2010/308/: Council Decision of 11 March 2010 concerning the position of the European Union regarding draft Decision 1/2003 and draft Recommendation 1/2003 of the Joint Committee set up under the Interbus Agreement on the international occasional carriage of passengers by coach and bus (Text with EEA relevance)

The position of the Union within the Joint Committee set up under Article 23 of the Interbus Agreement on the international occasional carriage of passengers by coach and bus shall be based on the attached draft Decision and draft Recommendation.

The rules of procedure of the Joint Committee as set out in Annex I to this Decision are hereby adopted.

Annex 1 to the Agreement regarding the conditions applying to road passenger transport operators, Annex 2 to the Agreement concerning the technical standards applying to buses and coaches and the requirements concerning the social provisions referred to in Article 8 of the Agreement are hereby adapted as set out in Annex II to this Decision.

The Joint Committee established under Article 23 of the Interbus Agreement on the international occasional carriage of passengers by coach and bus shall hereinafter be referred to as ‘the Committee’.

1 The Committee shall be chaired by a representative of the European Commission (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Commission’), on behalf of the European Union.

2 The head of the Union delegation, or where necessary his deputy, shall carry out the duties of the Chairman of the Committee.

3 The Chairman shall direct the work of the Committee.

1 The parties for which the Agreement has entered into force (hereinafter referred to as ‘the parties’) shall appoint their representatives on the Committee. The Union delegation shall be made up of representatives of the Commission, assisted by representatives of the Member States.

2 Each party shall appoint the head and, where necessary, deputy head of its delegation.

3 Each party may appoint new representatives on the Committee. The Secretary of the Committee shall be informed forthwith in writing of any such changes.

4 Representatives of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union may take part as observers in the meetings of the Committee. The Chairman, with the agreement of the other heads of delegation, may invite persons who are not members of delegations to attend a meeting of the Committee in order to provide information on specific subjects.

5 At least one week before the meeting, the parties shall notify the Secretary of the Committee of the composition of their delegation.

1 A representative of the Commission shall provide the secretariat for the Committee. The Secretary shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Committee and shall carry out his duties until a new Secretary is appointed. The Chairman shall notify the name and details of the Secretary to the other parties.

2 The Secretary shall be responsible for communication between the delegations, including the transmission of documents, and shall supervise secretarial duties.

1 The Committee shall meet at the request of at least one party. It shall be convened by the Chairman.

2 The Chairman shall send the notice of the meeting, together with the draft agenda and the meeting documents, to the heads of the other delegations at least 15 working days before the beginning of the meeting.

3 A party may request the Chairman to shorten the periods of notice referred to in paragraph 2 to take account of the urgency of a particular matter.

4 Unless otherwise decided by the heads of delegations, the meetings of the Committee shall not be public.

5 The Committee shall meet in Brussels, unless the parties agree to meet elsewhere.

1 The Chairman, assisted by the Secretary, shall draw up the draft agenda for each meeting and shall fix the date and venue of the meeting after consulting the heads of the other delegations. The Chairman shall send the provisional agenda to the other heads of delegation at least 15 working days before the beginning of the meeting. The agenda shall be accompanied by all the necessary working documents.

2 The period of notice laid down in paragraph 1 shall not apply to urgent meetings convened in accordance with Article 5(3).

3 Each party may propose one or more items to be added to the provisional agenda at the latest 24 hours before the beginning of the meeting. Requests to have items added to the agenda shall be sent in writing to the Chairman, indicating the reason therefore.

4 At the beginning of the meeting, the Committee shall adopt the agenda. The Committee may decide to add to the agenda an item which is not contained in the provisional agenda.

1 The decisions of the Committee shall be adopted by unanimous vote of the parties represented, in accordance with Article 23(5) and (6) of the Agreement. The recommendations, and in particular those referred to in Article 24(2)(g) of the Agreement, shall be taken by consensus between the delegations of the parties represented. The decisions and recommendations shall bear the title ‘Decision’ or ‘Recommendation’ followed by a serial number, the date of their adoption and an indication of their content.

2 The decisions and recommendations of the Committee shall bear the signature of the Chairman and the Secretary. They shall be sent by the Secretary to the other heads of delegation.

3 Each party may decide to publish any act adopted by the Committee.

4 The acts of the Committee may be adopted by written procedure where this has been agreed by the heads of delegation. The Chairman shall submit the draft act to the other heads of delegation who shall indicate in reply whether or not they accept the draft, whether they propose amendments to the draft or whether they require more time to consider it. If the draft is adopted, the Chairman shall finalise the decision or recommendation in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2.

5 The recommendations and decisions shall be drawn up in English, French and German, these texts being authentic. Each party shall be responsible for the correct translation of recommendations and decisions into its official language or languages. Translation into other Union languages shall be carried out by the Commission.

1 The Secretary shall draw up, under the responsibility of the Chairman, draft minutes of each meeting of the Committee within 15 working days following the meeting.

2 The minutes shall, as a general rule, indicate in respect of each item on the agenda: details of the documents submitted to the Committee, statements which a party has asked to be recorded, the decisions taken, recommendations made and conclusions adopted,

3 The draft minutes shall be submitted to the Committee for approval in accordance with the written procedure referred to in Article 7(4). If this procedure is not completed, the minutes shall be adopted by the Committee at its next meeting.

4 Once adopted by the Committee, the minutes shall be signed by the Chairman and the Secretary and kept by the Secretary. A copy shall be sent by the Secretary to the other heads of delegation.

Notwithstanding the provision on the publication of acts laid down in Article 7(3), the deliberations of the meetings and the documents of the Committee shall be governed by professional secrecy.

1 Each party shall bear the expenses it incurs in taking part in the meetings of the Committee.

2 The Committee shall decide on the reimbursement of expenses connected with missions assigned to persons called in by the Chairman in accordance with Article 3(4).

All correspondence with or from the Chairman of the Committee shall be sent to the Secretary of the Committee. The Secretary shall send a copy of all correspondence relating to the Agreement to all delegations.

The languages used in meetings of the Committee and in documents shall be decided by the Committee. There shall be no obligation on the party hosting the meeting to provide interpretation for other languages.