(99)

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), the Management Board shall adopt the annual work programme of the Agency for the coming year, taking into account the opinion of the Commission, and shall forward the adopted annual work programme to the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission; (b) on the basis of a draft submitted by the Executive Director in accordance with Article 128(4)(d) and taking into account the opinion of the Commission, the Management Board shall adopt a multi-annual strategic programme for the Agency, including the Agency's strategy for international cooperation, following an exchange of views between the Executive Director and the relevant committee in the European Parliament, and shall forward the adopted multi-annual strategic programme to the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission; (c) on the basis of a draft submitted by the Executive Director in accordance with Article 128(4)(f), the Management Board shall adopt the annual report and shall forward the adopted annual report to the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission and the Court of Auditors; (d) on the basis of a draft submitted by the Executive Director in accordance with Article 128(4)(g), the Management Board shall adopt the multiannual staff policy plan; (e) the Management Board shall adopt rules on the prevention and management of conflicts of interest in the Agency; (f) in accordance with paragraph 2, it shall exercise, with respect to the staff of the Agency, 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 Contract of Employment (“the appointing authority powers”); [Am. 83] (g) the Management Board shall adopt appropriate implementing rules to the Staff Regulations and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants in accordance with Article 110 of the Staff Regulations; (h) the Management Board shall appoint and may remove the Executive Director and the Deputy Executive Director or Deputy Executive Directors from office pursuant to Article 129, and shall appoint the President, the chairpersons and the members of the Boards of Appeal pursuant to Article 136; (i) the Management Board shall ensure 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); (ia) the Management Board shall define and elaborate common projects of interest to the Union and Member States in accordance with Article 123c; [Am. 82] (j) the Management Board shall be consulted before adoption of the guidelines for examination in the Agency and in the other cases provided for in this Regulation; (k) the Management Board may deliver opinions and requests for information to the Executive Director and to the Commission where it considers that this is 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 this delegation of 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. [Am. 84] Article 125 Composition of the Management Board 1. The Management Board shall be composed of one representative of each Member State and, two representatives of the Commission and one representative of the European Parliament and their respective alternates. [Am. 85] 2. The members of the Management Board may, subject to its rules of procedure, be assisted by advisers or experts. 3. The duration of the term of office shall be four years. The term of office shall be extendable. 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 once twice a year. In addition, it shall meet on the initiative of its chairperson or at the request of the Commission , of the European Parliament or of one-third of the Member States. [Am. 87] 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 points (a) and (b) of Article 124(1)(a) and (b), Article 126(1) and Article 129(2) and (4) (3) . In both cases each member shall have one vote. [Am. 88] 6. The Management Board may invite observers to attend its meetings. 7. The Secretariat for the Management Board shall be provided by the Agency. SECTION 2a Executive Board Article 127a Establishment The Management Board may establish an Executive Board. Article 127b Functions and organisation 1. The Executive Board shall assist the Management Board. 2. The Executive Board shall have the following functions: (a) preparing decisions to be adopted by the Management Board; (b) ensuring, together with the Management Board, adequate follow-up to the findings and recommendations stemming from the internal or external audit reports and evaluations, as well as from investigations of the European Anti-fraud Office (OLAF); (c) without prejudice to the functions of the Executive Director, as set out in Article 128, assisting and advising the Executive Director in the implementation of the decisions of the Management Board, with a view to reinforcing supervision of administrative management. 3. When necessary, because of urgency, the Executive Board may take certain provisional decisions on behalf of the Management Board, in particular on administrative management matters, including the suspension of the delegation of the appointing authority powers. 4. The Executive Board shall be composed of the Chairperson of the Management Board, one representative of the Commission to the Management Board and three other members appointed by the Management Board from among its members. The Chairperson of the Management Board shall also be the Chairperson of the Executive Board. The Executive Director shall take part in the meetings of the Executive Board, but shall not have the right to vote. 5. The term of office of members of the Executive Board shall be four years. The term of office of members of the Executive Board shall end when their membership of the Management Board ends. 6. The Executive Board shall hold at least one ordinary meeting every three months. In addition, it shall meet on the initiative of its Chairperson or at the request of its members. 7. The Executive Board shall comply with the rules of procedure laid down by the Management Board. [Am. 86] SECTION 3 Executive Director Article 128 Functions of the Executive Director 1. The Agency 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 the 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 Agency. 4. The Executive Director shall have in particular the following functions: (a) he shall take all necessary steps, including the adoption of internal administrative instructions and the publication of notices, to ensure the functioning of the Agency; (b) he shall implement the decisions adopted by the Management Board; (c) he shall prepare a draft annual work programme indicating estimated human and financial resources for each activity, and submit it to the Management Board after consultation of the Commission; (d) he shall prepare a draft multiannual strategic programme, including the Agency's strategy for international cooperation, and submit it to the Management Board after consultation of the Commission and following an exchange of views with the relevant committee in the European Parliament; (e) he shall implement the annual work programme and the multiannual strategic programme and report to the Management Board on their implementation; (f) he shall prepare the annual report on the Agency’s activities and present it to the Management Board for approval; (g) he shall prepare a draft multiannual staff policy plan and submit it to the Management Board after consultation of the Commission; (h) he shall prepare an action plan following-up on the conclusions of the internal or external audit reports and evaluations, as well as from investigations of the European Anti-fraud Office (OLAF), and shall report on progress twice a year to the Commission and to the Management Board; (i) he shall protect 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 the recovery of the amounts wrongly paid and, where appropriate, by imposing effective, proportionate and dissuasive administrative and financial penalties; (j) he shall prepare an anti-fraud strategy of the Agency and shall present it to the Budget Committee for approval; (k) in order to ensure uniform application of the Regulation, he may refer to the enlarged Board of Appeal questions on a point of law, in particular if the Boards of Appeal have issued diverging decisions on that point; (l) he shall draw up estimates of the revenue and expenditure of the Agency and shall implement the budget; (la) without prejudice to Articles 125 and 136, he shall exercise, with respect to the staff of the Agency, 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”); [Am. 91] (m) he shall exercise the powers entrusted to him in respect of the staff by the Management Board under Article 124(1)(f); [Am. 89] (ma) he may submit to the Commission any proposal to amend this Regulation, the delegated acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation and any other rules applying to European Union trade marks after consulting the Management Board and, in the case of fees and budgetary provisions laid down by this Regulation, the Budget Committee; [Am. 90] (n) he shall exercise the powers conferred to him by Articles 26(3), 29(5), 30(2), 45(3), 75(2), 78(5), 79, 79b, 79c, 87(3), 88, 89, 93(4), 119(8) and 144 in accordance with the criteria set out in this Regulation and in the delegated acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation; (o) he may delegate his functions. 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 his term of office 1. The Executive Director shall be engaged as a temporary agent of the Agency under Article 2(a) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants. 2. The Executive Director shall be appointed by the Management Board, from a list of at least three candidates proposed by the Commission a pre-selection committee of the Management Board composed of representatives of the Member States, of the Commission and of the European Parliament , following an open and transparent selection procedure and the publication, in the Official Journal of the European Union and elsewhere, of a call for expressions of interest . 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 Agency shall be represented by the chairperson of the Management Board. The Executive Director may be removed from office only upon a decision of the Management Board acting on a proposal from the European Commission , after an evaluation report has been prepared by the Commission at the request of the Management Board or the European Parliament . 3. The term of office of the Executive Director shall be five years. By the end of that period, the Commission Management Board shall undertake an assessment which takes into account an evaluation of the performance of the Executive Director and the Agency's future tasks and challenges. The Management Board may extend once the term of office of the Executive Director for no more than five years. The Management Board, when taking its decisions on the extension of the term of office of the Executive Director, shall take into account the Commission's assessment report of the Executive Director's performance as well as the Agency's future tasks and challenges. 4. The Management Board, acting on a proposal from the Commission which takes into account the assessment referred to in paragraph 3, may extend once the term of office of the Executive Director 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 the overall period. 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 for no more than five years by the Management Board acting on a proposal from the Commission as provided for in paragraph 4 3 , after consultation of the Executive Director.’; [Am. 92]