RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE COUNCIL

Article 1

Notice and venue of meetings

1. The Council shall meet when convened by its President on his own initiative or at the request of one of its members or of the Commission (2).

2. Seven months before the beginning of its term of office, after consulting the Presidencies preceding and following its term of office where appropriate, 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.

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 (3).

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

Article 2

Configurations of the Council, role of the General Affairs and External Relations Council and programming

1. The Council may meet in different configurations according to the subject-matter dealt with. The Council in its General Affairs and External Relations configuration (hereinafter referred to as General Affairs and External Relations Council), convened in a meeting as referred to in paragraph 2(a), shall fix the list of these configurations, which is set out in Annex I.

2. The General Affairs and External Relations Council shall cover the following two main areas of activity, for which it shall hold separate meetings, with separate agendas and possibly on different dates, dealing respectively with:

(a) preparation for and follow-up to the European Council meetings, including the necessary coordination of all preparatory work, overall coordination of policies, institutional and administrative questions, horizontal dossiers which affect several of the European Union's policies and any dossier entrusted to it by the European Council, having regard to operating rules for the Economic and Monetary Union;

(b) the whole of the European Union's external action, namely common foreign and security policy, European security and defence policy, foreign trade, development cooperation and humanitarian aid.

3. For the purpose of preparing the meetings of the European Council, the General Affairs and External Relations Council convened in a meeting as referred to in paragraph (2)(a) shall:

(a) draw up an annotated draft agenda on a proposal by the Presidency at least four weeks before the meeting of the European Council;

(b) hold a final preparatory meeting on the eve of the European Council meeting and approve the agenda.

Contributions to the proceedings of the European Council by other Council configurations shall be forwarded to the General Affairs and External Relations Council, convened in a meeting as referred to in paragraph (2)(a), at the latest two weeks before the meeting of the European Council.

Except for urgent and unforeseeable reasons linked, for example, to current international events, no other configuration of the Council or Council preparatory committee may meet between the final preparatory meeting referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph and the European Council meeting.

The measures necessary for the practical organisation of the European Council's proceedings shall be taken by the Presidency in liaison with the General Secretariat, in accordance with the rules on which the European Council itself has agreed.

4. Every 18 months, the three Presidencies due to hold office shall prepare, in close cooperation with the Commission, and after appropriate consultations, a draft programme of Council activities for that period. The three Presidencies shall jointly submit the draft programme no later than one month before the relevant period, with a view to its endorsement by the General Affairs and External Relations Council, convened in a meeting as referred to in paragraph 2(a) (4).

5. The incoming Presidency shall establish indicative provisional agendas for Council meetings scheduled for the next six-month period, showing the legislative work and operational decisions envisaged. These indicative provisional agendas shall be established at the latest one week before the beginning of its term of office, on the basis of the Council's 18-month programme and after consulting the Commission. Where necessary, extra Council meetings may be provided for, in addition to those previously planned.

Similar indicative provisional agendas for Council meetings scheduled for the six-month period following that referred to in the first subparagraph shall be established by the Presidency concerned, after consulting the Commission and the next Presidency, at the latest one week before the beginning of its term of office.

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 (5)

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.

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. Items relating to the adoption of an act or a common position on a legislative proposal or a proposal for a measure to be adopted under Title VI of the Treaty on European Union (hereinafter referred to as the EU Treaty) shall not be placed on the provisional agenda for a decision until the six-week period provided for in point 3 of the Protocol on the role of national parliaments in the European Union has elapsed.

The Council may unanimously derogate from the six-week period where the entry of an item is subject to the exception on grounds of urgency provided for in point 3 of that Protocol.

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 legislative items within the meaning of Article 7, the Presidency shall, unless considerations of urgency require otherwise and without prejudice to paragraph 2, remove them from the provisional agenda.

6. The provisional agenda shall be divided into Part A and Part B. Items for which approval by the Council is possible without discussion shall be included in Part A, 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. 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 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

Cases where the Council acts in its legislative capacity

The Council acts in its legislative capacity within the meaning of the second subparagraph of Article 207(3) of the EC Treaty when it adopts rules which are legally binding in or for the Member States, by means of regulations, directives, framework decisions or decisions, on the basis of the relevant provisions of the Treaties, with the exception of discussions leading to the adoption of internal measures, administrative or budgetary acts, acts concerning interinstitutional or international relations or non-binding acts (such as conclusions, recommendations or resolutions).

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 referred to in Article 9.

Article 8

Council deliberations open to the public and public debates

1. Council deliberations on legislative acts to be adopted in accordance with the codecision procedure under Article 251 of the EC Treaty shall be open to the public as follows:

(a) the presentation, if any, by the Commission of its legislative proposals and the ensuing deliberation in the Council shall be open to the public;

(b) the vote on such legislative acts shall be open to the public, as well as the final Council deliberations leading to that vote and the explanations of voting accompanying it;

(c) all other Council deliberations on such legislative acts shall be open to the public, unless, on a case by case basis, the Council or Coreper decides otherwise with regard to a given deliberation.

2. The Council's first deliberation on important new legislative proposals other than those to be adopted in accordance with the codecision procedure shall be open to the public. The Presidency shall identify which new legislative 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 a particular legislative act shall be open to the public, unless the Council or Coreper decides otherwise.

3. 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.

4. The General Affairs and External Relations Council convened in a meeting as referred to in Article 2(2)(a) 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.

5. 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 paragraphs 1 and 2 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 3 and 4 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 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 as far as possible 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.

Article 9

Making public votes, explanations of votes and minutes

1. In addition to cases where Council deliberations are open to the public under Article 8(1), where the Council acts in its legislative capacity within the meaning of Article 7, 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 legislative acts, shall be made public.

The same rule shall apply for:

(a) results of votes and explanations of votes, as well as the statements in the Council minutes and the items in those minutes relating to the adoption of a common position pursuant to Article 251 or Article 252 of the EC Treaty;

(b) results of votes and explanations of votes by members of the Council or their representatives on the Conciliation Committee set up by Article 251 of the EC Treaty, as well as the statements in the Council minutes and the items in those minutes relating to the Conciliation Committee meeting;

(c) results of votes and explanations of votes, as well as the statements in the Council minutes and the items in those minutes relating to the establishment by the Council of a convention on the basis of Title VI of the EU Treaty.

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

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

(b) when the Council adopts a common position within the meaning of Title VI of the EU Treaty, by a unanimous Council or Coreper decision taken at the request of one of their members;

(c) 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), (b) and (c) 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), (b) and (c) 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 Article 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 Article 203 of the EC Treaty and in Article 116 of the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (hereinafter referred to as the Euratom Treaty), 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 (6).

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. 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.

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.

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 (7);

(b) for the purpose of appointing Members of the European Economic and Social Committee and Members, and their alternates, 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 or bodies 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) (8).

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/High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (hereinafter referred to as the Secretary-General) or the Deputy Secretary-General. They may delegate their power to sign to Directors-General of the General Secretariat.

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

— 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.

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 jointly by the European Parliament and the Council shall be signed by the President-in-Office at the time of their adoption and by the Secretary-General or the Deputy Secretary-General. The Secretary-General and the Deputy Secretary-General may delegate their power to sign to Directors-General of the General Secretariat.

Article 16 (9)

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 or the Deputy Secretary-General:

(a) the acts referred to in Article 254(1) and (2) of the EC Treaty;

(b) the acts referred to in the first paragraph of Article 163 of the Euratom Treaty;

(c) the common positions adopted by the Council in accordance with the procedures referred to in Articles 251 and 252 of the EC Treaty, and the reasons underlying those common positions;

(d) the framework decisions and decisions referred to in Article 34(2) of the EU Treaty;

(e) the conventions established by the Council in accordance with Article 34(2) of the EU Treaty. Reference shall be made in the Official Journal to the entry into force of such conventions;

(f) the conventions signed between Member States on the basis of Article 293 of the EC Treaty. Reference shall be made in the Official Journal to the entry into force of such conventions;

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

(h) international agreements concluded in accordance with Article 24 of the EU Treaty, 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 (10). Reference shall be made in the Official Journal to the entry into force of such agreements.

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

(a) initiatives presented to the Council by a Member State pursuant to Article 67(1) of the EC Treaty;

(b) initiatives presented to the Council by a Member State pursuant to Article 34(2) of the EU Treaty;

(c) the common positions referred to in Article 34(2) of the EU Treaty;

(d) directives other than those referred to in Article 254(1) and (2) of the EC Treaty, decisions other than those referred to in Article 254(1) of the EC Treaty, recommendations and opinions.

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 or the Deputy Secretary-General of the common strategies, the joint actions and the common positions referred to in Article 12 of the EU Treaty.

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 or the Deputy Secretary-General:

(a) the measures implementing the joint actions referred to in Article 12 of the EU Treaty;

(b) the joint actions, the common positions or any other decision adopted on the basis of a common strategy, as provided for in the first indent of Article 23(2) of the EU Treaty;

(c) any measures implementing the decisions referred to in Article 34(2) of the EU Treaty and any measures implementing conventions drawn up by the Council in accordance with Article 34(2) of the EU Treaty;

(d) other Council acts, such as sui generis decisions or resolutions.

5. Where an agreement concluded between the Communities 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 other than those referred to in Article 254(1) and (2) of the EC Treaty and Decisions other than those referred to in Article 254(1) of the EC Treaty shall be notified to their addressees by the Secretary-General, the Deputy Secretary-General or a Director-General acting on their behalf.

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

(a) recommendations;

(b) the common strategies, joint actions and common positions referred to in Article 12 of the EU Treaty;

(c) the common positions referred to in Article 34(2) of the EU Treaty;

(d) measures implementing the acts adopted on the basis of Articles 12 and 34 of the EU Treaty.

3. The Secretary-General, the Deputy Secretary-General or a Director-General acting on their behalf shall send to the Governments of the Member States and to the Commission authentic copies of Council directives other than those referred to in Article 254(1) and (2) of the EC Treaty and Council decisions and recommendations.

Article 19 (11)

Coreper, committees and working parties

1. Coreper shall be responsible for preparing the work of the Council and for carrying out the tasks assigned to it by the Council. It shall in any case (12) 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 and bodies;

(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 Council. Unless the Council decides otherwise, the various committees provided for in the Treaties shall also be chaired by a delegate of that Member State. The same shall apply to the committees and working parties referred to in paragraph 3, unless Coreper decides otherwise.

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. 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 European Communities 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 (13):

(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)(c), (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 251(7) of the EC Treaty;

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

Article 20

The Presidency and the businesslike conduct of discussions

1. The Presidency shall be responsible for the application of these Rules of Procedure and for ensuring that discussions are conducted in a businesslike manner. In particular, the Presidency shall ensure that the provisions of Annex V concerning the working methods for an enlarged Council 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, text or part thereof 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 Presidency shall be assisted by the representative of the Member State next holding the Presidency. At the Presidency's request and acting on its instructions, the latter 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 (14) (15)

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 items within the meaning of Article 7 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 (16)

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 (17).

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, who shall be assisted by a Deputy Secretary-General responsible for the running of the General Secretariat. The Secretary-General and the Deputy Secretary-General shall be appointed by the Council acting by qualified majority.

2. The Council shall decide on the organisation of the General Secretariat (18).

Under its authority the Secretary-General and the Deputy 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.

In accordance with the provisions of the EU Treaty, the Secretary-General shall assist the Council and the Presidency in matters concerning the common foreign and security policy, including coordination of the work of the Special Representatives.

If appropriate, the Secretary-General may ask the Presidency to convene a committee or working party, in particular in relation to matters concerning the common foreign and security policy, or to place an item on the agenda for a committee or working party.

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

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 and conventions

In the event of the Secretary-General of the Council being designated as depositary of an agreement concluded in accordance with Article 24 of the EU Treaty or concluded by the Community and one or more States or international organisations, of a convention concluded between Member States or of a convention established pursuant to Article 34 of the EU Treaty, the acts of ratification, acceptance or approval of those agreements or conventions 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 or conventions are published in the Official Journal.

Article 26

Representation before the European Parliament

The Council may be represented before the European Parliament or its committees by the Presidency or, with the latter's agreement, by the following Presidency or by the Secretary-General. The Council may also be represented before those committees by its Deputy Secretary-General or senior officials of the General Secretariat, acting on instructions from the Presidency.

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: