2000/459/EC, ECSC, Euratom: Decision of the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission, the Court of Justice, the Court of Auditors, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions of 20 July 2000 on the organisation and operation of the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities
Date: 2000-07-20
Institutions: Council of the European Union, Court of Justice of the European Union, European Commission, European Committee of the Regions, European Court of Auditors, European Economic and Social Committee, European Parliament
Subjects: Publications Office of the European Union, competence of the institution, operation of the Institutions

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II

(Acts whose publication is not obligatory)

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

COUNCIL

COMMISSION

COURT OF JUSTICE

COURT OF AUDITORS

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE

COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE COMMISSION, THE COURT
OF JUSTICE, THE COURT OF AUDITORS, THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND
THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

of 20 July 2000

on the organisation and operation of the Office for Official Publications of the European
Communities

(2000/459/EC, ECSC, Euratom)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

THE COMMISSION,

THE COURT OF JUSTICE,

THE COURT OF AUDITORS,

THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE,

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

Having regard to the Treaty on European Union,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic
Energy Community,

Whereas:

(1)

Article 8 of the Decision of the representatives of the
Governments of the Member States of 8 April 1965 on
location of certain institutions and
the provisional
the Communities (1) provided for an
departments of
Office
the European
Communities (hereinafter ‘the Office’) to be located in
Luxembourg. That provision was
implemented by
Decision 69/13/Euratom, ECSC, EEC (2), as amended by
Decision 80/443/EEC, Euratom, ECSC (3).

for Official Publications of

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Coal and
Steel Community,

(1) OJ 152, 13.7.1967, p. 18.
(2) OJ L 13, 18.1.1969, p. 19.
(3) OJ L 107, 25.4.1980, p. 44.

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(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

The Financial Regulation of 21 December 1977 applic-
able to the general budget of the European Communi-
ties (1), at
last amended by Council Regulation (EC,
ECSC, Euratom) No 2779/98 (2),
lays down specific
provisions regarding the functioning of the Office.

The rules governing the Office need to be adapted to
take account of change practices in terms of the powers
conferred on the appointing authority.

in
There have been major
publishing, which need to be taken into account in the
way the Office operates.

technological advances

Decision 69/13/Euratom, ECSC, EEC has been amended
substantially. With fresh amendments being made, the
Decision should be recast for the sake of clarity,

HAVE DECIDED:

in
The institutions, bodies, offices and agencies may,
3.
exceptional circumstances, publish publications otherwise than
through the Office if
involvement would appreciably
increase costs or where, for technical reasons, it is unable to
meet
the urgent requirements involved in producing and
distributing a publication to a very short deadline. In this case
they shall inform the Management Committee without delay.

its

Performance of

4.
following:

the Office's

tasks

shall

include the

(a) collation of documents for publication;

(b) preparing and checking texts and other elements, as
instructed by the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies;

(c) concluding contracts with contractors;

(d) printing urgent documents or small print runs;

(e) supervising work being carried out;

(f) quality control;

Article 1

(g) financial monitoring of contracts with contractors;

The task of the ‘Office for Official Publications of the European
Communities’ (the Office) shall be to publish the publications
of the institutions of the European Communities and their
departments under optimum technical and financial conditions,
operating under the responsibility of those institutions.

Article 2

For the purposes of this Decision, the following definitions
apply:

1.

2.

‘publish’:
shape or form and by any means, present or future;

to produce and distribute publications in any

the European Parliament,

‘institutions’:
the
Commission, the Court of Justice, the Court of Auditors, the
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the
Regions;

the Council,

(h) acceptance as regards quality and quantity;

(i) accounting control,

including attesting authorisation for
payment and issuing certificates in accordance with the
Financial Regulation;

(j) cataloguing and archiving publications;

(k) sales management;

(l) distributing publications.

The Office shall also provide the institutions, bodies, offices
and agencies with all the appropriate technical, financial and
commercial information for their publication projects and shall
assist them in drawing up standard-form general contracts.

Decisions to publish shall rest solely with each institu-

5.
tion, body, office or agency.

3.

‘bodies, offices and agencies’: the bodies, offices and agen-
cies established by or under the Treaties.

Article 4

Article 3

A Management Committee for the Office shall be set up.

1.
Each institution shall have one vote on the Committee.

The Office shall perform the following tasks or have

1.
them performed by contractors:

(a) publishing the Official Journal of the European Communities

(Official Journal);

(b) publishing other publications for the institutions of the
European Communities or of their departments, without
prejudice to paragraphs 2 and 3;

(c) publishing publications for bodies, offices and agencies at

their request.

Internal documents may be produced and distributed by

2.
each institution.

2.
The Management Committee shall meet at the initiative
of its chairman or at the request of an institution. It shall meet
at least every six months.

3.
The Management Committee's decisions shall be taken by
simple majority, except where otherwise stated. Without preju-
dice to Article 3(5), when the Management Committee is
required to take a decision relating specifically to the publica-
tion of a text from one of the institutions, that majority shall
include the vote of the institution concerned.

Article 5

(1) OJ L 356, 31.12.1977, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 347, 23.12.1998, p. 3.

In the common interest of the institutions, bodies, offices

1.
and agencies, the Management Committee shall:

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(a) lay down the rules governing the running of the Office by

unanimous decision;

tions for publication of the Official Journal that have been
subcontracted.

(b) lay down policy guidelines for general sales and free

distribution by unanimous decision;

(c) submit to the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies any
suggestions it has for improving the smooth running of the
Office;

(d) under the budget procedure, draw up estimates of the
Office's revenue and expenditure based on a draft prepared
by the Director of
the Office, and send them to the
Commission for the purpose of establishing the Commis-
sion's estimates of revenue and expenditure; at the same
time, it shall propose to the Commission any adjustments
to the Office's establishment plan which it deems necessary;

(e) define the types of additional services which the Office may
perform against payment for the institutions, bodies, offices
and agencies, and the corresponding charges;

(f) define the types of services for which the Office may

employ subcontractors;

(g) draw up an annual management report based on a draft
prepared by the Director, covering in particular all revenue
and expenditure headings relating to work performed and
services supplied by the Office in the light of the analytical
accounts; by 1 May of each year it shall send its report on
the financial year just ended to the institutions;

(h) participate in the appointment of certain officials, as

provided for in Article 6.

As regards the Official Journal, the management Commit-

2.
tee's powers shall

include the following:

(a) to ensure that the competent authorities in each institution
take the basic decisions that are to be applied jointly by the
institutions using the Official Journal and to ensure that the
decisions adopted are duly implemented;

(b) to put forward any proposals it has for improving the

structure and presentation of the Official Journal;

(c) to put forward proposals to the institutions for harmo-

nising the presentation of texts for publication;

(d) to examine any difficulties encountered in the course of
day-to-day operations in publishing the Official Journal and
to issue the necessary instructions to the Office and put
forward appropriate recommendations to the institutions in
order to overcome them;

(e) to decide unanimously whether, and in what circumstances,
publications originating outside the institutions can be
accommodated in the Official Journal. This provision shall
to
not, however, apply to publications made pursuant
Community legislation;

(f) in accordance with Article 133 of the Financial Regulation,
to request the Commission to open a bank account in
order to handle working funds to finance essential opera-

The Management Committee shall adopt

3.
its Rules of
Procedure by unanimous decision, after having submitted them
to the institutions. It shall appoint a chairman from among its
members.

Article 6

1.
The powers of the appointing authority in respect of
officials or other servants in grades A 1, A 2, A 3 and LA 3
shall be exercised by the Commission as described below.

The Commission shall not appoint officials in grades A 1, A 2,
A 3 and LA 3 unless the Management Committee has given a
favourable opinion. In the case of grades A 1 and A 2 the
opinion must be unanimous.

The Management Committee shall be closely involved in any
procedures that have to be completed before the appointment
of officials or other servants in grades A 1, A 2, A 3 and LA 3,
especially in drafting the vacancy notice, examining applica-
tions and appointing selection boards for competitions.

2.
The powers of the appointing authority in respect of
officials or servants other than those referred to in paragraph 1
shall be exercised by the Commission. The Commission may
delegate these powers to the Director of the Office.

The Commission, or the Director of the Office if the powers of
the appointing authority have been delegated to him, shall
inform the Management Committee of all appointments,
contracts
signed, promotions or disciplinary proceedings
initiated in respect of officials or servants other than those
referred to in paragraph 1. If the Commission has not dele-
gated the powers of the appointing authority to the Director of
the Office in respect of these officials or servants, the acts in
question shall be adopted by the Commission on proposals
from the Director.

3.
The administrative procedures connected with the official
acts mentioned in paragraphs 1 and 2, and the day-to-day
management of personnel, in particular with regard to retire-
ment, sickness insurance, accidents at work, salaries and leave,
shall be carried out in the same manner as for Commission
staff serving in Luxembourg.

Notices of vacancies at the Office shall be made known to

4.
officials in all the Community institutions in good time.

Article 7

The appropriations allocated to the Office,

1.
the total
amount of which shall be shown under a separate heading
within the section of the budget relating to the Commission,
shall be set out in detail

in an annex to that section.

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This annex shall be in the form of a statement of revenue and
expenditure subdivided in the same way as the sections of the
budget.

Posts at the Office shall be listed in an annex to the table

2.
showing the Commission's staff.

Each institution, body, office or agency shall act as
3.
authorising officer
the heading
for appropriations under
‘publishing expenditure’ in its budget. The costs of free distribu-
tion of publications shall be borne by the institution, body,
office or agency concerned. The Management Committee shall
establish procedures for cooperation on accounting between
the Office and the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies.

4.
Services rendered by the Office against payment shall be
invoiced as laid down by the Management Committee. At the
end of the financial year, the Management Committee shall
inform the budget authority of the breakdown of amounts
obtained in this way within the annex to the budget heading.

5.
The Office shall keep separate accounts for the sale of the
Official Journal and publications. Net receipts from sales shall
be passed on to the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies
after the financial year has ended.

‘Net receipts from sales’ means: the total sum of invoices,
minus management, recovery and costs.

Article 8

the Office, acting under the authority of

The Director of the Office shall be responsible for the smooth
running of
the
Management Committee within the limit of its powers. He shall
provide secretarial services for the Management Committee,
report to the Committee on the performance of his duties and
submit to it any proposal he has for improving the running of
the Office. He shall have official authority over the Office's
staff. Should the Director be absent or unavailable, his duties
shall, by way of exception to the rules on replacements, be
performed by a member of
the Office designated by the
Management Committee.

Article 9

Decision 69/13/Euratom, ECSC, EEC is hereby repealed.

References to the repealed Decision shall be understood as
referring to this Decision.

Done in Brussels and Luxembourg, 20 July 2000.

For the European Parliament

The President

N. FONTAINE

For the Council

The President

F. PARLY

For the Commission

The President

R. PRODI

For the Court of Justice

The President

G. C. RODRÍGUEZ IGLESIAS

For the Court of Auditors

The President

J.O. KARLSSON

For the Economic and Social Committee

The President

B. RANGONI MACHIAVELLI

For the Committee of the Regions

The President

J. CHABERT