prepare and ensure the follow-up to meetings of the European Council, in liaison with the President of the European Council and the Commission (5). It shall be responsible for overall coordination of policies, institutional and administrative questions, horizontal dossiers which affect several of the European Union's policies, such as the multiannual financial framework and enlargement, and any dossier entrusted to it by the European Council, having regard to operating rules for the Economic and Monetary Union.

3. The arrangements for the preparation of European Council meetings are provided for in Article 3 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Council, as follows:

(a) In order to ensure the preparation provided for in Article 2(2) of the Rules of Procedure of the European Council, at least four weeks before each ordinary meeting of the European Council as referred to in Article 1(1) of the Rules of Procedure of the European Council, the President of the European Council, in close cooperation with the member of the European Council representing the Member State holding the six-monthly Presidency of the Council and with the President of the Commission, shall submit an annotated draft agenda to the General Affairs Council. Contributions to the proceedings of the European Council by other Council configurations shall be forwarded to the General Affairs Council at the latest two weeks before the meeting of the European Council. The President of the European Council, in close cooperation as referred to in the first subparagraph, shall prepare draft guidelines for the European Council conclusions and, as appropriate, draft conclusions and draft decisions of the European Council, which shall be discussed in the General Affairs Council. A final meeting of the General Affairs Council shall be held within the five days preceding the meeting of the European Council. In the light of that final discussion, the President of the European Council shall draw up the provisional agenda.

(b) Except for imperative and unforeseeable reasons linked, for example, to current international events, no other configuration of the Council or preparatory body may, between the session of the General Affairs Council at the end of which the provisional agenda for the European Council is drawn up and the European Council meeting, discuss any subject submitted to the European Council.

(c) The European Council shall adopt its agenda at the beginning of its meeting. As a rule, issues entered on the agenda should have been examined beforehand, in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph.

4. The General Affairs Council shall ensure consistency and continuity in the work of the different Council configurations in the framework of multiannual programmes in cooperation with the Commission in accordance with paragraph 6 (6).

5. The Foreign Affairs Council shall elaborate the Union's external action on the basis of strategic guidelines laid down by the European Council and ensure that the Union's action is consistent (7). It shall be responsible for the whole of the European Union's external action, namely common foreign and security policy, common security and defence policy, common commercial policy, development cooperation and humanitarian aid.

The Foreign Affairs Council shall be chaired by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, who may, where necessary, ask to be replaced by the member of that configuration representing the Member State holding the six-monthly presidency of the Council (8).

6. Every 18 months, the pre-established group of three Member States holding the Presidency of the Council for that period, in accordance with Article 1(4), shall prepare a draft programme of Council activities for that period. The draft shall be prepared with the President of the Foreign Affairs Council with regard to that configuration's activities during that period. The draft programme shall be prepared in close cooperation with the Commission and the President of the European Council, and after appropriate consultations. It shall be presented in a single document no later than one month before the relevant period, with a view to its endorsement by the General Affairs Council (9).

7. The Presidency which is to hold office in the relevant period shall establish, for each Council configuration, and after appropriate consultations, draft agendas for Council meetings scheduled for the next six-month period, showing the legislative work and operational decisions envisaged. These draft agendas shall be established at the latest one week before the beginning of the relevant six-month period, on the basis of the Council's 18-month programme and after consulting the Commission. They shall be set out in a single document applying to all Council configurations. Where necessary, extra Council meetings may be provided for, in addition to those previously planned.

If during a six-month period any of the meetings planned during that period proves to be no longer warranted, the Presidency shall not convene it.

Article 3 (10)

Agenda

1. Taking into account the Council's 18-month programme, the President shall draw up the provisional agenda for each meeting. The agenda shall be sent to the other members of the Council and to the Commission at least 14 days before the beginning of the meeting. It shall be forwarded to Member States’ national Parliaments at the same time.

2. The provisional agenda shall contain the items in respect of which a request for inclusion on the agenda, together with any documents relating thereto, has been received by the General Secretariat from a member of the Council or from the Commission at least 16 days before the beginning of that meeting. The provisional agenda shall also indicate by way of an asterisk the items on which the Presidency, a member of the Council or the Commission may request a vote. Such an indication shall be made once all the procedural requirements provided for by the Treaties have been complied with.

3. In cases in which the eight-week period provided for in the Protocol on the role of national Parliaments in the European Union and the Protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality is applicable, items relating to the adoption of a legislative act or a position at first reading in the ordinary legislative procedure shall not be placed on the provisional agenda for a decision until that eight-week period has elapsed.

The Council may derogate from the eight-week period referred to in the first subparagraph where the entry of an item is subject to the exception on grounds of urgency provided for in Article 4 of the Protocol on the role of national Parliaments in the European Union. The Council shall decide in accordance with the voting rule applicable for the adoption of the act or position concerned.

Save in urgent cases for which due reasons have been given, a ten-day period shall elapse between the placing of a draft legislative act on the provisional agenda for the Council and the adoption of a position (11).

4. Only items in respect of which the documents have been sent to the members of the Council and to the Commission at the latest by the date on which the provisional agenda is sent may be placed on that agenda.

5. The General Secretariat shall transmit to the members of the Council and to the Commission requests for the inclusion of items in the agenda and documents in respect of which the time limits specified above were not respected.

If, by the end of the week preceding the week prior to a Council meeting, Coreper has not completed its examination of draft legislative acts, the Presidency shall, unless considerations of urgency require otherwise and without prejudice to paragraph 3, remove them from the provisional agenda.

6. The provisional agenda shall be divided into two parts, dealing respectively with deliberations on legislative acts and non-legislative activities. The first part shall be entitled ‘Legislative deliberations’ and the second ‘Non-legislative activities’.

The items appearing in each part of the provisional agenda shall be divided into A items and B items. Items for which approval by the Council is possible without discussion shall be entered as A items, but this does not exclude the possibility of any member of the Council or of the Commission expressing an opinion at the time of the approval of these items and having statements included in the minutes.

7. The agenda shall be adopted by the Council at the beginning of each meeting. The inclusion in the agenda of an item other than those appearing on the provisional agenda shall require unanimity in the Council. Items entered in this way may be put to the vote if all the procedural requirements provided for by the Treaties have been complied with.

8. However, an ‘A’ item shall be withdrawn from the agenda, unless the Council decides otherwise, if a position on an ‘A’ item might lead to further discussion thereof or if a member of the Council or the Commission so requests.

9. Any request for the inclusion of an ‘Any other business’ item shall be accompanied by an explanatory document.

Article 4

Representation of a Council member unable to attend

Subject to the provisions of Article 11 on the delegation of voting rights, a member of the Council who is prevented from attending a meeting may arrange to be represented.

Article 5

Meetings

1. The Council shall meet in public when it deliberates and votes on a draft legislative act (12). In other cases, meetings of the Council shall not be public except in the cases referred to in Article 8.

2. The Commission shall be invited to take part in meetings of the Council. The same applies to the European Central Bank in cases where it exercises its right of initiative. The Council may, however, decide to deliberate without the presence of the Commission or of the European Central Bank.

3. The members of the Council and of the Commission may be accompanied by officials who assist them. The names and functions of those officials shall be notified in advance to the General Secretariat. The maximum number of persons per delegation in the Council meeting room at the same time, including members of the Council, may be laid down by the Council.

4. Admission to meetings of the Council shall be subject to the production of a pass delivered by the General Secretariat.

Article 6

Professional secrecy and production of documents in legal proceedings

1. Without prejudice to Articles 7, 8 and 9 and to provisions on public access to documents, the deliberations of the Council shall be covered by the obligation of professional secrecy, except in so far as the Council decides otherwise.

2. The Council or Coreper may authorise the production for use in legal proceedings of a copy of or an extract from Council documents which have not already been released to the public in accordance with the provisions on public access to documents.

Article 7

Legislative procedure and openness

1. The Council shall meet in public when it deliberates and votes on a draft legislative act. To that end, its agenda shall include a part entitled ‘Legislative deliberations’.

2. Documents submitted to the Council which are listed under an item on the ‘Legislative deliberations’ part of its agenda shall be made public, and likewise those sections of the Council minutes which relate to that part of the agenda.

3. The opening to the public of Council meetings relating to the ‘Legislative deliberations’ part of its agenda shall be made through public transmission by audiovisual means, notably in an overflow room and through broadcasting in all official languages of the institutions of the European Union using video-streaming. A recorded version shall remain available for at least one month on the Council's Internet site. The outcome of voting shall be indicated by visual means.

The General Secretariat shall take steps to inform the public in advance of the dates and approximate time on which such audiovisual transmissions will take place and shall take all practical measures to ensure the proper implementation of this Article.

4. The results of votes and explanations of votes by members of the Council or their representatives on the Conciliation Committee provided for under the ordinary legislative procedure, as well as the statements in the Council minutes and the items in those minutes relating to the Conciliation Committee meeting shall be made public.

5. Where legislative proposals or initiatives are submitted to it the Council shall refrain from adopting acts which are not provided for by the Treaties, such as resolutions, conclusions or declarations other than those accompanying the adoption of the act and intended for entry in the Council minutes.

Article 8

Other cases of Council deliberations open to the public and public debates

1. Where a non-legislative proposal is submitted to the Council relating to the adoption of rules which are legally binding in or for the Member States, by means of regulations, directives or decisions, on the basis of the relevant provisions of the Treaties, with the exception of internal measures, administrative or budgetary acts, acts concerning interinstitutional or international relations or non-binding acts (such as conclusions, recommendations or resolutions), the Council's first deliberation on important new proposals shall be open to the public. The Presidency shall identify which new proposals are important and the Council or Coreper may decide otherwise, whenever appropriate.

The Presidency may decide, on a case-by-case basis, that the subsequent Council deliberations on one of the proposals referred to in the first subparagraph shall be open to the public, unless the Council or Coreper decides otherwise.

2. On a decision taken by the Council or by Coreper, acting by a qualified majority, the Council shall hold public debates on important issues affecting the interests of the European Union and its citizens.

It shall be for the Presidency, any member of the Council, or the Commission to propose issues or specific subjects for such debates, taking into account the importance of the matter and its interest to citizens.

3. The General Affairs Council shall hold a public policy debate on the Council's 18-month programme. Policy debates in other Council configurations on their priorities shall also be held in public. The Commission's presentation of its five-year programme, of its annual work programme and of its annual policy strategy, as well as the ensuing debate in the Council, shall be public.

4. As from the sending of the provisional agenda pursuant to Article 3:

(a) those items on the agenda of the Council which are open to the public in accordance with paragraph 1 shall be marked with the words ‘public deliberation’;

(b) those items on the agenda of the Council which are open to the public in accordance with paragraphs 2 and 3 shall be marked with the words ‘public debate’.

The opening to the public of Council deliberations and public debates in accordance with this Article shall be made through public transmission as described in Article 7(3).

Article 9

Making votes, explanations of votes and minutes public in other cases

1. Where the Council adopts non-legislative acts referred to in Article 8(1), the results of votes and explanations of votes by Council members, as well as the statements in the Council minutes and the items in those minutes relating to the adoption of such acts, shall be made public.

2. Moreover, the results of votes shall be made public:

(a) when the Council acts pursuant to Title V of the TEU, by a unanimous Council or Coreper decision taken at the request of one of their members;

(b) in other cases, by Council or Coreper decision taken at the request of one of their members.

When the result of a vote in the Council is made public in accordance with points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph, the explanations of votes made when the vote was taken shall also be made public at the request of the Council members concerned, with due regard for these Rules of Procedure, legal certainty and the interests of the Council.

Statements entered in the Council minutes and items in those minutes relating to the adoption of the acts referred to in points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph shall be made public by Council or Coreper decision taken at the request of one of their members.

3. Except in cases where Council deliberations are open to the public in accordance with Articles 7 and 8, votes shall not be made public in the case of discussions leading to indicative votes or the adoption of preparatory acts.

Article 10

Public access to Council documents

The specific provisions regarding public access to Council documents are set out in Annex II.

Article 11

Voting arrangements and quorum

1. The Council shall vote on the initiative of its President.

The President shall, furthermore, be required to open a voting procedure on the initiative of a member of the Council or of the Commission, provided that a majority of the Council's members so decides.

2. The members of the Council shall vote in the order of the Member States laid down in the list of successive presidencies, beginning with the member who, according to that order, follows the member holding the office of President.

3. Where a vote is taken, any member of the Council may also act on behalf of not more than one other member (13).

4. The presence of a majority of the members of the Council who are, under the Treaties, entitled to vote is required to enable the Council to vote. When the vote is taken, the President, assisted by the General Secretariat, shall check that there is a quorum.

5. Until 31 October 2014, when a decision is to be adopted by the Council by a qualified majority, and if a member of the Council so requests, it shall be verified that the Member States constituting the qualified majority represent at least 62 % of the total population of the European Union calculated according to the population figures set out in Article 1 of Annex III. This paragraph shall also apply between 1 November 2014 and 31 March 2017 when a member of the Council so requests in accordance with Article 3(2) of the Protocol on transitional provisions.

Article 12

Ordinary written procedure and silence procedure

1. Acts of the Council on an urgent matter may be adopted by a written vote where the Council or Coreper unanimously decides to use that procedure. In special circumstances, the President may also propose the use of that procedure; in such a case, written votes may be used where all members of the Council agree to that procedure.

Agreement by the Commission to the use of the written procedure shall be required where the written vote is on a matter which the Commission has brought before the Council.

A summary of acts adopted by the written procedure shall be drawn up every month by the General Secretariat. That summary shall contain any statements to be entered in the Council minutes. The sections of the summary which relate to adoption of legislative acts shall be made public.

2. On the initiative of the Presidency, the Council may act by means of a simplified written procedure called ‘silence procedure’:

(a) for the purpose of adopting the text of a reply to a written question or, as appropriate, to an oral question submitted to the Council by a Member of the European Parliament, after the draft reply has been examined by Coreper (14):

(b) for the purpose of appointing Members, and their alternates, of the Economic and Social Committee and of the Committee of the Regions, after the draft decision has been examined by Coreper;

(c) for the purpose of deciding to consult other institutions, bodies, offices or agencies wherever such consultation is required by the Treaties;

(d) for the purpose of implementing the common foreign and security policy through the ‘COREU’ network (‘COREU silence procedure’) (15).

In that case, the relevant text shall be deemed to be adopted at the end of the period laid down by the Presidency depending on the urgency of the matter, except where a member of the Council objects.

3. The General Secretariat shall establish that the written procedures have been completed.

Article 13

Minutes

1. Minutes of each meeting shall be drawn up and, when approved, shall be signed by the Secretary-General. He or she may delegate his or her power to sign to Directors-General of the General Secretariat.

The minutes shall as a general rule contain in respect of each item on the agenda:

— a reference to the documents submitted to the Council,

— the decisions taken or the conclusions reached by the Council,

— the statements made by the Council and those whose entry has been requested by a member of the Council or the Commission.

2. The draft minutes shall be drawn up by the General Secretariat within 15 days and submitted to the Council or to Coreper for approval.

3. Prior to such approval any member of the Council, or the Commission, may request that more details be inserted in the minutes regarding any item on the agenda. These requests may be made in Coreper.

4. The minutes of the ‘Legislative deliberations’ part of meetings of the Council, once approved, shall be forwarded directly to national Parliaments, at the same time as to Member States’ governments.

Article 14

Deliberations and decisions on the basis of documents and drafts drawn up in the languages provided for by the language rules in force

1. Except as otherwise decided unanimously by the Council on grounds of urgency, the Council shall deliberate and take decisions only on the basis of documents and drafts drawn up in the languages specified in the rules in force governing languages.

2. Any member of the Council may oppose discussion if the texts of any proposed amendments are not drawn up in such of the languages referred to in paragraph 1 as he or she may specify.

Article 15

Signing of acts

The text of the acts adopted by the Council and that of the acts adopted by the European Parliament and the Council in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure shall be signed by the President in office at the time of their adoption and by the Secretary-General. The Secretary-General may delegate his or her power to sign to Directors-General of the General Secretariat.

Article 16 (16)

Absence of the possibility to participate in the vote

For the purposes of application of these Rules of Procedure, due account will be taken, in accordance with Annex IV, of cases in which, under the Treaties, one or more members of the Council may not participate in the vote.

Article 17

Publication of acts in the Official Journal

1. The following shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Official Journal’) by the Secretary-General:

(a) the acts referred to in paragraph 1 and the second subparagraph of paragraph 2 of Article 297 of the TFEU;

(b) the positions at first reading adopted by the Council in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, and the reasons underlying those positions;

(c) the initiatives presented to the Council in accordance with Article 76 of the TFEU for the adoption of a legislative act;

(d) international agreements concluded by the Union. Reference shall be made in the Official Journal to the entry into force of such agreements;

(e) international agreements concluded by the Union in matters concerning the common foreign and security policy, unless the Council decides otherwise on the grounds of Articles 4 and 9 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (17). Reference shall be made in the Official Journal to the entry into force of agreements published in the Official Journal.

2. Unless the Council or Coreper decides otherwise, the following shall be published in the Official Journal by the Secretary-General:

(a) initiatives presented to the Council in accordance with Article 76 of the TFEU in cases other than those referred to in paragraph 1(c);

(b) directives and decisions referred to in the third subparagraph of Article 297(2) of the TFEU, recommendations and opinions, with the exception of the decisions referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article.

3. The Council or Coreper shall decide unanimously, on a case-by-case basis, whether there should be publication in the Official Journal by the Secretary-General of the decisions referred to in Article 25 of the TEU.

4. The Council or Coreper shall decide, on a case-by-case basis and taking account of possible publication of the basic act, whether the following should be published in the Official Journal by the Secretary-General:

(a) the decisions implementing the decisions referred to in Article 25 of the TEU;

(b) the decisions adopted in accordance with the first and second indents of Article 31(2) of the TEU;

(c) other Council acts, such as conclusions or resolutions.

5. Where an agreement concluded between the Union or the European Atomic Energy Community and one or more States or international organisations sets up a body vested with powers of decision, the Council shall decide, when such an agreement is concluded, whether decisions to be taken by that body should be published in the Official Journal.

Article 18

Notification of acts

1. Directives and decisions referred to in the third subparagraph of Article 297(2) of the TFEU shall be notified to their addressees by the Secretary-General or a Director-General acting on his or her behalf.

2. When they are not published in the Official Journal, the following acts shall be notified to their addressees by the Secretary-General or a Director-General acting on his or her behalf:

(a) recommendations;

(b) the decisions referred to in Article 25 of the TEU;

3. The Secretary-General or a Director-General acting on his or her behalf shall send to the Governments of the Member States and to the Commission certified copies of the Council directives and decisions referred to in the third subparagraph of Article 297(2) of the TFEU and of Council recommendations.

Article 19 (18)

Coreper, committees and working parties

1. Coreper shall be responsible for preparing the work of all the meetings of the Council and for carrying out the tasks assigned to it by the Council. It shall in any case (19) ensure consistency of the European Union's policies and actions and see to it that the following principles and rules are observed:

(a) the principles of legality, subsidiarity, proportionality and providing reasons for acts;

(b) rules establishing the powers of Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies;

(c) budgetary provisions;

(d) rules on procedure, transparency and the quality of drafting.

2. All items on the agenda for a Council meeting shall be examined in advance by Coreper unless the latter decides otherwise. Coreper shall endeavour to reach agreement at its level to be submitted to the Council for adoption. It shall ensure adequate presentation of the dossiers to the Council and, where appropriate, shall present guidelines, options or suggested solutions. In the event of an emergency, the Council, acting unanimously, may decide to settle the matter without prior examination.

3. Committees or working parties may be set up by, or with the approval of, Coreper with a view to carrying out certain preparatory work or studies defined in advance.

The General Secretariat shall update and make public the list of preparatory bodies. Only the committees and working parties on this list may meet as Council preparatory bodies.

4. Coreper shall be chaired, depending on the items on the agenda, by the Permanent Representative or the Deputy Permanent Representative of the Member State which holds the Presidency of the General Affairs Council.

The Political and Security Committee shall be chaired by a representative of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

The preparatory bodies of the various Council configurations, with the exception of the Foreign Affairs configuration, shall be chaired by a delegate of the Member State chairing the relevant configuration, unless the Council, acting by a qualified majority, decides otherwise. The list referred to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 3 shall also identify those preparatory bodies for which the Council has made other chairing arrangements, in accordance with Article 4 of the European Council Decision on the exercise of the Presidency of the Council.

5. For the preparation of meetings of Council configurations meeting once every six months, where held during the first half of this period, the meetings of committees other than Coreper and those of working parties held during the preceding six months shall be chaired by a delegate of the Member State whose turn it is to chair the said Council meetings.

6. Except where other chairing arrangements apply, when a dossier will essentially be dealt with during a six-month period, a delegate of the Member State holding the Presidency during that six-month period may, during the preceding six-month period, chair meetings of committees, other than Coreper, and working parties when they discuss that dossier. The practical implementation of this paragraph shall be the subject of an agreement between the two Presidencies concerned.

In the specific case of the examination of the budget of the Union for a given financial year, meetings of Council preparatory bodies, other than Coreper, dealing with the preparation of Council agenda items on the examination of the budget shall be chaired by a delegate of the Member State which will hold the Council Presidency during the second six-month period of the year prior to the financial year in question. The same shall apply, with the agreement of the other Presidency, to the chairing of Council meetings at the time when the said budget items are discussed. The Presidencies concerned will consult on the practical arrangements.

7. In accordance with the relevant provisions referred to below, Coreper may adopt the following procedural decisions, provided that the items relating thereto have been included on its provisional agenda at least three working days before the meeting. Unanimity on the part of Coreper shall be required for any derogation from that period (20):

(a) decision to hold a Council meeting in a place other than Brussels or Luxembourg (Article 1(3));

(b) authorisation to produce a copy of or an extract from a Council document for use in legal proceedings (Article 6(2));

(c) decision to hold a public debate in the Council or not to hold in public a given Council deliberation (Article 8(1), (2) and (3));

(d) decision to make the results of votes and the statements entered in the Council minutes public in the cases laid down in Article 9(2);

(e) decision to use the written procedure (Article 12(1));

(f) approval or amendment of Council minutes (Article 13(2) and (3));

(g) decision to publish or not to publish a text or an act in the Official Journal (Article 17(2), (3) and (4));

(h) decision to consult an institution or body wherever such consultation is not required by the Treaties;

(i) decision setting or extending a time limit for consultation of an institution or body;

(j) decision to extend the periods laid down in Article 294(14) of the TFEU;

(k) approval of the wording of a letter to be sent to an institution or body.

Article 20

The Presidency and the smooth conduct of discussions

1. The Presidency shall be responsible for the application of these Rules of Procedure and for ensuring that discussions are conducted smoothly. In particular, the Presidency shall ensure that the provisions of Annex V concerning the Council's working methods are complied with.

To ensure that discussions are conducted properly it may also, unless the Council decides otherwise, take any appropriate measure necessary to achieve the best possible use of the time available during meetings and in particular:

(a) restrict the numbers per delegation present in the meeting room for discussion of a particular item, and decide whether to authorise the opening of an overflow room;

(b) set the order in which items are to be taken and determine the duration of discussions on them;

(c) organise the time allotted for discussion of a particular item, in particular through limiting the time during which participants may speak and determining the order in which they may take the floor;

(d) ask delegations to present in writing their proposals for amendment of a text under discussion before a given date, together with a brief explanation if appropriate;

(e) ask delegations which have identical or similar positions on a particular item, on a text or on part of a text to choose one of them to express their shared position at the meeting or in writing before the meeting.

2. Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 19(4) to (6) and to its powers and its overall political responsibility, the six-monthly Presidency shall be assisted in all its responsibilities by the other members of the pre-established group of three Member States referred to in Article 1(4) on the basis of the 18-month programme or pursuant to other arrangements agreed between them. It shall also be assisted, where appropriate, by the representative of the Member State next holding the Presidency. At the Presidency's request and acting on its instructions, that representative or a member of that group shall replace it as and when required, shall relieve it, where necessary, of certain tasks and shall ensure the continuity of the Council's proceedings.

Article 21 (21) (22)

Reports from committees and working parties

Notwithstanding the other provisions of these Rules of Procedure, the Presidency shall organise the meetings of the various committees and working parties so that their reports are available before the Coreper meetings at which they are to be examined.

Unless considerations of urgency require otherwise, the Presidency shall postpone to a subsequent Coreper meeting any legislative acts on which the committee or working party has not completed its discussions at least five working days prior to Coreper's meeting.

Article 22

Quality of drafting (23)

In order to assist the Council in its task of ensuring the drafting quality of the legislative acts which it adopts, the Legal Service shall be responsible for checking the drafting quality of proposals and draft acts at the appropriate stage, as well as for bringing drafting suggestions to the attention of the Council and its bodies, pursuant to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 22 December 1998 on common guidelines for the quality of drafting of Community legislation (24).

Throughout the legislative process, those who submit texts in connection with the Council's proceedings shall pay special attention to the quality of the drafting.

Article 23

The Secretary-General and the General Secretariat

1. The Council shall be assisted by a General Secretariat, under the responsibility of a Secretary-General appointed by the Council acting by a qualified majority.

2. The Council shall decide on the organisation of the General Secretariat (25).

Under its authority the Secretary-General shall take all the measures necessary to ensure the smooth running of the General Secretariat.

3. The General Secretariat shall be closely and continually involved in organising, coordinating and ensuring the coherence of the Council's work and implementation of its 18-month programme. Under the responsibility and guidance of the Presidency, it shall assist the latter in seeking solutions.

4. The Secretary-General shall submit to the Council the draft estimate of the expenditure of the Council in sufficient time to ensure that the time limits laid down by the financial provisions are met.

5. The Secretary-General shall have full responsibility for administering the appropriations entered in Section II - European Council and Council - of the budget and shall take all measures necessary to ensure that they are properly managed. He or she shall implement the appropriations in question in accordance with the provisions of the Financial Regulation applicable to the budget of the Union.

Article 24

Security

The rules on security shall be adopted by the Council acting by a qualified majority.

Article 25

Duties as depositary of agreements

In the event of the Secretary-General of the Council being designated as depositary of an agreement concluded by the Union or the European Atomic Energy Community and one or more States or international organisations, the acts of ratification, acceptance or approval of those agreements shall be deposited at the address of the Council.

In such instances the Secretary-General shall perform the duties of a depositary and shall also ensure that the dates of entry into force of such agreements are published in the Official Journal.

Article 26

Representation before the European Parliament

The Council shall be represented before the European Parliament or its committees by the Presidency or, with the latter's agreement, by a member of the pre-established group of three Member States referred to in Article 1(4), by the following Presidency or by the Secretary-General. The Council may also be represented before European Parliament committees by senior officials of the General Secretariat, acting on instructions from the Presidency.

The Foreign Affairs Council shall be represented before the European Parliament or its committees by its President. He or she may, where necessary, ask to be replaced by the member of that configuration representing the Member State holding the six-monthly presidency of the Council. On instructions from its President, the Foreign Affairs Council may also be represented before European Parliament committees by senior officials of the European External Action Service or, where appropriate, of the General Secretariat.

The Council may also present its views to the European Parliament by means of a written statement.

Article 27

Provisions concerning the form of acts

The provisions concerning the form of acts are set out in Annex VI.

Article 28

Correspondence addressed to the Council

Correspondence to the Council shall be sent to the President at the following address of the Council: