ANNEX

Rules of procedure of the Ecodesign Consultation Forum

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to Directive 2005/32/EC and in particular Article 18 thereof,

Having regard to the standard rules of procedure published by the Commission,

HAS ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING RULES OF PROCEDURE:

Article 1

Convening a meeting

1. Meetings of the Forum are convened by the Chair.

2. Joint meetings of the Forum with other groups may be convened to discuss matters falling within their respective areas of responsibility.

Article 2

Agenda

1. The Chair shall draw up the agenda and submit it to the Forum.

2. The agenda shall make a distinction between:

(a) consultation of the interested parties in the Forum on: — the elaboration and the amendment of the working plan, in accordance with Article 16(1) of Directive 2005/32/EC, — the definition and review of implementing measures, in accordance with Articles 16(2) and 18 of Directive 2005/32/EC, — the examination of the effectiveness of the established market surveillance mechanisms, in accordance with Article 18 of Directive 2005/32/EC, — the assessment of voluntary agreements and other self-regulation measures, in accordance with Article 18 of Directive 2005/32/EC, — the review of the effectiveness of the Directive and of its implementing measures, the threshold for implementing measures, market surveillance mechanisms and any relevant self-regulation stimulated, in accordance with Article 23 of Directive 2005/32/EC;

(b) other issues put to the Forum for information or a simple exchange of views, either on the Chair's initiative, or at the written request of a member of the Forum, subject to the Chair's acceptance.

3. The agenda shall be adopted by the Forum at the start of the meeting.

Article 3

Forwarding of documents to members of the Forum

1. The Chair shall send the invitation to the meeting, the agenda and the working documents on which the interested parties in the Forum are to be consulted and any other working documents to the members of the Forum in accordance with Article 12(2) no later than one month before the date of the meeting.

2. Members of the Forum may submit complementary working documents and written statements to the Chair no later than one week before the date of the meeting. Such documents shall be made available to the members of the Forum upon reception.

3. In urgent cases, the Chair may, at the request of a member of the Forum, or on his own initiative, shorten the time limit for transmission referred to in paragraph 1 and 2 to five calendar days before the date of the meeting.

4. The Chair may decide to make documents originating from and provided by non-member interested parties available as working documents of the Forum.

Article 4

Opinions in the Forum

1. The Chair shall record the opinions expressed by the representatives of the Member States and the different interested parties in the Forum.

2. Opinions of the representatives of the Member States and interested parties may also take the form of written statements submitted in accordance with Article 3.

3. Complementary written statements, following the discussions in the Forum, may be submitted up to three weeks after the meeting date.

4. If necessary, the written procedure provided for in Article 8 may be applied.

Article 5

Representation

1. In order to ensure a balanced participation of relevant stakeholders in respect to each discussed product group, the Chair may invite non-member interested parties to discuss specific agenda items at certain meetings.

2. Each member of the Forum shall designate one person representing it at the Forum meetings and so inform the Chair. With the Chair's permission, the designated representatives may be accompanied by experts at the expense of the member. The members shall give prior notice to the Chair, at the latest two weeks before the meeting date, of the experts they wish to accompany their representatives. If the Chair does not object to the participation of the expert at the latest one week before the meeting date, the permission is considered to be granted.

3. A member may represent other members. The representing member shall provide evidence of the represented members' consent to the Chair in writing before the meeting.

4. Members shall ensure that stakeholders they represent are duly informed of the discussions in the Forum.

5. Members shall ensure adequate consultation of the stakeholders they represent and adopt representative opinions.

Article 6

Sub-groups

The Chair may create sub-groups to examine particular issues. The sub-groups shall be chaired by a representative of the Commission. The sub-groups shall report back to the Forum. To this end, they may appoint a rapporteur.

Article 7

Admission of third parties

The Chair may decide to invite third parties to attend a meeting and experts to speak on particular matters.

Article 8

Written procedure

1. If necessary, the opinions of the Member States and interested parties of the Forum may be delivered by written procedure. To this end, the Chair shall send the members of the Forum the working document(s) on which the opinions of the Member States and interested parties of the Forum are sought, in accordance with Article 12(2). The time limit for submitting comments may not be less than 14 calendar days and may not exceed one month.

2. In cases of urgency, the time limit provided for in Article 3(3) shall apply.

Article 9

Secretariat

The Commission shall provide secretarial support for the Forum.

Article 10

Minutes of meetings

1. The minutes of each meeting shall be drawn up under the auspices of the Chair containing, in particular, the opinions expressed at the meeting on working documents(s) prepared by the Commission services referred to in Article 2(2a) and, if necessary, the opinions expressed on the issues referred to in Article 2(2b). A reference list of the relevant written statements, submitted according to Article 4 shall be given in a separate annex. The minutes shall be sent to the members of the Forum, and to non-members that participated in the meeting, within one month.

2. The members of the Forum shall send any comments they may have on the minutes to the Chair in writing within two weeks. The Forum shall be informed of those comments. If there is any disagreement, the proposed amendment shall be discussed by the Forum. If the disagreement persists, that amendment shall be annexed to the minutes.

Article 11

Attendance list

At each meeting, the Chair shall draw up an attendance list specifying the name of each participant, the organisation to which he or she belongs, and, where appropriate, the interested party he or she represents.

Article 12

Correspondence

1. Correspondence relating to the Forum shall be addressed to the Commission by electronic means, for the attention of the Chair.

2. Correspondence for members of the Forum shall be addressed to the members by electronic means. Members shall designate the contact person(s) to which correspondence shall be sent and inform the Chair in writing.

Article 13

Protection of personal data

All processing of personal data for the purposes of these rules of procedure shall be in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001.