Scientific Council
Article 7
1. The Scientific Council shall be composed of scientists, engineers and scholars of the highest repute and appropriate expertise, of both women and men in different age groups, ensuring a diversity of research areas and acting in their personal capacity, independent of extraneous interests. The members of the Scientific Council shall be appointed by the Commission, following an independent and transparent procedure for their identification agreed with the Scientific Council, including a consultation of the scientific community and a report to the European Parliament and the Council. Their term of office shall be limited to four years, renewable once, on the basis of a rotating system which shall ensure the continuity of the work of the Scientific Council. 2. The Scientific Council shall establish: (a) the overall strategy for the ERC; (b) the work programme for the implementation of the ERC activities; (c) the methods and procedures for peer review and proposal evaluation on the basis of which the proposals to be funded are determined; (d) its position on any matter which from a scientific perspective may enhance achievements and impact of the ERC and the quality of the research carried out; (e) a code of conduct addressing, inter alia, the avoidance of conflict of interests. The Commission shall depart from the positions established by the Scientific Council in accordance with points (a), (c), (d), and (e) of the first subparagraph only when it considers that the provisions of this Decision have not been respected. In that case, the Commission shall adopt measures to maintain continuity in the implementation of the specific programme and the achievements of its objectives, setting out the points of departure from the Scientific Council positions and duly motivating them. 3. The Scientific Council shall act in accordance with the mandate set out in section 1.1 of Part I of Annex I. 4. The Scientific Council shall act exclusively in the interest of achieving the specific objective "The European Research Council (ERC)", referred to in point (a) of Article 3(1), according to the principles set out in Article 6(4). It shall act with integrity and probity and carry out its work efficiently and with the greatest possible transparency.