Proposal for a Council Decision approving amendments to the Statutes of the Joint European Torus (JET), Joint Undertaking (98/C 108/02) COM(98) 13 final

(submitted by the Commission on 19 January 1998)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, and in particular Article 50 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee,

Whereas, for the purpose of implementing the JET Project, the Council, by Decision 78/471/Euratom (1), established the Joint European Torus (JET), Joint Undertaking, and adopted the Statutes thereof, as last amended by Decision 96/305/Euratom (2);

Whereas, Articles 4 and 8 of the JET Statutes should be amended following the judgment of the Court of First Instance of 12 December 1996 in Joined Cases T-177/94 and T-377/94;

Whereas, the Forschungszentrum Jülich Gmbh (KFA) has given notice of its withdrawal from the Joint Undertaking from 31 December 1997; whereas the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (FZK) has applied for membership of the Joint Undertaking from 1 January 1998; whereas the JET Council has approved this withdrawal from and application for membership of the Joint Undertaking and the amendments required thereby;

Whereas, following the conclusion of a Contract of Association between Euratom and the Dublin City University (DCU), the Dublin City University is replacing Ireland as Member of the Joint Undertaking; whereas the Instituto de Cooperação Cientifica e Tecnológica Internacional (ICCTI) is replacing the Junta Nacional de Investigação Cientifica has approved the amendments to the Statutes required by these changes;

Whereas, following the accession of Austria to the European Union, the Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften (ÖAW) has applied for membership of the Joint Undertaking; whereas the JET Council has approved this application for membership of the Joint Undertaking and the amendments to the Statutes required thereby;

Whereas the JET Council has approved another amendment to the Statutes required by the adoption of the new UK Companies Act 1985 and 1989,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

The amendments to the Statutes of the 'Joint European Torus (JET), Joint Undertaking`, annexed to this Decision, are hereby approved.

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

(1) OJ L 151, 7.6.1978, p. 10.

(2) OJ L 117, 14.5.1996, p. 9.

ANNEX

1. Article 1.3 of the Statutes of the 'Joint European Torus (JET), Joint Undertaking` shall be replaced by the following:

'1.3 The Joint Undertaking shall have the following Members:

The European Atomic Energy Community (hereinafter referred to as "Euratom"),

The Belgian State (hereinafter referred to as "Belgium"), acting for its own part ("Laboratoire de physique des plasmas of the Ecole Royale Militaire - Laboratorium voor plasmaphysica van de Koninklijke Militaire School") and on behalf of the "Université libre de Bruxelles" ("Service de physique statistique, plasmas et optique non linéaire de l'ULB") and of the "Centre d'Etude de l'Energie Nucléaire" (CEN)/"Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie" (SCK),

the "Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas Medioambientales y Tecnológicas", Spain (hereinafter referred to as "CIEMAT"),

the "Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique", France (hereinafter referred to as "CEA"),

the "Ente per le Nuove Tecnologie, l'Energia e l'Ambiente" (hereinafter referred to as "ENEA" which since 1 January 1986, has represented all Italian activities falling within the Euratom Fusion Programme including that of the "Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche", CNR),

the Hellenic Republic (hereinafter referred to as "Greece"),

the "Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe", Federal Republic of Germany (hereinafter referred to as "FZK"),

the "Forskningscenter Risø", Denmark, (hereinafter referred to as "Risø"),

the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (hereinafter referred to as "Luxembourg"),

the "Instituto de Cooperação Cientifica e Tecnológica Internacional, Portugal (hereinafter referred to as "ICCTI"),

the "Dublin City University", Ireland (hereinafter referred to as "DCU"),

the "Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften e. V. - Institut für Plasmaphysik", Federal Republic of Germany (hereinafter referred to as "IPP"),

the "Swedish Natural Science Research Council" (hereinafter referred to as "NFR"),

the Swiss Confederation (hereinafter referred to as "Switzerland"),

the "Stichting voor Fundamenteel Onderzoek der Materie", the Netherlands (hereinafter referred to as "FOM"),

the "United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority" (hereinafter referred to as "the Authority" or "the Host Organization"),

the "Technology Development Centre of Finland" (hereinafter referred to as "TEKES"),

the "Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften" (hereinafter referred to as "ÖAW"`

2. Article 4.1.1 and 4.1.2 shall be replaced by the following:

'4.1.1. The Members of the Joint Undertaking shall be represented in the JET Council as follows, the vote of each pair of representatives being weighted as indicated:

>TABLE>

4.1.2 For their adoption, acts of the JET Council shall require at least 31 votes in favour.`

3. Article 4.2.2. (d) shall be replaced by the following:

'(d) nominate the Director and the senior staff of the Project and determine their period of secondment, approve the main structure of the Project Team and decide the procedures for the secondment and management of staff;`

4. Articles 8.1, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5 and 8.7 shall be replaced by the following:

'8.1 The Project Team shall assist the Director of the Project in the performance of his duties. Its staff shall be fixed in the staff establishment as defined in the annual budget. It shall be composed of staff coming from the Members of the Joint Undertaking as provided for in Article 8.3.8.3 The Members of the Joint Undertaking having association contracts with Euratom, or limited duration contracts in the framework of the Euratom Fusion Programme in Member States where there is no association (hereafter referred to as the Parent Organization) shall make available to the Joint Undertaking qualified scientific, technical and administrative staff.

8.4 Staff made available by Parent Organizations shall be seconded to the Joint Undertaking and shall:

(a) remain throughout the period of secondment in the employment of their Parent Organizations on the terms and conditions of service of those organizations;

(b) be entitled, throughout the period of their secondment to an allowance as specified in the "Rules applicable to Secondment of Personnel from Parent Organizations to the Joint Undertaking" adopted by the JET Council under Article 8.5.8.5 The JET Council shall adopt the detailed procedures for the management of staff (including "Rules applicable to Secondment of Personnel from Parent Organisations to the Joint Undertaking") as well as transitional provisions for Project Team staff assigned to the Joint Undertaking by the Commission and the host organization prior to the entry into force of the above provisions.

8.7 All staff expenditure, including reimbursement of staff expenditure incurred by the seconding Parent Organizations and expenditure related to staff assigned to the Joint Undertaking by the Commission and the host organization prior to the entry into force of the above provisions, shall be borne by the Joint Undertaking.`

5. Articles 8.8 and 8.9 shall be deleted.

6. Article 22.2 shall be replaced by the following.

'22.2. Without prejudice to the provisions of the third paragraph of Article 49 of the Euratom Treaty, for the avoidance of doubt the Joint Undertaking shall not be regarded as a company within the meaning of the Companies Act 1985 and 1989 of the United Kingdom.`