Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION concerning the Community position on the adoption of the Rules of Procedure of the Joint Committee on Agriculture set up by the Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on trade in agricultural products

(presented by the Commission)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Decision 2002/309/EC, Euratom of the Council and of the Commission as regards the Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation of 4 April 2002 on the conclusion of seven Agreements with the Swiss Confederation [1], and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 5(2) thereof,

[1] OJ L 114, 30.4.2002, p. 1.

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission [2],

[2] OJ C ..., ..., p. ...

Whereas:

(1) The Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on trade in agricultural products (hereinafter referred to as the "Agricultural Agreement") entered into force on 1 June 2002.

(2) Article 6 of the Agricultural Agreement sets up a Joint Committee on Agriculture to be responsible for the administration of the Agreement and ensure its proper functioning.

(3) Article 6(4) of the Agricultural Agreement lays down that the Joint Committee is to establish its own Rules of Procedure.

(4) The Community must decide on the position to be adopted within the Joint Committee regarding the establishment of its Rules of Procedure,

HAS DECIDED:

Sole Article

The position to be adopted by the Community within the Joint Committee set up by Article 6 of the Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on trade in agricultural products, regarding the adoption of its Rules of Procedure, shall be based on the draft Decision of the Joint Committee, which is annexed to this Decision.

Done at Brussels,

For the Council

The President

ANNEX

Proposal for Decision n° 1/2003 of the Joint Committee on Agriculture set up by the Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on trade in agricultural products concerning the adoption of its Rules of Procedure

THE COMMITTEE,

Having regard to the Agreement between the European Community, of the one part, and the Swiss Confederation, of the other part, on trade in agricultural products (hereinafter referred to as "the Agreement"), and in particular Article 6(4) thereof,

Whereas that Agreement entered into force on 1 June 2002,

HAS DECIDED TO ADOPT THE FOLLOWING RULES OF PROCEDURE:

Article 1 Chair

The office of Chair of the Committee shall be held alternately for a period of one calendar year by the European Community and the Swiss Confederation, hereinafter referred to as "the Parties".

Article 2 Secretariat

The Chair shall carry out the secretarial duties of the Committee. The Chair shall transmit to the heads of delegation the name and other particulars of the person performing the secretarial tasks.

Article 3 Meetings

1. The Chair shall fix the date and venue of meetings in agreement with the heads of delegation.

2. If a head of delegation requests that an extraordinary meeting be held, the Chair shall convene such a meeting within thirty days of the request being received.

3. Unless otherwise decided, the meetings of the Committee shall not be public.

Article 4 Delegations

1. Before each meeting, the heads of delegation shall inform the Chair of the intended composition of their delegation.

2. The Parties shall appoint the heads of delegation who, outside the meetings, are to be the contact persons for all matters relating to the Agreement.

3. The Committee may invite persons who are not members of the delegations to attend meetings in order to provide information on specific issues.

Article 5 Correspondence

All correspondence to or for the Chair of the Committee shall be sent to the secretariat of the Committee. The latter shall send a copy of all correspondence relating to the Agreement to the heads of delegation, to the Swiss Mission to the European Union, and to the Commission of the European Communities.

Article 6 Agendas for meetings

1. The Chair shall draw up the provisional agenda for each meeting. The provisional agenda shall be sent to the heads of delegation no later than fifteen working days before the start of the meeting.

The provisional agenda shall include the items in respect of which the Chair has received a request for inclusion in the agenda at least twenty-one days before the start of the meeting. Such items shall be included in the provisional agenda only if, where relevant, the documents relating to them have been sent to the Chair no later than the date on which that agenda is sent.

2. The agenda shall be adopted by joint agreement by the heads of delegation at the start of each meeting. An item other than those appearing on the provisional agenda may be placed on the agenda if the heads of delegation so agree.

3. With the agreement of the heads of delegation, the Chairman may agree to reduce the time limits set out in paragraph 1 in order to take account of the requirements of a particular case.

Article 7 Minutes

1. The secretariat shall draw up draft minutes of each meeting. The draft shall state the decisions taken, the recommendations made and the conclusions adopted. The draft minutes shall be submitted to the Committee for approval. Once adopted by the Committee, the minutes shall be signed by the Chair, the secretariat of the Committee and the head of delegation of the Party not holding the office of Chair. An original copy shall be kept by each of the Parties.

2. The draft minutes shall be drawn up within ten working days of the meeting and shall be submitted to the Committee for approval by the written procedure set out in Article 9. If that procedure cannot be completed, the minutes shall be adopted by the Committee at the next meeting.

Article 8 Adoption of instruments

1. The decisions and recommendations of the Committee within the meaning of Articles 6 and 12 of the Agreement shall bear the title "Decision" and "Recommendation", followed by a serial number, the date of adoption and an indication of the subject matter.

2. The decisions and recommendations of the Committee shall bear the signatures of the Chair, the secretariat of the Committee and the head of delegation of the Party not holding the office of Chair.

3. Either Party may decide to publish any instrument adopted by the Committee.

Article 9 Written procedure

1. The instruments of the Committee may be adopted by written procedure where the two heads of delegation so agree.

2. The Party proposing the use of the written procedure shall submit the draft instrument to the other Party. The other Party shall reply, indicating whether it accepts or does not accept the draft, whether it proposes any amendments, or whether it requests further time for reflection. If the draft is adopted, it shall be finalised in accordance with Article 8.

Article 10 Expenses

Each Party shall bear the expenses it incurs in taking part in the meetings of the Committee.

Article 11 Confidentiality

The deliberations of the Committee shall be governed by professional secrecy.

Article 12 Working Groups

The Working Groups shall operate under the authority of the Committee, to which they shall submit a written report after each of their meetings. The report shall be sent to the secretariat of the Committee, which shall forward it to the heads of delegation. They shall not be authorised to take decisions, but may make recommendations to the Committee.

Each Working Group shall be assisted by the representatives of the Parties, which shall decide on the number and identity of those representatives.

Done at Brussels,

For the Joint Committee on Agriculture

The Chair

The head of delegation of the Party not holding the office of Chair,

The secretariat of the Committee,

LEGISLATIVE FINANCIAL STATEMENT

Policy area: External aspects of certain policies

Activities: International Agricultural Agreements

Title of action: Creation of the Joint Committee on Agriculture set up by the Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on trade in agricultural products

1. BUDGET HEADINGS: A-7030, A-7031, A-7032, A-7040, A-7005, A-01100

2. OVERALL FIGURES

2.1 Total allocation for the action (Part B): EUR million in commitment appropriations No funding

2.2 Application period: 1 January 2003-31 December 2010

2.3 Overall multiannual estimate of expenditure:

c) Overall financial impact of human resources and other administrative expenditure (see points 7.2 and 7.3)

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2.4 Compatibility with the financial programming and the financial perspective

2.5 Financial impact on revenue

|X| No financial implications (involves technical aspects regarding implementation of a measure)

3. BUDGET CHARACTERISTICS

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4. LEGAL BASIS

Article 133 of the Treaty in conjunction with Article 300

5. DESCRIPTION AND GROUNDS

5.1 Objectives

Need for Community action: the Agreement between the EC and the Swiss Confederation on trade in agricultural products (hereinafter referred to as "the Agreement"), which entered into force on 1 June 2002 (Decision 2002/309/EC, Euratom of the Council and of the Commission as regards the Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation of 4 April 2002, OJ L 114, 30.4.2002), sets up a Joint Committee on Agriculture to be responsible for the administration of the Agreement and ensure its proper functioning.

5.2 Actions envisaged and arrangements for budget intervention

This Joint Committee needs to draw up its Rules of Procedure, meet regularly in order to perform its task of managing the Agreement and in particular adopt decisions, and reach agreement on any issue falling within the scope of its responsibilities.

The Rules of Procedure do not lay down any obligations regarding the frequency of meetings, but the Committee is to be convened at least once a year and the meetings of the different Working Groups specified by the Annexes to the Agreement are to be arranged.

5.3 Implementing rules

Direct management by DG AGRI and DG SANCO with statutory staff and/or experts.

6. FINANCIAL IMPACT

6.1 Total financial impact on Part B (for the entire programming period): none

6.2. Calculation of costs by measure envisaged in Part B (for the entire programming period): none

7. IMPACT ON STAFF AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENDITURE

7.1. Impact on human resources

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7.2 Overall financial impact of human resources

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The amounts are total expenditure for twelve months.

7.3 Other operating expenditure deriving from the action

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The amounts are total expenditure in respect of the action for twelve months.

Article 17 of the Agreement lays down that the Agreement shall be concluded for an initial period of seven years, straddling the years 2002 to 2010; the year 2010 will also be needed to carry out an assessment of the initial period and probably to relaunch the operation.

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Human resources and administrative requirements will be covered from the allocation given to the managing DG under the annual allocations procedure.

8. FOLLOW-UP AND EVALUATION

8.1 Follow-up arrangements

Annual activity report, report by each committee

8.2 Details and frequency of planned evaluations

DG AGRI will report regularly on its bilateral activities with Switzerland, particularly to DG RELEX and the Council EFTA Group, and in the context of the annual reports on the activities of the Commission. In this context, the activities of the Joint Committee and its groups will be reviewed regularly, and its functioning will be adapted accordingly.

The Agreement is concluded for an initial period of seven years. It will subsequently be renewed for an indefinite period, unless one of the Parties decides otherwise. The functioning of the Agreement will be the subject of an evaluation prior to any renewal.

9. MEASURES TO COMBAT FRAUD

NO