2004/526/EC:Decision of the European Central Bank of 17 June 2004 adopting the Rules of Procedure of the General Council of the European Central Bank (ECB/2004/12)
Date: 2004-06-17
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: European Central Bank, rules of procedure

30.6.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 230/61

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

of 17 June 2004

adopting the Rules of Procedure of the General Council of the European Central Bank

(ECB/2004/12)

(2004/526/EC)

THE GENERAL COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK,

Having regard to the Statute of the European System of Central
Banks and of the European Central Bank, and in particular to
Article 46(4) thereof,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Sole Article

The Rules of Procedure of the General Council of the European
Central Bank of 1 September 1998 shall be replaced by the
following, which shall enter into force on 1 July 2004.

‘Rules of procedure of

the General Council of

the

European Central Bank

PRELIMINARY CHAPTER

Article 1

Definitions

These Rules of Procedure shall supplement the Treaty estab-
the
lishing the European Community and the Statute of
European System of Central Banks and of
the European
Central Bank. The terms in these Rules of Procedure shall
have the same meaning as in the Treaty and the Statute.

CHAPTER I

The General Council

Article 2

Date and place of General Council meetings

The General Council shall decide on the dates of

1.
meetings on a proposal from the President.

its

The President shall convene a meeting of

2.
Council
three members of the General Council.

the General
if a request for a meeting is submitted by at least

members of the Executive Board, the President of the Council of
the European Union and a member of the Commission of the
European Communities.

Each Governor may normally be accompanied by one

2.
person.

3.
If a member of the General Council is unable to attend a
meeting, he/she may appoint, in writing, an alternate to attend
the meeting and vote on his/her behalf. This written commu-
nication shall be sent to the President in due time before the
meeting. Such an alternate may normally be accompanied by
one person.

4.
The President shall appoint a member of staff of the ECB
as Secretary. The Secretary shall assist the President in preparing
the meetings of the General Council and shall draft the minutes
thereof.

The General Council may also invite other persons to

5.
attend its meetings, if it deems it appropriate to do so.

Article 4

Voting

1.
In order for the General Council to vote, there shall be a
quorum of two-thirds of the members or their alternates. If the
quorum is not met, the President may convene an extraordinary
meeting at which decisions may be taken without regard to the
quorum.

Unless stated otherwise in the Statute, decisions shall be

2.
taken by simple majority.

The General Council shall proceed to vote at the request
the President. The President shall also initiate a voting
the General

3.
of
procedure upon request
Council.

from any member of

The President may also convene meetings of the General

3.
Council whenever he/she deems it necessary.

The General Council shall normally hold its meetings on

4.
the premises of the European Central Bank (ECB).

5. Meetings may also be held by means of teleconferencing
unless at least three Governors object.

Article 3

Attendance at General Council meetings

Decisions may also be taken by written procedure, unless
4.
at least three members of the General Council object. A written
procedure shall require:

(i) normally not less than 10 working days for consideration
by every member of the General Council.
In a case of
urgency to be justified in the request, the period may be
reduced to five working days; and

(ii)

the personal signature of each member of
Council; and

the General

1.
Except as provided herein, attendance at meetings of the
General Council shall be restricted to its members, the other

(iii) a record of any such decision in the minutes of

the

subsequent meeting of the General Council.

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Official Journal of the European Union

30.6.2004

Article 5

Organisation of General Council meetings

sent,

and shall be

together with the

The General Council shall adopt

1.
the agenda for each
meeting. A provisional agenda shall be drawn up by the
President
related
documents to the members of the General Council and other
authorised participants at least eight days before the meeting,
in which case the President shall act
except in emergencies,
appropriately having regard to the circumstances. The General
Council may decide to remove items from or add items to the
provisional agenda on a proposal from the President or from
any other member of the General Council. An item shall be
removed from the agenda at the request of at least three of the
members of the General Council if the related documents were
not submitted to the members of the General Council in due
time.

The minutes of the proceedings of the General Council
2.
shall be submitted to its members
the
subsequent meeting (or where necessary earlier by written
procedure) and shall be signed by the President.

for approval at

CHAPTER II

Involvement of the General Council in the tasks of the European
System of Central Banks

Article 6

Relationship between the General Council

and the

Governing Council

1. Without prejudice to the General Council’s other respon-
sibilities,
including those under Article 44 of the Statute, the
General Council shall contribute, in particular, to the tasks listed
in Article 6(2) to (8).

The General Council shall contribute to the ECB’s advisory

2.
tasks under Article 4 and Article 25(1) of the Statute.

3.
The contribution of
statistical tasks shall consist in:

the General Council

to the ECB’s

— strengthening the cooperation between all

central banks of
supporting the ECB’s tasks in the field of statistics,

the national
the European Union with a view to

— contributing to the harmonisation, where necessary, of the
rules and practices governing the collection, compilation
and distribution of statistics by all
the national central
banks of the European Union, and

— providing the Governing Council with observations on draft
recommendations in the statistical field, under Article 42 of
the Statute, prior to their adoption.

The General Council shall contribute to the standardi-
5.
sation of accounting rules and reporting of operations under
Article 26(4) of the Statute by providing the Governing Council
with observations on the draft rules prior to their adoption.

6.
The General Council shall contribute to the adoption of
other measures in the context of Article 29(4) of the Statute by
providing the Governing Council with observations on such
draft measures prior to their adoption.

7.
The General Council shall contribute to the Conditions of
Employment for the staff of the European Central Bank by
providing the Governing Council with observations on the
draft prior to its adoption.

8.
The General Council shall contribute to the preparations
for the irrevocable fixing of exchange rates under Article 47(3)
of the Statute by providing the Governing Council with obser-
vations on:

— draft ECB opinions under Article 123(5) of the Treaty, and

— on any other draft ECB opinions concerning Community
legal acts to be adopted when a derogation is abrogated, and

— on decisions under paragraph 10 of the Protocol on certain
provisions relating to the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland.

9. Whenever the General Council is requested to contribute
to the tasks of the ECB under the above paragraphs, it shall be
given a reasonable period of time within which to do so, which
may not be less than 10 working days. In a case of urgency to
be justified in the request, the period may be reduced to five
working days. The President may decide to use the written
procedure.

The President

10.
accordance with Article 47(4) of
adopted by the Governing Council.

shall

inform the General Council,

in
the Statute, of decisions

Article 7

Relationship between the General Council

and the

Executive Board

The General Council of the ECB shall be given the oppor-

1.
tunity to submit observations before the Executive Board:

— implements legal acts of the Governing Council for which,
in accordance with Article 12.1 of the Rules of Procedure of
the European Central Bank, the contribution of the General
Council is required,

The General Council shall contribute to fulfilling the ECB’s
4.
reporting commitments under Article 15 of
the Statute by
providing the Governing Council with observations on the
annual report prior to its adoption.

— adopts, by virtue of powers delegated by the Governing
the Statute,
in accordance with Article 12.1 of
Council
legal acts for which,
in accordance with Article 12.1 of
the Rules of Procedure of the European Central Bank, the
contribution of the General Council is required.

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Official Journal of the European Union

L 230/63

is requested to submit
2. Whenever the General Council
observations under the first paragraph of this Article,
it shall
be given a reasonable period of time within which to do so,
which may not be less than ten working days. In a case of
the period may be
urgency to be justified in the request,
reduced to five working days. The President may decide to
use written procedure.

Article 8

European System of Central Banks Committees

1. Within its field of competence the General Council may
request studies of specific topics by committees established by
the Rules of
the Governing Council under Article 9 of
Procedure of the European Central Bank.

2.
The national central bank of each non-participating
Member State may appoint up to two staff members to take
part in the meetings of a committee whenever it deals with
matters falling within the field of competence of the General
Council and whenever the chairperson of a committee and the
Executive Board deem this appropriate.

CHAPTER III

Specific procedural provisions

Article 9

Legal instruments

1.
ECB Decisions under Article 46(4) and Article 48 of the
Statute and under these Rules of Procedure, as well as ECB
Recommendations and ECB Opinions adopted by the General
Council under Article 44 of the Statute, shall be signed by the
President.

All ECB legal

2.
instruments are numbered, notified and
published in accordance with Article 17(7) of the Rules of
Procedure of the European Central Bank.

Article 10

Confidentiality of and access to the ECB’s documents

The proceedings of

1.
the General Council, and of any
committee or group dealing with matters falling within its
competence, shall be confidential unless the General Council
authorises the President to make the outcome of their delib-
erations public.

2.
Public access to documents drawn up by the General
Council, and by any committee or group dealing with matters
falling within its competence, shall be governed by a Governing
Council decision adopted under Article 23(2) of the Rules of
Procedure of the European Central Bank.

3.
Documents drawn up by the General Council, and by any
committee or group dealing with matters falling within its
competence, shall be classified and handled in accordance
laid down in the Administrative Circular
with the rules
adopted under Article 23(3) of the Rules of Procedure of the
European Central Bank. They shall be freely accessible after a
period of 30 years unless decided otherwise by the decision-
making bodies.

Article 11

End of applicability

in accordance with Article 122(2) of the Treaty, all
When,
derogations are abrogated by the Council of
the European
Union and when the decisions provided for in the Protocol
on certain provisions relating to the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland are taken, the General Council
shall be dissolved and these Rules of Procedure shall no
longer apply.’

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 17 June 2004.

The President of the ECB

Jean-Claude TRICHET