Privileges and immunities
Article 70
Protocol No 7 on the privileges and immunities of the European Union shall apply to the Agency and its staff.
Regulation (EU) 2016/796 CHAPTER 12 — GENERAL PROVISIONS
Compiled from an official source version. Later amendments or repeals may not be reflected; the official text prevails. · Read the official text ↗
Headquarters agreement and operating conditions
Article 71
1. Where the necessary arrangements concerning the accommodation to be provided for the Agency in the host Member State and the facilities to be made available by that Member State together with the specific rules applicable in that Member State to the Executive Director, members of the Management Board, Agency staff and members of their families are not yet in place or not yet provided for in a written agreement, an agreement between the Agency and the host Member State on all these elements shall be concluded, in accordance with the legal order of the host Member State, and after the approval of the Management Board, no later than 16 June 2017. That agreement may take the form of a headquarters agreement. 2. The host Member State shall provide the best possible conditions to ensure the proper functioning of the Agency, including multilingual, European-oriented schooling and appropriate transport connections.
Liability
Article 72
1. The contractual liability of the Agency shall be governed by the law applicable to the contract in question. 2. The Court of Justice of the European Union shall have jurisdiction to adjudicate pursuant to any arbitration clause contained in a contract concluded by the Agency. 3. In the event 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 its departments or by its staff in the performance of their duties. 4. The Court of Justice of the European Union shall have jurisdiction in disputes relating to compensation for damage as referred to in paragraph 3. 5. The personal liability of its staff towards the Agency shall be governed by the provisions laid down in the Staff Regulations or the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants applicable to them.
Cooperation with national judicial authorities
Article 73
In the case of national judicial proceedings involving the Agency by reason of the Agency having exercised its tasks in accordance with Article 19 and Article 21(6) of Directive (EU) 2016/797 and 10(6) of Directive (EU) 2016/798, the Agency and its staff shall cooperate without undue delay with the competent national judicial authorities. Appropriate procedures to be applied in such situations shall be established by the Management Board in accordance with point (v) of Article 51(1).
Language arrangements
Article 74
1. Regulation No 1 shall apply to the Agency. If necessary, the Management Board shall adopt appropriate rules for the implementation of that Regulation. At the request of a member of the Management Board, the decision in that regard shall be taken by unanimity. 2. The translation services required for the functioning of the Agency shall be provided by the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union.
Participation by third countries in the work of the Agency
Article 75
1. Without prejudice to Article 44, the Agency shall be open to participation by third countries, in particular by countries within the scope of the European Neighbourhood Policy, the Enlargement policy countries and EFTA countries which have concluded agreements with the Union under which the countries concerned have adopted and are applying Union law, or equivalent national measures, in the field covered by this Regulation, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 218 TFEU. 2. In accordance with the relevant provisions of the agreements referred to in paragraph 1, arrangements shall be made between the Agency and the third countries concerned, setting out detailed rules for participation by those third countries in the work of the Agency, in particular the nature and extent of such participation. Those arrangements shall include provisions on financial contributions and staff. They may provide for representation of the third countries concerned, without the right to vote, on the Management Board. The Agency shall sign the arrangements after having received the agreement of the Commission and of the Management Board.
Cooperation with national authorities and bodies
Article 76
1. The Agency and the national safety authorities shall conclude cooperation agreements in relation to the implementation of Articles 14, 20 and 21, taking into account point (t) of Article 51(1). 2. The cooperation agreements may be specific or framework agreements, and may involve one or more national safety authorities. They shall contain a specified description of tasks and conditions for deliverables, lay down the time limits applying to their delivery, and determine the manner in which the fees payable by applicants are to be apportioned as between the Agency and the national safety authorities. Such apportionment shall take into account the framework model referred to in point (u) of Article 51(1). 3. The cooperation agreements may also include specific cooperation arrangements in the case of networks requiring specific expertise for geographical or historical reasons, with a view to reducing administrative burdens and costs to the applicant. Where such networks are isolated from the rest of the Union rail system, such specific cooperation arrangements may include the possibility of contracting tasks to the relevant national safety authorities when this is necessary in order to ensure efficient and proportionate allocation of resources. 4. In the case of those Member States whose rail networks have a track gauge that is different from that of the main rail network within the Union and share identical technical and operational requirements with neighbouring third countries, a multilateral cooperation agreement shall involve all the national safety authorities concerned in those Member States as provided for in Article 21(15) of Directive (EU) 2016/797 and Article 11(3) of Directive (EU) 2016/798. 5. The cooperation agreements shall be in place before the Agency carries out its tasks in accordance with Article 83(4). 6. The Agency may conclude cooperation agreements with other national authorities and competent bodies in relation to the implementation of Articles 14, 20 and 21. 7. The cooperation agreements shall be without prejudice to the overall responsibility of the Agency for the performance of its tasks as provided for in Articles 14, 20 and 21. 8. The Agency and the national safety authorities may work together and share best practices in relation to the implementation of Directive (EU) 2016/797 and of Directive (EU) 2016/798.
Transparency
Article 77
1. Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 26 ) shall apply to documents held by the Agency. The Management Board shall adopt practical measures for the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 by 16 June 2017. Decisions taken by the Agency pursuant to Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 may form the subject of a complaint to the Ombudsman or of an action before the Court of Justice of the European Union under Articles 228 and 263 TFEU respectively. 2. The Agency shall publish its recommendations, opinions, studies, reports and outcomes of impact assessments on its website, without prejudice to paragraph 1 and after all confidential material has been removed therefrom. 3. The Agency shall make public the declarations of interests of the members of the Agency's management and administrative structure listed in Article 46. The processing of personal data by the Agency shall be subject to Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 27 ) . 4. The Management Board shall adopt measures to ensure that the Agency provides efficient, user-friendly and easily accessible information on its website about railway interoperability and safety processes and about other relevant railway documents.
Security rules for protecting classified or sensitive information
Article 78
The Agency shall apply the principles contained in the Commission's security rules for protecting European Union Classified Information (EUCI) and sensitive non-classified information, as set out in Commission Decision (EU, Euratom) 2015/444 ( 28 ) . This shall cover, inter alia, provisions for exchanging, processing and storing such information.
Combating fraud
Article 79
1. In order to facilitate the fight against fraud, corruption and other unlawful activities under Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999, the Agency shall by 16 December 2016 accede to the Inter-institutional Agreement of 25 May 1999 concerning internal investigations by OLAF and adopt the appropriate provisions applicable to all employees of the Agency, using the template set out in the Annex to that Agreement. 2. The Court of Auditors shall have the power of audit, on the basis of documents and on the spot, over all grant beneficiaries, contractors and subcontractors who have received Union funds from the Agency. 3. OLAF may carry out investigations, including on-the-spot checks and inspections, in accordance with the provisions and procedures laid down in Regulation (EU) No 883/2013 and in Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 ( 29 ) , with a view to establishing whether there has been any fraud, corruption or any other illegal activity affecting the financial interests of the Union in connection with a grant or contract funded by the Agency. 4. Without prejudice to paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, cooperation agreements with third countries and international organisations, contracts, grant agreements and grant decisions of the Agency shall contain provisions expressly empowering the Court of Auditors and OLAF to conduct such audits and investigations in accordance with their respective competences.
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