2007/239/EC: Council Decision of 5 March 2007 on a Community Position concerning Decision No 1/2007 of the Joint Committee referred to in the Interim Agreement on trade and trade-related matters between the European Community, of the one part, and the Republic of Albania, of the other part, adopting its Rules of Procedure including the Terms of Reference and Structure of the EC-Albania Working Parties

The Joint Committee shall be chaired alternately by each of the Parties.

The Joint Committee shall meet regularly once a year in Brussels and Tirana alternately. Special meetings of the Joint Committee may be convened by mutual agreement at the request of either Party. Unless otherwise agreed the meetings of the Joint Committee shall not be public.

Prior to each meeting, the Chairman shall be informed of the intended composition of the delegation of each Party. A representative of the European Investment Bank (EIB) may attend the meetings of the Joint Committee, as an observer, when matters which concern the EIB appear on the agenda. The Joint Committee may invite non-members to attend its meetings in order to provide information on particular subjects. The Member States of the European Community will be informed about the meetings of the Joint Committee.

An official of the European Commission and an official of the Republic of Albania shall act jointly as Secretaries of the Joint Committee.

All correspondence to and from the Chairman of the Joint Committee shall be forwarded to both Secretaries. The two Secretaries shall ensure that correspondence is circulated, where appropriate, to their respective representatives in the Joint Committee.

1 The Chairman and the Secretaries shall draw up a provisional agenda for each meeting not later than 15 working days before the beginning of the meeting. The provisional agenda shall include the items in respect of which a request for inclusion has been received by the Secretaries not later than 21 working days before the beginning of the meeting, save that items shall not be written into the provisional agenda unless the supporting documentation has been forwarded to the Secretaries not later than the date of dispatch of the agenda. The agenda shall be adopted by the Joint Committee at the beginning of each meeting. Items other than those appearing on the provisional agenda may be included in the agenda if the two Parties so agree.

2 The Chairman may, in agreement with the two Parties, shorten the time limits specified in paragraph 1 in order to take account of the requirements of a particular case.

Draft minutes of each Joint Committee meeting shall be drawn up by the Party hosting the meeting. They shall indicate the decisions and recommendations taken and the conclusions adopted. Within the two months following the meeting, the draft minutes shall be submitted to the Joint Committee for approval. When approved, the minutes shall be signed by the Chairman and the two Secretaries and one original copy shall be filed by each of the Parties. A copy of the minutes shall be forwarded to each of the addressees referred to in Article 4 of this Decision.

The Joint Committee shall take its decisions and formulate its recommendations by mutual agreement between the Parties. During the inter-session period, the Joint Committee may take decisions or make recommendations by written procedure if both Parties so agree. The decisions and recommendations of the Joint Committee within the meaning of Article 43 of the Interim Agreement shall be entitled respectively ‘Decision’ and ‘Recommendation’ and followed by a serial number, by the date of their adoption and by a description of their subject. The decisions and recommendations of the Joint Committee shall be signed by the Chairman and authenticated by the two Secretaries. The decisions taken by the Joint Committee shall be published by the Parties in their respective official publications. Each Party may decide on the publication of any other act adopted by the Joint Committee.

The official languages of the Joint Committee shall be the official languages of the two Parties. Unless otherwise decided, the Joint Committee shall base its deliberations on documentation prepared in these languages.

The Community and the Republic of Albania shall each defray the expenses they incur by reason of their participation in the meetings of the Joint Committee and of working parties, both in respect of staff, travelling and subsistence expenditure and of postal and telecommunications costs. Expenditure in connection with interpretation, translation and reproduction of documents at meetings as well as any other expenditure relating to the material organisation of meetings shall be borne by the Party hosting the meetings.

The Terms of Reference and Structure of the Working Parties set up to assist the Joint Committee in carrying out its duties are set out in the Annex to this Decision. The Working Parties shall be composed of representatives of both Parties. They shall be chaired alternately by the two Parties, according to the Rules of Procedure of the Joint Committee. The Working Parties shall work under the authority of the Joint Committee, to which they shall report after each one of their meetings. They shall not take decisions but may make recommendations to the Joint Committee. The Joint Committee may decide to abolish any existing Working Parties, modify their Terms of Reference or establish new Working Parties to assist it in carrying out its duties.