2005/297/EC: Decision No 1/2005 of the ACP-EC Council of Ministers of 8 March 2005 concerning the adoption of the Rules of Procedure of the ACP-EC Council of Ministers
Date: 2005-03-08
Institutions: ACP Council of Ministers
Subjects: ACP-EU Council of Ministers, accession to the European Union, rules of procedure

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II

(Acts whose publication is not obligatory)

COUNCIL

DECISION No 1/2005 OF THE ACP-EC COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

of 8 March 2005

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

(2005/297/EC)

THE ACP-EC COUNCIL OF MINISTERS,

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

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

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

By Decision No 1/2001 of 30 January 2001 the ACP-EC
Committee of Ambassadors
adopted the Rules of
Procedure of the ACP-EC Council of Ministers by dele-
gation of powers.

Certain amendments are necessary to take account of the
accession of new Member States to the European Union.

At the 29th session of the ACP-EC Council of Ministers,
held in Gaborone, Botswana on 6 May 2004,
the
decision was taken to amend the Rules of Procedure
accordingly,

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
necessary at the request of one of 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 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.

Article 2

Agenda of meetings

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

least 30 days before the beginning of

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

the ACP States or of

request of

the

at

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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.

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,
in view of the replies received, common agreement
whether,
may be considered to have been reached.

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

Article 5

Committees and Working Parties

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

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.

Article 3

Proceedings

Supervision of
the work of
parties may be delegated to the Committee.

these committees and working

In accordance with Article 15(3) of

1.
the ACP-EC
Agreement, the Council of Ministers shall take its decisions by
common agreement of the Parties.

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.

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

the rights of

The members of the Council may be accompanied by

4.
advisers to assist them.

5.
The composition of each delegation shall be commu-
nicated 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

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.

2.
The Council shall examine trade policy issues and reports
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

signatory States

Representatives of

1.
to the ACP-EC
the
Agreement, which, on the date of entry into force of
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 Council may decide to take decisions by correspondence on
urgent matters. Approval for this procedure may be obtained
during a Council meeting or within the Committee.

The same rule shall apply to the countries referred to in

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

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The Council may authorise representatives of a country
3.
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

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

Article 12

Communications and minutes of meetings

All communications provided for

1.
in these Rules of
Procedure shall be transmitted through the Secretariat of the
Council to the representatives of the ACP States, the 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. Without prejudice to such other provisions as may apply,
the deliberations of the Council shall be covered by the obli-
gation of professional
the Council decides
secrecy unless
otherwise.

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

Each party may decide to publish the decisions, reso-
in

recommendations and opinions of

3.
lutions,
their respective official publications.

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 10

Dialogue with non-governmental actors

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

Article 13

Documentation

Unless decided otherwise, the Council shall conduct its delib-
erations on the basis of documents drafted in the official
languages of the parties.

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.

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

Article 14

Form of acts

Decisions,

1.
resolutions,
within the meaning of Article 15(3) of
Agreement shall be divided into articles.

recommendations and opinions
the ACP-EC

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

‘(date)’,

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.

Article 11

Regional and sub-regional organisations

ACP regional and sub-regional organisations may be represented
at meetings of the Council and the Committee as observers,
subject to prior agreement by the Council.

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

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

Acts adopted by the Council shall be signed by the

4.
President 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

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

Article 18

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 15 days of the
request.

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

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

Article 19

Secretariat

— from 1 April

to 30 September by a member of

the

Government of an ACP State,

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

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

of the European Union.

These two secretaries shall be appointed after joint consultation,
one by the ACP States and the other by the Community.

Article 16

The Committee

The Council may delegate some of

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

The conditions under which the Committee meets shall be

2.
laid down in its Rules of Procedure.

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

The secretaries shall perform their duties in complete inde-
pendence with a view solely to the interests of the Agreement
and shall neither
from any
Government, organisation or authority other than the Council
and the Committee.

instructions

seek nor

take

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

Article 20

The present Decision annuls and replaces Decision No 1/2001
of 30 January 2001 of the ACP-EC Committee of Ambassadors
concerning the adoption of
the
ACP-EC Council of Ministers.

the Rules of Procedure of

Article 17

Done at Brussels, 8 March 2005.

Participation in the Joint Parliamentary Assembly

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

For the ACP-EC Council of Ministers
The President

J. ASSELBORN