Proposal for a Council Decision amending Council Decision of 16 December 1980 setting up the consultative committee for the fusion programme
Date: 2003-03-27
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, EU research policy, advisory committee (EU), nuclear fusion, voting method

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 27.3.2003
COM(2003) 149 final

Proposal for a

COUNCIL DECISION

amending Council Decision of 16 December 1980 setting up the consultative committee
for the fusion programme

(presented by the Commission)

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

By Council Decision of 16 December 1980 a  consultative committee for the fusion
programme has been set up. Its rules of procedure include a weighted voting system,
which was amended accordingly after each accession of new Member States.

The consultative  committee for  fusion  research (CCE-FU),  as  set up by Art.  6.2  of
Council  Decision  1999/175/Euratom,  unanimously  agreed  in  June  2002  to  have  its
voting system amended to be similar to the weighted voting system that is applied in
the European Fusion Development Agreement (EFDA).

The  Council  and  the  Commission,  in  a  statement  to  the  Council  minutes  of
30 September 2002, acknowledged the unanimous agreement of the CCE-FU on its
proposed  updated  weighted  voting  system  which  should  be  applied  within  the
committee  referred  to  in  Article  6.2  of  the  Council  Decision  adopting  the  specific
programme (Euratom) 2002-2006, when dealing with fusion-related aspects.

With  reference  to  the  aforementioned  statement  to  the  Council  minutes,  it  is  now
appropriate  for  the  Commission  to  propose  steps  in  view  of  a  modification  of  the
Council Decision of 16 December 1980 setting up the consultative committee for the
fusion programme.

To  this  end,  the  Commission  proposes  to  amend  the  Council  Decision  of
16 December 1980 – as last amended by Council Decision 95/1/EC, Euratom, ECSC
of 1 January 1995, in particular paragraph 14 thereof on the weighted voting system,
as agreed on by the CCE-FU and as recorded by the Council on 30 September 2002.

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Proposal for a

COUNCIL DECISION

amending Council Decision of 16 December 1980 setting up the consultative committee
for the fusion programme

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Atomic  Energy  Community,  and  in
particular to the first paragraph of Article 7 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Whereas:

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

Article  6.2  of  Council  Decision  2002/837/Euratom1  adopting  a  specific  programme
(Euratom) for research and training on nuclear energy (2002-2006) provides that, for
the  purposes  of  implementing  the  specific  programme,  the  Commission  shall  be
assisted  by  a  consultative  committee  and  that,  for  fusion-related  aspects,  the
composition  of  this  committee  and  the  detailed  operational  rules  and  procedures
applicable  to  it shall be  as  laid  down  in  the  Council  Decision  of  16  December  1980
dealing with the consultative committee for the fusion programme.

The  Council  and  the  Commission,  at  the  Council  meeting  of  30  September  2002,
acknowledged  the  unanimous  agreement  of  the  consultative  committee  for  fusion
research  (CCE-FU)  on  an  updated  weighted  voting  system  which  should  be  applied
within the committee referred to in Article 6.2 of Council Decision 2002/837/Euratom,
when dealing with fusion-related aspects.

In view of the above, it is now appropriate to modify accordingly the Council Decision
of  16  December  1980  –  as  last  amended  by  Council  Decision  95/1/EC,  Euratom,
ECSC  of  1  January  19952  –  setting  up  the  consultative  committee  for  the  fusion
programme,

1

2

OJ L 294, 29.10.2002, p. 74.
OJ L 1, 1.1.1995, p.1.

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HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Sole Article

In  paragraph  14  of  Council  Decision  of  16  December  1980  setting  up  the  consultative
committee  for  the  fusion  programme,  the  last  two  sentences  are  replaced  by  the  following
text:

'Opinions relating to point (g) of paragraph 5 shall be adopted by the following weighted voting
system:

2
Belgium
2
Denmark
5
Germany
2
Greece
3
Spain
5
France
2
Ireland
5
Italy
1
Luxembourg
2
Netherlands
2
Austria
2
Portugal
2
Finland
2
Sweden
Switzerland
2
United Kingdom 5

Total

44

For the adoption of an opinion, the required majority shall be 23 votes in favour by at least eight
delegations.’

Done at Brussels,

For the Council
The President

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