2001/112/EC: Decision No 1/2001 of the ACP-EC Committee of Ambassadors of 30 January 2001 concerning the adoption of the Rules of Procedure of the ACP-EC Council of Ministers
Date: 2001-01-30
Institutions: ACP Committee of Ambassadors
Subjects: ACP-EU Council of Ministers, rules of procedure

L 43/20

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

14.2.2001

II

(Acts whose publication is not obligatory)

COUNCIL

DECISION No 1/2001 OF THE ACP-EC COMMITTEE OF AMBASSADORS

of 30 January 2001

concerning the adoption of the Rules of Procedure of the ACP-EC Council of Ministers

(2001/112/EC)

THE ACP-EC COMMITTEE OF AMBASSADORS,

Having regard to the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement signed in
Cotonou on 23 June 2000, in particular Article 15(5) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

By its Decision of 22 June 2000 the ACP-EC Council of
Ministers delegated its powers to adopt the Rules of
Procedure of the ACP-EC Council of Ministers to the
ACP-EC Committee of Ambassadors.

By Decision No 1/2000 of 27 July 2000, the ACP-EC
Council of Ministers implemented in advance most of
the provisions of the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Dates and locations of meetings

1.
As provided in Article 15(1) of the ACP-EC Partnership
Agreement, hereinafter referred to as the ‘ACP-EC Agreement’,
the ACP-EC Council of Ministers, hereinafter referred to as ‘the
Council’, shall normally meet once a year, and whenever neces-
sary at the request of one of the parties.

2.
The Council shall be convened by its President. The dates
of its meetings shall be fixed by common agreement between
the parties.

3.
The Council shall meet either where the meetings of the
Council of the European Union are usually held or at the seat
of the General Secretariat of the ACP Group of States or in a
city of one of the ACP States, in accordance with the decision
taken by the Council.

of the meeting. The provisional agenda shall consist of those
items in respect of which a request for inclusion is received by
the President at least 30 days before the beginning of the
meeting.

The items to appear on the provisional agenda shall be those
for which documentation has been transmitted to the Secre-
tariat of the Council in time to be forwarded to the members of
the Council and to the members of the ACP-EC Committee of
Ambassadors, hereinafter referred to as the ‘Committee’, at least
21 days before the beginning of the meeting.

2.
The agenda shall be adopted by the Council at the begin-
ning of each meeting. In urgent cases the Council may decide,
at the request of the ACP States or of the Community, to
include on the agenda items for which the time limits laid
down in paragraph 1 have not been observed.

The provisional agenda may be divided into Part A, Part B

3.
and Part C.

Items entered in Part A shall be those which can be approved
by the Council without discussion.

Items entered in Part B are those matters which need to be
discussed by the Council before they are approved.

Items entered in Part C shall be discussed in an informal
exchange of views.

Article 3

Proceedings

In accordance with Article 15(3) of the ACP-EC Agree-
take its decisions by

1.
ment,
common agreement of the Parties.

the Council of Ministers shall

Article 2

The Council's functions

1.
The provisional agenda for every meeting shall be drawn
up by the President. It shall be communicated to the other
members of the Council at least 30 days before the beginning

The proceedings of the Council shall be valid only if at
2.
least half the members of the Council of the European Union,
one member of the Commission of the European Communities
(hereinafter referred to as ‘the Commission’) and two-thirds of
the members representing the Governments of the ACP States
are present.

14.2.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 43/21

All members of the Council unable to attend may be
3.
represented. In this case they shall inform the President and
shall indicate the person or delegation authorised to represent
them. The representative shall exercise all the rights of the
member unable to attend.

The members of the Council may be accompanied by

4.
advisers to assist them.

The composition of each delegation shall be communi-
5.
cated to the President before the beginning of each session.

6.
A representative of the European Investment Bank, here-
inafter referred to as ‘the Bank’ shall be present at sessions of
the Council when matters from the areas which concern the
Bank are on the agenda.

Article 4

Written Procedures

The Council may decide to take decisions by correspondence
this procedure may be
on urgent matters. Approval
obtained during a Council meeting or within the Committee.

for

At the same time as this procedure is decided upon, a time
limit may be fixed within which replies must be given. On the
expiry of this time limit, the President of the Council shall
decide, on the basis of a report from the two Secretaries of the
Council, whether,
in view of the replies received, common
agreement may be considered to have been reached.

Article 5

Committees and Working Parties

The Council may set up committees or working parties to carry
out work it considers necessary, and in particular to prepare its
proceedings where appropriate on areas of cooperation or
specific aspects of the Partnership.

The Council shall examine trade policy issues and reports
2.
by the Joint ACP-EC Ministerial Trade Committee set up by
Article 38 of the ACP-EC Agreement.

Article 8

States attending with observer status

Representatives of signatory States to the ACP-EC Agree-
1.
ment, which, on the date of entry into force of the Agreement
have not yet completed the procedures referred to in Article
93(1) and (2) thereof, may attend Council sessions as observers.
They may in this case be authorised to take part in Council
debates.

The same rule shall apply to the countries referred to in

2.
Article 93(6) of the ACP-EC Agreement.

3.
The Council may authorise representatives of a country
applying for accession to the ACP-EC Agreement to take part
in the proceedings of the Council as observers.

Article 9

Confidentiality and official publications

Unless otherwise decided, meetings of the Council shall
1.
not be public. Access to meetings of the Council shall require a
pass.

2. Without prejudice to such other provisions as may apply,
the deliberations of the Council shall be covered by the obliga-
tion of professional secrecy unless the Council decides other-
wise.

Each party may decide to publish the decisions, resolu-
3.
tions, recommendations and opinions of the Council in their
respective official publications.

Article 10

Supervision of the work of these committees and working
parties may be delegated to the Committee.

Dialogue with non-governmental actors

Article 6

Ministerial Subgroups

Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 5, the Council
may, in the course of its meetings, delegate the preparation of
its proceedings and conclusions on specific items on the
agenda to subgroups of ministers composed on a parity basis

Article 7

Ministerial Committees

1.
In accordance with Article 83 of the ACP-EC Agreement,
the ACP-EC Development Finance Cooperation Committee is
hereby set up. The Council shall adopt the Rules of Procedure
for this Committee.

The Council may invite economic and social representa-
1.
tives of civil society in the ACP and European Union States to
take part
its
ordinary meetings for the purpose of
informing them and
hearing their opinions and suggestions on items on the agenda.

in an exchange of views on the margins of

2.
Exchanges of views with representatives of civil society
shall be organised by the Council Secretariat. It may delegate
this task, in agreement with the Commission, to representative
organisations of civil society. In particular, the Council Secre-
tariat may delegate work in connection with exchanges of
views with economic and social representatives of ACP and EU
civil society to the Economic and Social Committee of the
European Communities.

3.
The items on the agenda to be discussed with non-
governmental actors shall be decided by the President, acting
on a proposal from the Council Secretariat. They shall be
communicated to the other members of the Council at the
same time as the provisional agenda for each session.

L 43/22

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

14.2.2001

Article 11

Regional and Sub-regional Organisations

ACP regional and sub-regional organisations may be repre-
sented at meetings of the Council and the Committee as obser-
vers, subject to prior agreement by the Council.

Article 12

Communications and minutes of meetings

All communications provided for in these Rules of Proce-
1.
dure shall be transmitted through the Secretariat of the Council
to the representatives of the ACP States, the General Secretariat
of the ACP Group of States, the Permanent Representatives of
the Member States, the General Secretariat of the Council of the
European Union and the Commission.

Such communications shall also be sent to the President of the
Bank when they concern the Bank.

2. Minutes shall be kept of each meeting, noting in partic-
ular the decisions taken by the Council.

After their approval by the Council, the minutes shall be signed
by the President-in-Office and by the two Secretaries of the
Council and shall be kept in the archives of the Council. A
copy of
the minutes shall be forwarded to the recipients
referred to in paragraph 1.

Article 13

Documentation

Unless decided otherwise, the Council shall conduct its delib-
erations on the basis of documents drafted in Danish, Dutch,
English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese,
Spanish and Swedish.

Article 14

Form of Acts

1.
Decisions, resolutions, recommendations and opinions
within the meaning of Article 15(3) of the ACP-EC Agreement
shall be divided into articles.

Resolutions, declarations, recommendations and opinions
3.
within the meaning of Article 15(3) of the ACP-EC Agreement
shall be entitled ‘Resolution’,
‘Recommendation’
or ‘Opinion’, followed by a serial number, date of adoption and
a description of their subject.

‘Declaration’,

Acts adopted by the Council shall be signed by the Pres-

4.
ident and shall be kept in the archives of the Council.

These acts shall be transmitted, through the two Secretaries of
the Council, to the recipients referred to in Article 12(1).

Article 15

Presidency

The Office of President of the Council shall be held alternately
as follows:

— from 1 April to 30 September by a member of the Govern-

ment of an ACP State,

— from 1 October to 31 March by a member of the Council

of the European Union.

Article 16

The Committee

1.
The Council may delegate some of its powers to the
Committee in accordance with Article 15(4) of the ACP-EC
Agreement.

The conditions under which the Committee meets shall

2.
be laid down in its Rules of Procedure.

The Committee shall be responsible for preparing the
3.
meetings of the Council and for carrying out any mandate
which the Council may entrust to it.

Article 17

Participation in the Joint Parliamentary Assembly

When the Council attends meetings of the Joint Parliamentary
Assembly it shall be represented by its President.

Should the President be unable to attend, he shall designate the
member who is to take his place.

They shall be concluded with the formula ‘Done at …’, ‘[date]’,
the date being the date of their adoption by the Council.

Article 18

2.
Decisions within the meaning of Article 15(3) of the
ACP-EC Agreement shall be entitled ‘Decision’, followed by a
serial number, date of adoption and a description of their
subject.

Decisions shall specify the date on which they are to enter into
force. They shall incorporate the following sentence: ‘The ACP
States, the Community and its Member States shall be required,
each for its own part, to take the necessary steps to implement
this Decision’.

Consistency in Community policies and impact on the
implementation of the ACP-EC Agreement

1. When the ACP States request consultations pursuant to
Article 12 of the ACP-EC Agreement, such consultations shall
be held promptly, as a general rule within fifteen days of the
request.

The body

2.
the
responsible may be
Committee, one of the two Ministerial Committees referred to
in Article 7, or an ad hoc Working Party.

the Council,

14.2.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 43/23

Article 19

Secretariat

The Secretariat of the Council and of the Committee, shall be
run jointly by two Secretaries.

These two Secretaries shall be appointed after joint consulta-
tion, one by the ACP States and the other by the Community.

The Secretaries shall perform their duties in complete indepen-
dence with a view solely to the interests of the Agreement and
shall neither seek nor take instructions from any Government,

organisation or authority other than the Council and the
Committee.

Correspondence intended for the Council shall be sent to the
President thereof at the seat of the Council Secretariat.

Done at Brussels, 30 January 2001.

For the ACP-EC Committee of Ambassadors

The President

G. LUND