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Article 17
1. The Commission may select, appoint and dispatch an expert team composed of experts provided by Member States: (a) in the event of a disaster outside the Union as referred to in Article 16(3); (b) in the event of a disaster within the Union as referred to in Article 15(5); (c) upon request for prevention expertise in accordance with Article 5(2); or (d) upon request for preparedness expertise in accordance with Article 13(3). Experts from the Commission and from other services of the Union may be integrated in the team in order to support the team and facilitate liaison with the ERCC. Experts dispatched by OCHA or other international organisations may be integrated in the team in order to strengthen cooperation and facilitate joint assessments. 2. The procedure for the selection and appointment of experts shall be the following: (a) Member States shall nominate experts, under their responsibility, who can be deployed as members of expert teams; (b) the Commission shall select the experts and the leader for those teams on the basis of their qualifications and experience, including the level of the Union Mechanism training undertaken, previous experience of missions under the Union Mechanism and other international relief work. The selection shall also be based on other criteria, including language skills, so as to ensure that the team as a whole has the available skills needed in the specific situation; and (c) the Commission shall appoint experts/team leaders for the mission in agreement with their nominating Member State. 3. Where expert teams are dispatched, they shall facilitate coordination between Member States' intervention teams and liaise with the competent authorities of the requesting state as set out in Article 8(d). The ERCC shall maintain close contact with the expert teams and provide them with guidance and logistical support.