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MODEG - rules of procedure

Created on
27 November 2010
Theme
  • Marine Knowledge Expert Group

RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE MARINE OBSERVATION AND DATA EXPERT GROUP (MODEG)

THE MARINE OBSERVATION AND DATA EXPERT GROUP

Having regard to the Commission's Action Plan for an integrated Maritime Policy, SEC(2007)1278, adopted on 10 October 2007

Having regard to the standard rules of procedure published by the Commission,

HAS ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING RULES OF PROCEDURE:

Article 1

Convening a meeting

  1. The Commission, the Chairman or a majority of Members can request a meeting of the group.
  2. A meeting will be convened if the Commission consents to the request.
  3. Joint meetings of the group with other groups may be convened to discuss matters falling within their respective areas of responsibility.

Article 2

Terms of Reference

  1. Based on input from the Commission, the secretariat shall draw up the terms of reference of the meeting.

Article 3

Agenda

  1. The secretariat shall draw up an agenda based on the terms of reference and on additional points raised by the Group.
  2. The agenda shall be adopted by the group at the start of the meeting.

Article 4

Forwarding of documents to group members

  1. The secretariat shall send the invitation to the meeting and the draft agenda to the group members no later than thirty calendar days before the date of the meeting.
  2. The secretariat shall send drafts on which the group is consulted and all other working documents to the group members no later than fourteen calendar days before the date of the meeting.
  3. In urgent or exceptional cases, the time limits for sending the documentation mentioned in 1 and 2 may be reduced to five calendar days before the date of the meeting.

Article 5

Opinions of the group

  1. As far as possible, the group shall adopt its opinions or reports by a consensus.
  2. In the event of a vote, the consensus is obtained by a simple majority of the members.
  3. Minority opinions should be documented.

Article 6

Sub-groups

  1. With the consent of the Commission, the group may set up sub-groups to examine specific questions on the basis of terms of reference defined by the group; they shall be disbanded as soon as they have fulfilled those terms of reference.
  2. The sub-groups shall report to the group.

Article 7

Admission of third parties

  1. The Commission representative may invite experts or observers with special expertise on a matter on the draft agenda to participate in the group's or sub-groups’ work where appropriate and/or necessary.
  2. The Group may decide to exclude experts or observers when the group adopts an opinion or report.

Article 8

Written procedure

  1. If necessary, the group’s opinion on a specific question may be delivered via a written procedure. To this end, the secretariat sends the group members the drafts on which the group is being consulted and any other working documents.
  2. However, if a simple majority of group members asks for the question to be examined at a meeting of the group, the written procedure shall be terminated without result and the Chair shall convene a meeting of the group as soon as possible.

Article 9

Secretariat and Chairman

  1. The Commission shall provide secretarial support for the group and any sub-groups created under Article 6(1) above.
  2. The Chairman shall be chosen by the Group at its first meeting following a selection of new members. The chairman cannot hold office twice.

Article 10

Summary minutes of the meetings

  1. Summary minutes on the discussion on each point on the agenda and the opinions delivered by the group are drafted by the Secretariat under the responsibility of the Chair. The minutes do not mention the individual position of the members during the group’s deliberations. These are adopted by the group.

Article 11

Attendance list

  1. At each meeting, the secretariat shall draw up, under the responsibility of the Chairman, an attendance list.

Article 12

Prevention of conflicts of interest

  1. Members shall sign a declaration certifying that their participation will not result in conflicts of interest.
  2. At the start of each meeting, any member whose participation in the group’s deliberations would raise a conflict of interest on a specific item on the agenda shall inform the Chairman.
  3. In the event of such a conflict of interest, the chair shall decide what action the Member should take. Options include leaving the room, remaining silent during discussions and abstaining from voting.
  4. Declarations of conflict of interest and the action taken are recorded in the minutes.

Article 13

Correspondence

  1. Correspondence relating to the group shall be addressed to the Commission, for the attention of the Chair.
  2. Correspondence for group members shall be sent to the [e-mail] address which they provide for that purpose.

Article 14

Transparency

  1. The principles and conditions concerning public access to the group’s documents are the same as laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. It is for the Commission to take a decision on requests for access to those documents.
  2. The summaries of meetings (without identifying individual Members' opinions) shall be publicly available through the Group's web-site.
  3. In agreement with the Commission, the group may, by a simple majority of its members, decide to open its deliberations to the public.

Article 15

Protection of personal data

  1. All processing of personal data for the purposes of these rules of procedure shall be in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 .