EN Official Journal of the European Union C 40/2

ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENT BETWEEN THE KINGDOM OF SPAIN AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

(2006/C 40/02)

The Kingdom of Spain, of the one part, and the Council of the European Union, of the other part,

Having regard to the conclusions adopted by the Council on 13 June 2005 on the official use of additional languages within the Council and possibly other Institutions and bodies of the European Union,

Whereas there are languages within the Union other than those referred to in Council Regulation No 1/1958 whose status is recognised by the Constitution of a Member State in all or part of its territory or the use of which as a national language is authorised by law,

Whereas, in the framework of efforts being made to bring the Union closer to all its citizens, the richness of its linguistic diversity must be taken more into consideration, and whereas allowing citizens the possibility of using these other languages in their relations with the Institutions is an important factor in strengthening their identification with the European Union's political project,

Have agreed to conclude this ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENT to allow the official use at the Council of the languages other than Castilian (Spanish) whose status is recognised by the Spanish Constitution.

Written communications to the Council of the European Union

1. Where, in application of Spanish law, a Spanish citizen wishes to send the Council a communication written in a language other than Castilian (Spanish) whose status is recognised by the Spanish Constitution: (a) He shall send the communication to the competent body designated by the Spanish Government for that purpose, which shall forward it to the General Secretariat of the Council with a translation of the communication into Castilian (Spanish); the date of receipt of the communication, particularly in cases where the Council has a fixed period of time in which to reply to the citizen, shall be the date on which the Council receives the translation from that body. (b) The Council shall send its reply in Castilian (Spanish) to the said body, tasked by the Spanish Government with providing the citizen with a translation of the reply in the language of the communication. (c) In no case is the Council's responsibility engaged by these translations; a specific reference to this will be made in the text of the translations.

2. Where the citizen who wrote the communication has a fixed period of time in which to act on the Council's reply, and by derogation from paragraph 1(a), the Council will send its reply in Castilian (Spanish) directly to the citizen at the same time as to the competent body. In that reply, the Council will draw the citizen's attention to the fact that the fixed period of time in which he has to act on that reply will commence from the date on which the reply is received in Castilian (Spanish). The Council will send a copy of its reply to the competent body tasked by the Spanish Government with providing the citizen with a translation of the reply in the language of the communication. The Council will inform the citizen in question of such dispatch. In no case is the Council's responsibility engaged by these translations; a specific reference to this will be made in the text of the translations.

3. If a Spanish citizen sends a communication directly to the Council in one of the languages referred to in paragraph 1, the Council shall return the communication to the sender, informing him of the possibility of addressing the communication to the Council in that language via the competent body designated for that purpose by the Spanish Government.

4. The parties to this administrative arrangement undertake to adopt the necessary measures to maintain standards for the confidentiality of the communications covered by this arrangement at every stage, particularly as regards the translation made by the competent body designated by the Spanish Government.

Speeches to a meeting of the Council

5. The use, where necessary, by a Spanish representative at a Council meeting of one of those languages, other than Castilian (Spanish), whose status is recognised by the Spanish Constitution, shall be possible under the following conditions: (a) At the beginning of each six-month period, the Permanent Representation of Spain shall send the General Secretariat of the Council an indicative list of those Council meetings where a request to use one of the above languages is likely to be made. (b) At least seven weeks before the Council meeting, the Permanent Representation of Spain shall send the General Secretariat of the Council the request for a Spanish representative to use one of the above languages during his speeches (passive interpretation); definite confirmation of the request will be made at the latest 14 calendar days before the Council meeting. (c) In principle the request will be acceded to, unless the General Secretariat of the Council, having consulted DG SCIC, informs the Permanent Representation of Spain that the necessary staff and equipment are not available.

6. The direct and indirect costs of passive interpretation, including in the case of cancellation, as invoiced to the Council by DG SCIC, will be paid by the Permanent Representation of Spain in accordance with paragraphs 11 and 12 below.

Making public of acts adopted in codecision

7. The Spanish Government, or the body which it designates for the purpose, may make certified translations into the above languages of acts of the European Union adopted in codecision, as published in the Official Journal of the European Union, and forward them to the General Secretariat of the Council by electronic means.

8. The Council shall add those certified translations to its archives and shall provide copies on request to any citizen of the Union, as far as possible by electronic means.

9. The Council shall establish a link from its Internet site to the Spanish Government website offering such translations. A mention of the fact that those translations do not engage the responsibility of the Institutions of the Union and have no legal value shall also appear on the Council' s Internet site in the official and working languages.

10. In each certified translation, attention will be drawn to the fact that the translation does not engage the responsibility of the Institutions of the Union and has no legal value. A statement to that effect will be made, in the language concerned, on the first page of each certified translation and as a header on each of the following pages, as well as on the home page of the Spanish Government Internet site on which they are available.

Costs

11. The Spanish Government shall assume the direct or indirect costs resulting from implementation of this administrative arrangement as regards the Council.

12. To this end, the General Secretariat of the Council shall present a note to the Permanent Representation of Spain setting out the above costs in detail every six months. This sum must be reimbursed by the Permanent Representation of Spain within one month from the date of notification.

Final provisions

13. This arrangement will apply from the date on which the Spanish Government informs the General Secretariat of the Council of the body which it has designated to make the translations referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 7, subject to the General Secretariat of the Council having informed the Spanish Government that the measures necessary for the implementation of this arrangement by the General Secretariat of the Council have been put in place.