2008/762/EC: Council Decision of 25 September 2008 adopting the Rules of Procedure of the Investment Facility Committee set up under the auspices of the European Investment Bank
Date: 2008-09-25
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: European Investment Bank, committee (EU), investment, rules of procedure

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(Acts adopted under the EC Treaty/Euratom Treaty whose publication is not obligatory)

II

DECISIONS

COUNCIL

COUNCIL DECISION

of 25 September 2008

adopting the Rules of Procedure of the Investment Facility Committee set up under the auspices of
the European Investment Bank

(2008/762/EC)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the opinion of the Commission,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

the Governments of

Having regard to the Internal Agreement between the Represen­
tatives of
the Member States meeting
within the Council, on the financing of Community aid under
the multiannual financial framework for the period 2008 to
2013 in accordance with the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement
and on the allocation of financial assistance for the Overseas
Countries and Territories to which Part Four of the EC Treaty
applies (1), and in particular Article 9(2) thereof,

Article 1

The Rules of Procedure of the Investment Facility Committee set
up under the auspices of the European Investment Bank, as set
out in the Annex, are hereby adopted.

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its publication
in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Done at Brussels, 25 September 2008.

For the Council
The President

B. HORTEFEUX

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 617/2007 of
14 May 2007 on the implementation of the 10th European
Partnership
Development
Agreement (2), and in particular
the second paragraph of
Article 13(1) thereof,

ACP-EC

under

Fund

the

Having regard to the proposal from the European Investment
Bank,

(1) OJ L 247, 9.9.2006, p. 32.
(2) OJ L 152, 13.6.2007, p. 1.

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ANNEX

RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE INVESTMENT FACILITY COMMITTEE SET UP UNDER THE AUSPICES OF
THE EUROPEAN INVESTMENT BANK

1.
The Investment Facility Committee (the Committee) shall consist of a representative for each Member State and a
representative of the Commission of the European Communities (the Commission). Only the members of the Committee
designated by the Member States, or their alternates, shall vote.

Article 1

2.
The Chairman and the deputy Chairman of the Committee shall be elected from within the members of the
Committee designated by the Member States, for a period of two years. The election shall take place at the beginning
of the first meeting of the Committee by secret vote. The Chairman shall be elected among the candidates on the basis of
a qualified majority, as laid down in Article 3. The election of the deputy Chairman shall follow the same procedure.

3.

The European Investment Bank (the Bank), shall provide the Committee’s secretariat and support services.

4.
The Member States shall each nominate one representative and one alternate authorised to exercise voting rights. An
alternate may attend meetings of the Committee as an observer, but shall only have the right to vote when his Member
State’s representative is absent. Under exceptional circumstances, where neither the representative nor the alternate can
attend a meeting of the Committee, the representative may give a proxy to another representative, or may be replaced by
a third person to be appointed ad hoc by the Member State. The Member States shall inform the Bank and the General
Secretariat of the Council of the names and addresses of their representatives and their alternates through their Permanent
Representations to the European Union.

5.
The Commission shall nominate one representative and one alternate to attend the meetings of the Committee and
shall communicate their names to the Bank and to the General Secretariat of the Council. These appointees may be
assisted by other officials and servants of the Commission.

6.
The Bank shall nominate two officials to attend and take part in the work of the Committee and shall communicate
their names to the Commission and to the General Secretariat of the Council. These appointees may be assisted by other
officials of the Bank.

A representative of the General Secretariat of the Council shall be invited to attend meetings of the Committee as an

7.
observer.

Article 2
The Committee shall be convened by its Chairman and shall meet at least four times a year at the Bank’s headquarters in
Luxembourg. The Chairman may convene additional meetings at the request of one of its members, or the Bank.

The secretariat shall send notices of meetings to the members of the Committee and their alternates, and to the General
Secretariat of the Council, including details of the agenda proposed for the meeting, at the same time as the relevant
documents, as specified in Article 5(1).

The Committee shall act in all matters by a qualified majority of 724 votes out of 1 004, expressing a vote in favour by
at least fourteen Member States. The blocking minority shall consist of 281 votes. The votes of the representatives of the
Member States shall be weighted as follows:

Article 3

Member State

Belgium

Bulgaria

Czech Republic

Denmark

Germany

Votes

35

1

5

20

205

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Member State

Estonia

Greece

Spain

France

Ireland

Italy

Cyprus

Latvia

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Hungary

Malta

Netherlands

Austria

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Slovenia

Slovakia

Finland

Sweden

United Kingdom

Total

Votes

1

15

79

196

9

129

1

1

1

3

6

1

49

24

13

12

4

2

2

15

27

148

1 004

1.

The Committee shall, under the conditions laid down in Article 3:

Article 4

(a) with regard to the Investment Facility, approve:

(i) the operational guidelines and proposals for their revision;

(ii) the investment strategies and business plans,

in accordance with point (b) of Article 13(2) of the Council
Regulation (EC) No 617/2007 of 14 May 2007 on the implementation of the 10th European Development
Fund under the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement (1) (the Implementing Regulation);

(iii) the annual reports, including the financial statements;

(iv) any general policy document, including evaluation reports;

(b) deliver an opinion on:

(i) proposals to grant an interest subsidy,

in accordance with point (a) of Article 13(3) of the Implementing

Regulation;

(ii) proposals related to projects for which the Commission has rendered a negative opinion;

(iii) any other proposal based on the general principles defined in the operational guidelines.

(1) OJ L 152, 13.6.2007, p. 1.

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In addition, the governing bodies of the Bank may, from time to time, request that the Committee provides an opinion
on other financing proposals, or on other strategy or policy issues concerning the operations of the Bank in the ACP
countries.

The working documents and proposals for the Committee shall be prepared and submitted to the Committee by the

2.
Bank. Proposals shall provide details on:

(a)

the description of the project and its relevance to the country development strategy as presented in the country
strategy papers;

(b) the development objective which the project is intended to achieve,

including the sustainability of the measures

planned;

(c)

the general organisation of, and the justification for, the project;

(d) the project’s costs, method of financing and risks involved, as well as, when relevant, the risk mitigation measures the

Bank intends to apply;

(e)

the project’s local, national and regional
including on the environment;

impact, based on the provisions of the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement,

(f)

the agreement or opinion of the Commission, as specified in Article 13(5) of the Implementing Regulation.

The detailed rules governing the technical execution of the project and the timetable for carrying it out shall be

3.
summarised in an Annex to the proposal.

The Bank shall send the relevant documents and proposals to the members of the Committee and their alternates,

1.
and to the General Secretariat of the Council within the following respective time limits:

Article 5

(a) at least four weeks before the date fixed for meetings in cases where the approval of the Committee is provided for;

(b) at least three weeks before the date fixed for meetings in cases where the opinion of the Committee is sought.

The Chairman may in exceptional cases waive the above time limits at the reasoned request of the Bank.

2. Members of the Committee shall notify the Bank in writing of any comments or requests for further information
they may have on the documents circulated pursuant to paragraph 1, at least five working days in cases of approval and
three working days in cases of opinion, before the date of the meetings.

3.
Acting on a proposal from its Chairman, the Committee shall adopt the agenda at the beginning of the meeting.
Each member of the Committee may request that items be added to the agenda, but for discussion only. Information
supplied in this connection may be given orally.

4.
An absent Member State representative shall be deemed to have approved or delivered a favourable opinion on the
documents submitted, except where he has given the Chairman of the Committee written notice of his intention not to
approve or deliver a favourable opinion, or where, as an exceptional measure, he has given a proxy to another Member
State representative. Where proxies to vote have been given or a replacement has been designated, the Chairman of the
Committee shall be duly informed in advance.

A Member State representative may receive a proxy from one other Member State representative only.

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The opinion of the Committee may be sought by means of a written procedure at the initiative of the Bank and

1.
with the prior agreement of the Chairman.

Article 6

is submitted through written procedure, the Bank shall submit it together with all relevant
2. Where a proposal
supporting documents. If, within three weeks following the submission of a proposal, a Member State representative has
not cast a negative vote, he shall be deemed to have voted in favour of the proposal.

If discussion at a meeting of the Committee is specifically requested by one of its members not later than five
3.
working days before expiry of the three-week period referred to in the paragraph 2, the proposal shall be submitted in the
next scheduled meeting of the Committee. In exceptional cases of particular urgency, the Bank may then request that an
extraordinary meeting of the Committee be convened by the Chairman pursuant to Article 2.

Article 7
1. Without prejudice to Article 13(6) of the Implementing Regulation, the Committee’s approval or favourable opinion
may be granted subject to any comment specified by the Committee.

The Committee may ask for the appraisal of a request or proposal to be supplemented in certain respects. In such

2.
an event, the request or the proposal can be put before the Committee a second time.

3.

The opinions delivered by the Committee shall be forwarded to the Bank’s decision making bodies.

1.
A record of the main conclusions of each meeting of the Committee and the main standpoints adopted by the
members of the Committee shall be drawn up by the secretariat under the responsibility of the Chairman within two
weeks of the date of the meeting. The secretariat shall
likewise record the opinions and votes cast under written
procedure. These records shall be sent to the members of the Committee.

Article 8

The record shall be deemed final once approved by the Committee, whether by written procedure or at a

2.
subsequent meeting.

Correspondence concerning the Committee shall be addressed to the secretariat, for the attention of the Chairman

3.
of the Committee.

4.
All representatives and observers attending meetings of the Committee shall observe the confidentiality of the
Committee’s work and deliberations. Documents relating to such work and deliberations shall be for the use of those
to whom they are addressed, who shall be responsible for their safekeeping and the preservation of their confidentiality.

The operating expenditure of the Committee, including travel expenses for one representative of each Member State,

1.
shall be borne by the Bank.

Article 9

2.

The Bank shall place at the disposal of the Committee the premises and equipment necessary for its work.

All notices, correspondence or documents to be transmitted pursuant to these Rules may be so transmitted using
electronic mail or facsimile machine.

Article 10