Article 1 
The Council hereby authorises the Deputy Secretary-General of the Council to act as the representative of the Member States concerned (Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom), with respect to: (a) the execution of a call for tenders for the provision of services concerning a communication infrastructure for the Schengen environment, pending its migration to a communication infrastructure at the charge of the European Community; (b) the conclusion and management of the contracts for the provision of such services.
Article 2 
The work involved in preparing the call for tenders and managing the subsequent contracts referred to in Article 1 on behalf of the Member States concerned shall be performed by the General Secretariat of the Council as part of its normal administrative tasks.
Article 3 
All questions relating to any non-contractual liability resulting from the acts or omissions of the General Secretariat of the Council in the performance of its administrative tasks pursuant to this Decision shall be governed by Article 288, second paragraph, of the Treaty establishing the European Community. Article 235 of that Treaty shall therefore apply to any disputes relating to compensation for damage.
Article 4 
1. The special bank account in the name of the Secretary-General of the Council, opened for the purpose of managing the contracts as referred to in Decision 1999/870/EC, shall be used in respect of the budget relating to the conclusion and management of the contracts mentioned in Article 1. 2. The Deputy Secretary-General shall be authorised to use the bank account referred to in paragraph 1 for the purposes of carrying out his tasks pursuant to this Decision.
Article 5 
This Decision shall take effect on the day of its adoption.
Article 6 
This Decision shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union .