Proposal for a Council Decision on a Community Position regarding the Rules of Procedure of the Joint Committee established under the Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on certain aspects of government procurement
Date: 2003-02-06
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Switzerland, agreement (EU), liberalisation of trade, public contract, supplies contract

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 06.02.2003
COM(2003) 56 final

Proposal for a

COUNCIL DECISION

On a Community Position regarding the Rules of Procedure of the Joint Committee
established under the Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss
Confederation on certain aspects of government procurement

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

The  Agreement  between  the  European  Community  and  the  Swiss  Confederation  on  certain
aspects  of  government  procurement  entered  into  force  on  1  June  2002.  Article  11  of  that
Agreement provides for the establishment of a Joint Committee on government procurement
composed  of  representatives  of  the  contracting  Parties  to  be  responsible  for  the  effective
implementation  and  operation  of  the  Agreement.  To  that  end,  it  is  to  exchange  views  and
information and constitute the forum for consultations between the Parties. In particular, if the
proper application of Chapter II of the Agreement so requires, the Parties are to inform each
other of planned changes in their relevant legislation falling or likely to fall within the scope
of the Agreement (Article 7(1)). Each Party is also to inform the other of any issue relevant to
the interpretation and application of the Agreement (Article 7(2)).

The tasks and powers of the Committee include the following in particular:

- establishing the lists showing the situations in which the principle of non-discrimination is
applied, with a view to assessing the functioning of Article 6, no later than five years after the
entry into force of the Agreement (Article 6(3));

- the settlement of disputes submitted to it by one of the Parties (Article 10);

- the regular examination of the annexes  to the Agreement and,  at the request  of one of the
Parties, amendments to those annexes (Article 11(4)).

* * *

The  draft  Rules  of  Procedure  provide  for  the  office  of  Chairman  to  be  held  alternately  and
lays  down  out  the  secretarial  functions,  the  holding  of  meetings,  the  composition  of  the
delegations,  the  drawing-up  and  adoption  of  agendas  and  minutes,  the  adoption  of  acts,
including by written procedure, the covering of expenses, confidentiality and the functioning
of the working parties set up under the Agreement.

In the light of the above, the Council is invited to determine by Decision the position of the
European  Community  to  be  adopted  on  the  proposal  for  Decision  No  1/2002  of  the  Joint
Committee established under the Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss
Confederation  on  certain  aspects  of  government  procurement.  In  this  way,  the  Joint
Committee  will  be  able  to  adopt  its  Rules  of  Procedure  in  order  to  establish  the  necessary
framework for its implementation and operation.

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Proposal for a

COUNCIL DECISION

On a Community Position regarding the Rules of Procedure of the Joint Committee
established under the Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss
Confederation on certain aspects of government procurement

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY,

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 Confederation1, and in particular Article 7(3)
thereof,

Having  regard  to  the  Agreement  between  the  European  Community  and  the  Swiss
Confederation  on  certain  aspects  of  government  procurement2,  and  in  particular  Article  11
thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission3,

Whereas:

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

The  Agreement  between  the  European  Community  and  the  Swiss  Confederation  on
certain  aspects  of  government  procurement  (hereinafter  "the  Agreement  on
government procurement") entered into force on 1 June 2002.

Article  11(1)  of  the  Agreement  on  government  procurement  establishes  a  Joint
Committee responsible for ensuring the effective implementation and operation of the
Agreement.

Article  11(2)  of  the  Agreement  lays  down  that  the  Joint  Committee  shall  adopt  its
Rules of Procedure.

The  Community  must  decide  on  the  position  to  be  adopted  in  the  Joint  Committee
with regard to the adoption of its Rules of Procedure.

1

2

3

OJ L 114 of 30.4.2002, p. 1.
OJ L 114 of 30.4.2002, p. 430.
OJ, C […] of […], p. […]

3

                                                
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Sole Article

The Position of the European Community to be adopted in the Joint Committee established by
Article 11 of the Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation
on certain aspects of government procurement shall be based on the proposal for a decision of
the Joint Committee attached to this Decision.

Done at Brussels,

For the Council
The President

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ANNEX

DECISION No 1/2002 OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT
PROCUREMENT ESTABLISHED UNDER THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE
EUROPEAN COMMUNITY AND THE SWISS CONFEDERATION ON CERTAIN
ASPECTS OF GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT

of …

on the adoption of its Rules of Procedure

(../../..)

THE JOINT COMMITTEE,

Having  regard  to  the  Agreement  between  the  European  Community  and  the  Swiss
Confederation on certain aspects of government procurement (hereinafter “the Agreement”),
and in particular Article 11(2) thereof,

Whereas the Agreement entered into force on 1 June 2002,

HAS ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING RULES OF PROCEDURE:

Article 1

Chairman

The office of Chairman 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 Party holding the office of Chairman shall provide secretarial services for the Committee.
The  Chairman  shall  communicate  to  the  head  of  the  delegation  not  holding  the  office  of
Chairman the name and details of the person acting as secretary.

Article 3

Meetings

1.

The Chairman shall determine the date and place of meetings by agreement with the
head of the delegation not holding the office of Chairman.

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2.

3.

1.

2.

3.

If  the  head  of  the  delegation  not  holding  the  office  of  Chairman  asks  for  an
extraordinary meeting to be held, the Chairman shall convene such a meeting within
30 days of receipt of the request.

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

Article 4

Delegations

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

Before each meeting, the heads of delegation shall inform each other of the intended
composition of their delegations.

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

Article 5

Correspondence

All  correspondence  intended  for  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  and  originating  from  him
shall  be  sent  to  the  secretariat  of  the  Committee.  The  latter  shall  send  a  copy  of  all
correspondence relating to the Agreement to the head of delegation of the Party not holding
the office of Chairman, to the Swiss Mission to the EC and to the Commission of the EC.

Article 6

Agenda

1.

2.

The  Chairman  shall  draw  up  the  provisional  agenda  for  each  meeting.  The
provisional agenda shall be sent to the head of delegation of the Party not holding the
office of Chairman at the latest 15 days prior to the meeting.

The provisional agenda shall include the items for which a request for their inclusion
has reached the Chairman at least 21 days prior to the start of the meeting. The items
shall be included in the agenda only if, where applicable, the documents relating to
them have been sent to the Chairman no later than the date on which that agenda is
sent.

The agenda shall be approved by the Committee at the start of each meeting.  Items
other than those listed in the provisional agenda shall be included with the agreement
of the head of delegation of the Party not holding the office of Chairman.

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3.

1.

2.

1.

2.

3.

1.

2.

With the agreement of the head of delegation of the Party not holding the office of
Chairman, the Chairman may reduce the time limits set out in paragraph 1, in order
to take account of the requirements of a particular case.

Article 7

Minutes

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  adoption.  Once  adopted  by  the
Committee, the minutes shall be signed by the Chairman and the head of delegation
of the Party not holding the office of Chairman. One original copy shall be kept by
each of the Parties.

The draft minutes shall be drawn up within 15 working days of the meeting and shall
be  submitted  to  the  Committee  for  adoption  by  the  written  procedure  set  out  in
Article 9. If that procedure cannot be completed, the minutes shall be adopted by the
Committee at its next meeting.

Article 8

Adoption of acts

The  recommendations  and  decisions  of  the  Committee  shall  bear  the  title
"Recommendation"  or  "Decision"  followed  by  a  serial  number,  the  date  of  their
adoption and an indication of their subject matter.

The  decisions  and  recommendations  of  the  Committee  shall  bear  the  signatures  of
the  Chairman  and  of  the  head  of  delegation  of  the  Party  not  holding  the  office  of
Chairman.

Each Party may decide to publish any act adopted by the Committee.

Article 9

Written procedure

The acts of the Committee may be adopted by written procedure when the Chairman
and the head of delegation of the Party not holding the office of Chairman so agree.

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

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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 parties

The  working  parties  shall  work  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 referred to in Article 2. They shall not be authorised to take decisions, but
may only make recommendations to the Committee.

Done at …, ../../..

For the Joint Committee on
government procurement
The Chairman

The head of delegation of the Party not holding
the office of Chairman

8