ANNEX ISupplementary provisions
ANNEX I RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE ASSOCIATION COUNCIL Article 1 General provisions 1. The Association Council established in accordance with Article 434(1) of the Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Moldova, of the other part (‘the Agreement’) shall perform its duties as provided for in Articles 434 and 436 of the Agreement. 2. As provided for in Article 435(1) of the Agreement, the Association Council shall be composed of members of the Council of the European Union and members of the European Commission, of the one part, and of members of the Government of the Republic of Moldova, of the other. The composition of the Association Council shall take into consideration the specific issues to be addressed at any given meeting. The Association Council shall meet at ministerial level. 3. As provided for in Article 436(1) of the Agreement, and for the purpose of attaining the objectives thereof, the Association Council shall have the power to take decisions that are binding upon the Parties. The Association Council shall take appropriate measures for the implementation of its decisions, including, if necessary, by empowering specific bodies established under the Agreement to act on its behalf. The Association Council may also make recommendations. It shall adopt its decisions and recommendations by agreement between the Parties after the completion of the respective internal procedures. The Association Council may delegate its powers to the Association Committee. 4. The Parties in these Rules of Procedure are those as defined in Article 461 of the Agreement. Article 2 Chairmanship The Parties shall hold the chairmanship of the Association Council, alternately, for a period of 12 months. The first period shall begin on the date of the first Association Council meeting and end on 31 December of the same year. Article 3 Meetings 1. The Association Council shall meet at least once a year, and when circumstances require, by mutual agreement of the Parties. Unless otherwise agreed by the Parties, the Association Council shall be held at the usual venue for meetings of the Council of the European Union. 2. Each session of the Association Council shall be held at a date agreed by the Parties. 3. The meetings of the Association Council shall be convened jointly by the Secretaries of the Association Council, in agreement with the Chair of the Association Council no later than 30 calendar days before the date of the meeting. Article 4 Representation 1. The members of the Association Council may be represented if unable to attend. If a member wishes to be so represented, he or she shall inform in writing the Chair of the Association Council of the name of his or her representative before the meeting at which the member is to be so represented. 2. The representative of a member of the Association Council shall exercise all the rights of that member. Article 5 Delegations 1. The members of the Association Council may be accompanied by officials. Before each meeting, the Chair of the Association Council shall be informed, through the Secretariat of the Association Council, of the intended composition of the delegation of each Party. 2. The Association Council may, by agreement between the Parties, invite representatives of other bodies of the Parties or independent experts in a subject area to attend its meetings as observers or in order to provide information on particular subjects. The Parties shall agree on the terms and conditions under which those observers may attend the meetings. Article 6 Secretariat An official of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union and an official of the Republic of Moldova shall act jointly as Secretaries of the Association Council. Article 7 Correspondence 1. Correspondence addressed to the Association Council shall be directed to the Secretary of either the Union or of the Republic of Moldova, who in turn will inform the other Secretary. 2. The Secretaries of the Association Council shall ensure that correspondence is forwarded to the Chair of the Association Council and, where appropriate, circulated to the members of the Association Council. 3. Correspondence so circulated shall be sent, as appropriate, to the General Secretariat of the European Commission, the European External Action Service, the Permanent Representations of the Member States to the European Union, and to the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union, as well as to the Mission of the Republic of Moldova to the European Union. 4. Communications from the Chair shall be sent to the addressees by the Secretaries on behalf of the Chair. Such communications shall be circulated, where appropriate, to the members of the Association Council as provided for in paragraph 3. Article 8 Confidentiality Unless otherwise decided by the Parties, the meetings of the Association Council shall not be public. When a Party submits information designated as confidential to the Association Council, the other Party shall treat that information as such. Article 9 Agendas for meetings 1. The Chair of the Association Council shall draw up a provisional agenda for each meeting of the Association Council. It shall be dispatched by the Secretaries of the Association Council to the addressees referred to in Article 7 no later than 15 calendar days before the meeting. The provisional agenda shall include the items in respect of which the Chair has received a request for inclusion in the agenda no later than 21 calendar days before the beginning of the meeting. Such items shall not be written into the provisional agenda unless the relevant supporting documents have been sent to the Secretaries before the date of dispatch of the agenda. 2. The agenda shall be adopted by the Association Council at the beginning of each meeting. Any item other than those appearing on the provisional agenda may be placed on the agenda if the Parties so agree. 3. The Chair may reduce, in consultation with the Parties, the time-limits specified in paragraph 1 in order to take account of the requirements of a particular case. Article 10 Minutes 1. Draft minutes of each meeting shall be drawn up jointly by the Secretaries of the Association Council. 2. The minutes shall, as a general rule, indicate in respect of each item on the agenda: (a) the documentation submitted to the Association Council; (b) statements which a member of the Association Council requested to be entered in the minutes; and (c) issues agreed upon by the Parties, such as decisions adopted, statements agreed upon and any conclusions. 3. The draft minutes shall be submitted to the Association Council for approval. The Association Council shall approve those draft minutes at its next meeting. Alternatively, those draft minutes can be approved in writing. Article 11 Decisions and recommendations 1. The Association Council shall take decisions and make recommendations by mutual agreement between the Parties and on completion of the respective internal procedures. 2. The Association Council may also take decisions or make recommendations by written procedure if the Parties so agree. For this purpose, the text of the proposal shall be circulated in writing by the Chair of the Association Council to its members pursuant to Article 7, with a time-limit of no less than 21 calendar days within which members shall make known any reservations or amendments they wish to make. The Chair may reduce the aforementioned time-limit in order to take account of the requirements of a particular case, in consultation with the Parties. 3. The acts of the Association Council, within the meaning of Article 436(1) of the Agreement, shall be entitled ‘Decision’ or ‘Recommendation’ respectively, followed by a serial number, the date of their adoption and a description of their subject-matter. Those decisions and recommendations of the Association Council shall be signed by the Chair and authenticated by the Secretaries of the Association Council. Those decisions and recommendations shall be circulated to each of the addressees referred to in Article 7 of these Rules of Procedure. Each Party may decide on the publication of the decisions and recommendations of the Association Council in its respective official publication. 4. Each decision of the Association Council shall enter into force on the date of its adoption unless the decision provides otherwise. Article 12 Languages 1. The official languages of the Association Council shall be the official languages of the Parties. 2. Unless otherwise decided, the Association Council shall base its deliberations on documentation prepared in those languages. Article 13 Expenses 1. Each Party shall meet any expenses which it incurs as a result of participating in the meetings of the Association Council, both with regard to staff, travel and subsistence expenditure and with regard to postal and telecommunications expenditure. 2. Expenditure in connection with interpretation at meetings, translation and reproduction of documents shall be borne by the Union. In the event that the Republic of Moldova requires interpretation or translation into and from languages other than those provided for in Article 12, expenses related thereto shall be borne by the Republic of Moldova. 3. Other expenditure relating to the material organisation of meetings shall be borne by the Party which hosts the meetings. Article 14 Association Committee 1. In accordance with Article 437(1) of the Agreement, the Association Council shall be assisted in carrying out its duties by the Association Committee. The Association Committee shall be composed of representatives of the Parties, in principle at senior civil servant level. 2. The Association Committee shall prepare the meetings and the deliberations of the Association Council, implement the decisions of the Association Council where appropriate and ensure continuity of the association relationship and the proper functioning of the Agreement in general. The Association Committee shall consider any matter referred to it by the Association Council as well as any other matter which may arise in the course of the implementation of the Agreement. The Association Committee shall submit proposals or any draft decisions or recommendations to the Association Council for its approval. In accordance with Article 438(2) of the Agreement, the Association Council may delegate the power to take decisions to the Association Committee. 3. The Association Committee shall take the decisions and make the recommendations for which it has been authorised under the Agreement. 4. In cases where the Agreement refers to an obligation to consult or a possibility of consultation or where the Parties decide by mutual agreement to consult each other, such consultation may take place within the Association Committee, except as otherwise provided for in the Agreement. The consultation may continue in the Association Council if the Parties so agree. Article 15 Amendment of Rules of Procedure These Rules of Procedure may be amended in accordance with Article 11.