Legal status and location
1. The Agency shall have legal personality.
2. In each of the Member States, the Agency shall enjoy the most extensive legal capacity accorded to legal persons under their laws. In particular it may acquire and dispose of movable and immovable property and may be a party to legal proceedings.
3. The Agency shall be represented by its Director.
4. The Agency shall legally succeed the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia. It shall assume all the legal rights and obligations, financial commitments or liabilities of the Centre. Employment contracts concluded by the Centre before the adoption of this Regulation shall be honoured.
5. The seat of the Agency shall be Vienna.
Staff
1. The Staff Regulations of officials of the European Communities, the Conditions of Employment of other servants of the European Communities and the rules adopted jointly by the European Community institutions for the purpose of applying these Staff Regulations and Conditions of Employment shall apply to the staff of the Agency and its Director.
2. In respect of its staff, the Agency shall exercise the powers conferred on the appointing authority by the Staff Regulations of officials of the European Communities and on the authority entitled to conclude contracts by the Conditions of Employment of other servants of the European Communities.
3. The Management Board shall, in agreement with the Commission, adopt the necessary implementing measures, in accordance with arrangements provided for in Article 110 of the Staff Regulations of officials of the European Communities and the Conditions of Employment of other servants of the European Communities.
4. The Management Board may adopt provisions to allow national experts from Member States to be employed on secondment at the Agency.
Language arrangements
1. The provisions of Regulation No 1 of 15 April 1958 shall apply to the Agency.
2. The Management Board shall decide on the internal language arrangements for the Agency.
3. The translation services required for the functioning of the Agency shall be provided by the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union.
Privileges and immunities
The Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Communities shall apply to the Agency.
Jurisdiction of the Court of Justice
1. The contractual liability of the Agency shall be governed by the law applicable to the contract in question.
The Court of Justice shall have jurisdiction pursuant to an arbitration clause contained in a contract concluded by the Agency.
2. In the case of non-contractual liability, the Agency shall, in accordance with the general principles common to the laws of the Member States, make good any damage caused by the Agency or its servants in the performance of their duties.
The Court of Justice shall have jurisdiction in disputes relating to compensation for any such damage.
3. The Court of Justice shall have jurisdiction in actions brought against the Agency under the conditions provided for in Articles 230 and 232 of the Treaty.
Participation and scope in respect of candidate countries and countries with which a Stabilisation and Association Agreement has been concluded
1. The Agency shall be open to the participation of candidate countries as observers.
2. The participation and the respective modalities shall be determined by a decision of the relevant Association Council, taking into account the specific status of each country. The decision shall indicate in particular the nature, extent and manner in which these countries will participate in the Agency's work, within the framework set in Articles 4 and 5, including provisions relating to participation in initiatives undertaken by the Agency, to the financial contribution and to staff. The decision shall be in line with this Regulation and with the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities. The decision shall provide that the participating country may appoint an independent person fulfilling the qualifications for persons referred to in Article 12(1)(a) as observer to the Management Board without right to vote. Upon the decision of the Association Council the Agency may deal with fundamental rights issues within the scope of Article 3(1) in the respective country, to the extent necessary for the gradual alignment to Community law of the country concerned.
3. The Council, acting unanimously on a proposal by the Commission, may decide to invite a country with which a Stabilisation and Association Agreement has been concluded by the European Community to participate in the Agency as an observer. In that case, paragraph 2 shall apply accordingly.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
