Commission Decision of 9 August 2018 setting up the group of experts serving as Steering Board for Union actions on preventing and countering radicalisation

The group of experts serving as Steering Board for Union actions on preventing and countering radicalisation (‘the Steering Board’) is set up.

The Steering Board shall advise the Commission on: (a) the strategic priorities and orientations in Union cooperation in the area of preventing and countering radicalisation leading to violent extremism and terrorism; (b) possible gaps and scope for improvement in Union cooperation in the area of preventing and countering radicalisation leading to violent extremism and terrorism and the evaluation of measures and mechanisms at Union level.

1 The Steering Board shall be composed of the Member States' competent authorities.

2 The Member States' authorities shall nominate up to two high-level representatives and up to two alternates and shall be responsible for ensuring that their representatives provide a high level of expertise.

The Steering Board shall be chaired by the Director-General or the Deputy Director-General of the Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs (‘DG HOME’) of the Commission.

1 The Steering Board shall act at the request of its chairman in compliance with the Commission's horizontal rules for expert groups (‘the horizontal rules’) .

2 Meetings of the Steering Board shall, in principle, be held on Commission premises.

3 The Steering Board shall meet at least once a year.

4 A support and coordination structure within DG HOME shall provide secretarial support to the Steering Board, prepare the work in cooperation with the relevant Commission Directorates-General, inter alia, through the collection of expertise from Member States, researchers and practitioners about developments, trends and need for action, and ensure the appropriate follow-up. Commission officials from the relevant departments with an interest in the proceedings may attend meetings of the Steering Board.

5 In agreement with the Chair, the Steering Board may, by simple majority of its members, decide that deliberations shall be public.

6 Minutes on the discussion on each point on the agenda and on the opinions delivered by the Steering Board shall be meaningful and complete. Minutes shall be drafted by the support and coordination structure under the responsibility of the Chair.

7 The Steering Board shall adopt its opinions, recommendations or reports by consensus. In the event of a vote, the outcome of the vote shall be decided by simple majority of the members. Members who have voted against shall have the right to have a document summarising the reasons for their position annexed to the opinions, recommendations or reports.

The Chair may invite experts with specific expertise with respect to a subject matter on the agenda to take part in the work of the Steering Board on an ad hoc basis. Those experts may come from either the private or the public sector.

1 The EU Counter Terrorism Coordinator and the European External Action Service should be granted an observer status, in compliance with the horizontal rules, by direct invitation from the Chair.

2 Upon appointment as observers they shall nominate their representatives.

3 Observers and their representatives may be permitted by the Chair to take part in the discussions of the Steering Board and provide expertise. However, they shall not have voting rights and shall not participate in the formulation of recommendations or advice of the Steering Board.

On a proposal by and in agreement with the Chair, the Steering Board shall adopt its rules of procedure by simple majority of its members, on the basis of the standard rules of procedure for expert groups, in compliance with the horizontal rules .

The members of the Steering Board and their representatives, as well as invited experts and observers, are subject to the obligations of professional secrecy, which by virtue of the Treaties and the rules implementing them applies to all members of the institutions and their staff, as well as to the Commission's rules on security regarding the protection of Union classified information laid down in Commission Decisions (EU, Euratom) 2015/443 and (EU, Euratom) 2015/444 . Should they fail to respect these obligations, the Commission may take all appropriate measures.

1 The Steering Board shall be registered in the Register of expert groups.

2 As concerns the Steering Board composition, the name of the Member States' authorities as well as of the observers shall be published on the Register of expert groups.

3 All relevant documents, including the agendas, the minutes and the participants' submissions, shall be made available either on the Register of expert groups or via a link from the Register to a dedicated website, where this information can be found. Access to dedicated websites shall not be submitted to user registration or any other restriction. In particular, the agenda and other relevant background documents shall be published in due time ahead of the meeting, followed by timely publication of minutes. Exceptions to publication shall only be foreseen where it is deemed that disclosure of a document would undermine the protection of a public or private interest as defined in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council .

1 Participants in the activities of the Steering Board shall not be remunerated for the services they offer.

2 Travel and subsistence expenses incurred by participants in the activities of the Steering Board shall be reimbursed by the Commission. Reimbursement shall be made in accordance with the provisions in force within the Commission and within the limits of the available appropriations allocated to the Commission departments under the annual procedure for the allocation of resources.

Decision C(2017)5149 final of 27 July 2017 is repealed.