(108)

In Title XII, Sections 2 and 3 are replaced by the following: ‘Section 2 Management Board Article 124 Functions of the Management Board 1. Without prejudice to the functions attributed to the Budget Committee in Section 5, the Management Board shall have the following functions: (a) on the basis of a draft submitted by the Executive Director in accordance with Article 128(4)(c), adopting the annual work programme of the Office for the coming year, taking into account the opinion of the Commission, and forwarding the adopted annual work programme to the European Parliament, to the Council and to the Commission; (b) on the basis of a draft submitted by the Executive Director in accordance with Article 128(4)(e) and taking into account the opinion of the Commission, adopting a multi-annual strategic programme for the Office, including the Office's strategy for international cooperation, following an exchange of views between the Executive Director and the relevant committee in the European Parliament, and forwarding the adopted multi-annual strategic programme to the European Parliament, to the Council and to the Commission; (c) on the basis of a draft submitted by the Executive Director in accordance with Article 128(4)(g), adopting the annual report and forwarding the adopted annual report to the European Parliament, the Council, to the Commission and to the Court of Auditors; (d) on the basis of a draft submitted by the Executive Director in accordance with Article 128(4)(h), adopting the multiannual staff policy plan; (e) exercising the powers conferred on it under Article 123c(2); (f) exercising the powers conferred on it under Article 139(5); (g) adopting rules on the prevention and management of conflicts of interest in the Office; (h) in accordance with paragraph 2, exercising, with respect to the staff of the Office, the powers conferred by the Staff Regulations on the Appointing Authority and by the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants on the Authority Empowered to Conclude Contracts of Employment (“the appointing authority powers”); (i) adopting appropriate implementing rules to give effect to the Staff Regulations and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants in accordance with Article 110 of the Staff Regulations; (j) drawing up the list of candidates provided for in Article 129(2); (k) ensuring adequate follow-up to the findings and recommendations stemming from the internal or external audit reports and evaluations referred to in Article 165a, as well as from investigations of the European Anti-fraud Office (OLAF); (l) being consulted before adoption of the guidelines for examination in the Office and in the other cases provided for in this Regulation; (m) providing opinions and requests for information to the Executive Director and to the Commission where it considers it necessary. 2. The Management Board shall adopt, in accordance with Article 110 of the Staff Regulations and 142 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, a decision based on Article 2(1) of the Staff Regulations and on Article 6 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, delegating the relevant appointing authority powers to the Executive Director and defining the conditions under which that delegation of appointing authority powers can be suspended. The Executive Director shall be authorised to sub-delegate those powers. Where exceptional circumstances so require, the Management Board may, by way of a decision, temporarily suspend the delegation of the appointing authority powers to the Executive Director and those sub-delegated by the latter and exercise them itself or delegate them to one of its members or to a staff member other than the Executive Director. Article 125 Composition of the Management Board 1. The Management Board shall be composed of one representative of each Member State, two representatives of the Commission and one representative of the European Parliament, and their respective alternates. 2. The members of the Management Board may, subject to its rules of procedure, be assisted by advisers or experts. Article 126 Chairperson of the Management Board 1. The Management Board shall elect a chairperson and a deputy chairperson from among its members. The deputy chairperson shall ex officio replace the chairperson in the event of his being prevented from attending to his duties. 2. The duration of the terms of office of the chairperson and the deputy chairperson shall be four years. The terms of office shall be renewable once. If, however, their membership of the Management Board ends at any time during their term of office, their term of office shall automatically expire on that date also. Article 127 Meetings 1. Meetings of the Management Board shall be convened by its chairperson. 2. The Executive Director shall take part in the deliberations, unless the Management Board decides otherwise. 3. The Management Board shall hold an ordinary meeting at least once a year. In addition, it shall meet on the initiative of its chairperson or at the request of the Commission or of one-third of the Member States. 4. The Management Board shall adopt rules of procedure. 5. The Management Board shall take its decisions by an absolute majority of its members. However, a majority of two-thirds of its members shall be required for the decisions which the Management Board is empowered to take under Article 124(1)(a) and (b), Article 126(1) and Article 129(2) and (4). In both cases each member shall have one vote. 6. The Management Board may invite observers to attend its meetings. 7. The Secretariat for the Management Board shall be provided by the Office. Section 3 Executive Director Article 128 Functions of the Executive Director 1. The Office shall be managed by the Executive Director. The Executive Director shall be accountable to the Management Board. 2. Without prejudice to the powers of the Commission, the Management Board, and the Budget Committee, the Executive Director shall be independent in the performance of his duties and shall neither seek nor take instructions from any government or from any other body. 3. The Executive Director shall be the legal representative of the Office. 4. The Executive Director shall have in particular the following functions, which may be delegated: (a) taking all necessary steps, including the adoption of internal administrative instructions and the publication of notices, to ensure the functioning of the Office; (b) implementing the decisions adopted by the Management Board; (c) preparing a draft annual work programme indicating estimated human and financial resources for each activity, and submitting it to the Management Board after consultation of the Commission; (d) submitting to the Management Board proposals pursuant to Article 123c(2); (e) preparing a draft multiannual strategic programme, including the Office's strategy for international cooperation, and submitting it to the Management Board after consultation of the Commission and following an exchange of views with the relevant committee in the European Parliament; (f) implementing the annual work programme and the multiannual strategic programme and reporting to the Management Board on their implementation; (g) preparing the annual report on the Office's activities and presenting it to the Management Board for approval; (h) preparing a draft multiannual staff policy plan and submitting it to the Management Board after consultation of the Commission; (i) preparing an action plan following-up on the conclusions of the internal or external audit reports and evaluations, as well as following up on the investigations of the OLAF, and reporting on progress twice a year to the Commission and to the Management Board; (j) protecting the financial interests of the Union by the application of preventive measures against fraud, corruption and any other illegal activities, by effective checks and, if irregularities are detected, by recovering amounts wrongly paid and, where appropriate, by imposing effective, proportionate and dissuasive administrative and financial penalties; (k) preparing an anti-fraud strategy for the Office and presenting it to the Budget Committee for approval; (l) in order to ensure uniform application of the Regulation, referring, where appropriate, to the enlarged Board of Appeal, (“the Grand Board”), questions on a point of law, in particular if the Boards of Appeal have issued diverging decisions on the point; (m) drawing up estimates of the revenue and expenditure of the Office and implementing the budget; (n) exercising the powers entrusted to him in respect of staff by the Management Board under Article 124(1)(h); (o) exercising the powers conferred on him under Articles 26(3), 29(5), 30(3), 75(2), 78(5), Articles 79, 79b, 79c, Articles 87(4), 87a(3), 88(5), Articles 88a, 89, Articles 93(4), 119(9), Article 144, Articles 144a(1) and 144b(2), and Article 144c in accordance with the criteria set out in this Regulation and in the acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation. 5. The Executive Director shall be assisted by one or more Deputy Executive Directors. If the Executive Director is absent or indisposed, the Deputy Executive Director or one of the Deputy Executive Directors shall replace him in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Management Board. Article 129 Appointment and removal of the Executive Director and extension of term of office 1. The Executive Director shall be engaged as a temporary agent of the Office under Article 2(a) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants. 2. The Executive Director shall be appointed by the Council by simple majority, from a list of candidates proposed by the Management Board, following an open and transparent selection procedure. Before being appointed, the candidate selected by the Management Board may be invited to make a statement before any competent European Parliament committee and to answer questions put by its members. For the purpose of concluding the contract with the Executive Director, the Office shall be represented by the chairperson of the Management Board. The Executive Director may be removed from office only upon a decision of the Council acting on a proposal from the Management Board. 3. The term of office of the Executive Director shall be five years. By the end of that period, the Management Board shall undertake an assessment which takes into account an evaluation of the performance of the Executive Director and the Office's future tasks and challenges. 4. The Council, taking into account the assessment referred to in paragraph 3, may extend the term of office of the Executive Director once and for no more than five years. 5. An Executive Director whose term of office has been extended may not participate in another selection procedure for the same post at the end of his overall term of office. 6. The Deputy Executive Director or Deputy Executive Directors shall be appointed or removed from office as provided for in paragraph 2, after consultation of the Executive Director and, where applicable, the Executive Director-elect. The term of office of the Deputy Executive Director shall be five years. It may be extended once and for no more than five years by the Council, after consultation of the Executive Director.’.