2001/113/EC: Decision No 2/2001 of the ACP-EC Committee of Ambassadors of 30 January 2001 concerning the adoption of the Rules of Procedure of the ACP-EC Committee of Ambassadors
Date: 2001-01-30
Institutions: ACP Committee of Ambassadors
Subjects: ACP-EU Committee of Ambassadors, rules of procedure

L 43/24

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

14.2.2001

DECISION No 2/2001 OF THE ACP-EC COMMITTEE OF AMBASSADORS

of 30 January 2001

concerning the adoption of the Rules of Procedure of the ACP-EC Committee of Ambassadors

(2001/113/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 16(3) thereof,

Whereas, 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 16(2) of the ACP-EC Partnership
Agreement, hereinafter referred to as the ‘ACP-EC Agreement’
the ACP-EC Committee of Ambassadors, hereinafter referred to
as ‘the Committee’, shall meet regularly, in particular to prepare
meetings of
the ACP-EC Council of Ministers (hereinafter
referred to as ‘the Council’), and whenever it proves necessary,
at the request of one of the parties.

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

The Committee shall meet at the seat of the Council of
3.
the European Union or at the seat of the General Secretariat of
the ACP Group of States. It may, however, meet in a city of an
ACP State if a special decision is taken to this effect.

Article 2

The Committee's functions

In accordance with Article 16(2) of the ACP-EC Agree-
1.
ment, the Committee shall assist the Council in carrying out its
tasks and shall carry out any mandate which the Council may
entrust to it. In this context, it shall monitor implementation of
the ACP-EC Agreement and progress towards achieving the
objectives set therein.

The Committee shall report to the Council, in particular

2.
on matters in which competence has been delegated.

It shall also submit

to the Council any resolutions,
3.
recommendations or opinions that it considers necessary or
appropriate.

Article 3

Agenda of meetings

1.
up by the Chair.

The provisional agenda for every meeting shall be drawn
It shall be communicated to the other

members of the Committee at least eight days before the date
of the meeting.

The provisional agenda shall include those items in respect of
which the Chair has received a request for inclusion ten days
before the date of the meeting. The only items to be included
on the provisional agenda shall be those for which documenta-
tion has been submitted to the Secretariat of the Council in
time to be forwarded to the members of the Committee at least
eight days before the date of the meeting.

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

Article 4

Proceedings

1.
The Committee shall act by common agreement between
the Community on the one part and the ACP States on the
other.

2.
The proceedings of the Committee shall be valid only if
at least half of the permanent representatives of the Member
States of the Community, one representative of the Commis-
sion of the European Communities (hereinafter referred to as
‘the Commission’) and half the members of the ACP Committee
of Ambassadors are present.

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

4.

Committee members may be accompanied by advisers.

5.
A representative of the European Investment Bank, here-
inafter referred to as ‘the Bank’, shall be present at Committee
meetings when matters concerning it are on the agenda.

Article 5

Written Procedures, Official Publications and Form of
Acts

Articles 4, 9(3) and 14 of the Rules of Procedure of the
Council, as adopted by Decision No 1/2001 of the ACP-EC
Committee of Ambassadors of 30 January 2001, shall apply to
the acts adopted by the Committee.

14.2.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 43/25

Article 6

Article 10

States attending with observer status

Correspondence and documentation

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

The same rule shall apply to the countries referred to in

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

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

Article 7

Confidentiality

Unless otherwise decided, meetings of the Committee

1.
shall not be public.

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

Article 8

Communications and minutes of meetings

All communications provided for in these Rules of Proce-
1.
dure shall be forwarded 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.

Correspondence intended for the Committee shall be sent

1.
to its Chair at the seat of the Council Secretariat.

2.
Unless decided otherwise, the Committee shall conduct
its deliberations on the basis of documents drafted in Danish,
Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portu-
guese, Spanish and Swedish.

Article 11

Committees, Subcommittees and Working Parties

1.

The Committee shall be assisted by:

(i) the Customs Cooperation Committee set up by Article 37
of Protocol No 1 to Annex V to the ACP-EC Agreement;

(ii) the permanent joint group on bananas provided for in
Article 3 of Protocol 5 to Annex V to the ACP-EC Agree-
ment;

(iii) the Subcommittee on Trade Cooperation;

(iv) the Subcommittee on Sugar;

(v) the joint working party on rice referred to in paragraph 5
of Declaration XXIV of the Final Act to the ACP-EC Agree-
ment;

(vi) the joint working party on rum referred to in paragraph 6
of Declaration XXV of the Final Act to the ACP-EC Agree-
ment.

2.
The Committee may set up other appropriate commit-
tees, subcommittees or working parties to carry out the work it
considers necessary for the accomplishment of the tasks set out
in Article 16(2) of the ACP-EC Agreement.

These committees, subcommittees and working parties

3.
shall submit reports on their work to the Committee.

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

Article 12

After their approval by the Committee, the minutes shall be
signed by the Chair of the Committee and the Secretaries of the
Council and shall be kept in the Council archives. Copies of the
minutes shall be sent to the recipients listed in paragraph 1.

Article 9

The Chair

The Office of Chair of the Committee shall be held alternately,
for six months at a time, by a Permanent Representative of a
Member State, designated by the Community, and by a Head of
Mission representing an ACP State designated by the ACP
States.

Composition of Committees, Subcommittees and Working
Parties

exception of

the committees,

the Customs Cooperation
1. With the
Committee,
subcommittees and working
parties referred to in Article 11 shall comprise ACP ambassa-
dors or their representatives, representatives of the Commission
and representatives of the Member States.

A representative of

the Bank shall attend committee,
2.
subcommittee and working party meetings where their agendas
contain items concerning the Bank.

The members of these committees, subcommittees and

3.
working parties may be assisted in their tasks by experts.

L 43/26

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

14.2.2001

Article 13

Chair of Committees, Subcommittees and Working Parties

1.
The committees, subcommittees and working parties
referred to in Article 11 shall be jointly chaired by an ACP
Ambassador for the ACP States and a representative of the
Commission or a representative of a Member State for the
Community.

2. Without prejudice to paragraph 1 the Co-chairs may, in
exceptional cases and by common agreement, be represented
by any person they designate.

Article 14

Procedures for Committee, Subcommittee and Working
Party meetings

The committees, subcommittees and working parties referred
to in Article 11 shall meet at the request of one of the two
parties after consultation between their Chairs and notice of
seven days shall be given for such meetings, except in urgent
cases.

Article 16

Secretariat

Secretariat work and other work necessary for the opera-
1.
tion of the Committee and of the committees, subcommittees
and working parties referred to in Article 11 (drafting agendas
and distributing the relevant documents) shall be carried out by
the Council Secretariat.

As soon as possible after each meeting, the Secretariat
these committees,
the meetings of

2.
shall draft minutes of
subcommittees and working parties.

The minutes shall be sent by 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.

Article 15

Done at Brussels, 30 January 2001.

Rules of Procedure of Committees, Subcommittees and
Working Parties

The committees, subcommittees and working parties referred
to in Article 11 may establish their Rules of Procedure with the
agreement of the Committee.

For the ACP-EC Committee of Ambassadors

The President

G. LUND