EN Official Journal of the European Union C 5/5

MANAGEMENT BOARD OF EUROPOL

RULES OF PROCEDURE

2012/C 5/03

THE MANAGEMENT BOARD,

Having regard to the Council Decision of 6 April 2009 (1) establishing the European Police Office (hereinafter referred to as ‘Europol Decision’) and in particular Article 37(9) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) the governance of Europol should be improved through simplified procedures, more general descriptions of the tasks of the Management Board and the establishment of a common rule that all decisions should be taken by a majority of two thirds (2);

(2) the Management Board is responsible for the performance of any tasks assigned to it by the Council, in particular in provisions implementing the Europol Decision (3);

(3) it is for the Management Board to establish its rules of procedure (4).

HAS ADOPTED THESE RULES OF PROCEDURE:

Article 1

Composition of the Management Board

1. The Management Board shall be composed of one representative of each Member State and one representative of the Commission. Each member of the Management Board may be represented by an alternate member. The Director shall participate in the meetings of the Management Board without the right to vote.

2. In accordance with Article 37(1) of the Europol Decision, 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.

3. The members and the Director may be accompanied at Management Board meetings by experts; the Chairperson of the Management Board may lay down their maximum number.

4. Member States and the Commission shall notify the Secretary of the Management Board of a member’s appointment and cessation of duties. The Secretary shall be responsible for keeping the list of members up-to-date and available to the Management Board and Europol.

Article 2

Chairperson of the Management Board

1. The Chairperson of the Management Board, or the Deputy Chairperson when the former is prevented from attending his or her duties, shall ensure the implementation of Article 37(3) of the Europol Decision.

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

Article 3

Secretariat of the Management Board

The Chairperson and the Management Board shall be supported by a Secretariat. The Management Board shall be responsible for the management of the Secretariat and its staff. In order to guarantee its independence, the Secretariat shall be accountable solely to the Management Board.

Article 4

Proceedings of the Management Board

1. The Management Board shall meet at least twice a year and shall act by a majority of two thirds of its members, unless otherwise stipulated in the Europol Decision.

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

In the cases mentioned in this paragraph, the Chairperson 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. The Management Board may establish working groups on any matter of its competence. Such working groups shall be governed by the following provisions:

(a) The Management Board shall clearly define their scope and tasks;

(b) Management Board members shall have the opportunity to be represented in the working groups. Representatives shall commit to participate actively in the working groups.

(c) Europol shall be invited to participate in the meetings of the working groups;

(d) Experts may be invited to attend the meetings of the working groups;

(e) Europol shall meet the travel expenses of one representative per delegation. Each delegation shall pay for the accommodation expenses of its representatives and experts.

In addition, Management Board working groups shall:

(f) be chaired by a Management Board member or a senior expert appointed by the Management Board;

(g) discuss and elaborate proposals to be submitted to the Management Board;

(h) conduct their business on the basis of oral information or documentation submitted at the latest two weeks before its meetings, unless otherwise decided by its Chairperson on grounds of urgency;

(i) hold their meetings with the language arrangements established by existing practice;

(j) report to the Management Board, through their Chairpersons, when required;

(k) be supported by the Management Board Secretariat.

(l) be dissolved upon completion of their tasks. If they have a long-term mandate, the need for their continuation shall be assessed yearly by the Management Board.

5. When the Chairperson of the Management Board considers that circumstances so dictate, he or she may invite the Management Board to take a decision or express its opinion on a particular matter through written procedures. Such procedures shall last for a standard period of 14 days, unless otherwise decided by the Chairperson on grounds of urgency.

Article 5

Agenda

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

2. The draft agenda shall contain the items requested by a member or by the Director, provided that the relevant documents are available to the Chairperson at least 16 days before the meeting.

3. Only items for which the relevant documents have been forwarded to the members and the Director no later than the date on which the draft agenda is sent out may be included on the draft agenda, unless otherwise decided by the Chairperson on grounds of urgency.

4. The Management Board shall adopt the agenda at the beginning of the meeting.

Article 6

Deliberations of the Management Board

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

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

3. The Board shall take decisions on the basis of documents drawn up in accordance with Article 2 of the ‘MB decision on the internal use of languages’.

Article 7

Voting at Management Board meetings

1. Each member shall have one vote. In the absence of the full member, the alternate member shall have the right to vote.

2. The Management Board shall proceed to a vote on the initiative of its Chairperson, who shall also put a matter to a vote at the request of any of the members, provided that a majority of two-thirds of the members agree.

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

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

Article 8

Adoption of Agreements

1. 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(4) of these rules.

2. Motions 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.

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

4. 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, the most extensive 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. Draft minutes of Management Board meetings shall be drawn up by the Secretariat under the responsibility of the Chairperson and shall include:

— a report on the discussions,

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

— a list of those present.

2. The Management Board shall approve the draft minutes at its next meeting. The draft minutes shall be submitted for the approval of the Management Board only if they have been sent to the members at least four weeks before the meeting. The draft minutes shall also be sent to the Director.

3. If the draft minutes have not been sent in due time, approval may be postponed until the following meeting. Where there is a very long interval between two meetings, the members may make their comments or express their agreement by written procedure.

4. Proposals for amendments to the draft minutes shall be submitted in writing to the Secretariat before the beginning of the meeting at which the draft minutes are to be approved.

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

Article 10

Correspondence

Correspondence addressed to the Management Board shall be forwarded to the headquarters of Europol for the attention of the Chairperson of the Management Board and shall be dealt with by the Secretary.

Article 11

Management Board expenses

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

2. Europol shall meet the expenses of experts invited to advice the Management Board in accordance with Article 4(3) of these rules of procedure.

Article 12

Entry into force of the rules of procedure

These rules shall enter into force on the date of application of the Europol Decision.

Article 13

Revision of the rules of procedure

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

Done at Bukowina Tatrzańska (Poland), 30 November 2011. For the Management Board Rafał ŁYSAKOWSKI Chairperson

(1) OJ L 121, 15.5.2009, p. 56.

(2) Preamble 19 of the Europol Decision.

(3) Article 37(9)(h) of the Europol Decision.

(4) Article 37(9)(i) of the Europol Decision.