30.6.2009 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 168/41 DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE COMMISSION, THE COURT OF JUSTICE, THE COURT OF AUDITORS, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS of 26 June 2009 on the organisation and operation of the Publications Office of the European Union (2009/496/EC, Euratom) THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE COMMISSION, THE COURT OF JUSTICE, THE COURT OF AUDITORS, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE, THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS, Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, Whereas: (1) Article 8 of the Decision of the representatives of the governments of the Member States of 8 April 1965 on the provisional location of certain institutions and departments of the Communities (1) provided for an Office for Official Publications of the Communities (hereinafter the Office) to be located in Luxembourg. That provision was last implemented by Decision 2000/459/EC, ECSC, Euratom (2). (2) The rules and regulations applicable to officials and other servants of the European Communities apply to the Office. Account should be taken of the recent amendments to those rules and regulations. (3) Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (3) (hereinafter the Financial Regulation) contains specific provisions concerning the operation of the Office. (4) Major technological advances are taking place in publishing and these need to be taken into account in the way the Office operates. (5) For the sake of clarity, it is appropriate to repeal Decision 2000/459/EC, ECSC, Euratom and to replace it by this Decision, HAVE DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: Article 1 The Publications Office 1. The task of the Publications Office of the European Union (hereinafter the Office), which is an interinstitutional office, shall be to publish the publications of the institutions of the European Communities and the European Union under optimum conditions. To this end it shall, firstly, enable the institutions to fulfil their obligations to publish legislative texts and, secondly, contribute to the technical formulation and implementation of information and communication policies within its areas of competence. 2. The Office shall be managed by its Director following the strategic guidelines set by the Management Committee. Apart from the provisions of this Decision which are specific to the interinstitutional role of the Office, the Office shall apply the administrative and financial procedures of the Commission. In establishing those procedures, the Commission shall take account of the specific nature of the Office. Article 2 Definitions For the purposes of this Decision, the following definitions shall apply: 1. ‘publishing’ means any action necessary for the design, checking, allocation of international standard numbers and/or catalogue numbers, production, cataloguing, indexation, distribution, promotion, sale, storage and archiving of publications in any shape or form and by any means, present or future; 2. ‘publications’ means all texts, published on whatever medium and in whatever format, bearing an international standard number and/or a catalogue number; 3. ‘mandatory publications’ means publications published pursuant to the Treaties or other legislative texts; 4. ‘non-mandatory publications’ means any publications edited under the prerogatives of any institution; 5. ‘management of copyright’ means that the author services hold the copyright or the right to reuse and includes the management of those rights by the Office in respect of the publications entrusted to the Office for publishing; 6. ‘net receipts from sales’ means the total sum of invoices, minus trade discounts granted and management, collection and banking costs; 7. ‘institutions’ means the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies established by or under the Treaties. Article 3 Scope of competence of the Office 1. The Office shall have competence for the following: (a) publishing the Official Journal of the European Union (hereinafter Official Journal) and guaranteeing that it is authentic; (b) publishing the other mandatory publications; (c) publishing or co-publishing non-mandatory publications entrusted to the Office under the prerogatives of each institution, in particular in the context of the institutions’ communication activities; (d) publishing or co-publishing publications on its own initiative, including publications intended to promote its own services; in this context, the Office may procure translations by means of a service contract; (e) developing, maintaining and updating electronic publishing services for the public; (f) making all legislation and other official texts available to the public; (g) preserving all publications of the institutions and making them available to the public in electronic form; (h) allocating international standard numbers and/or catalogue numbers to the institutions’ publications; (i) managing reproduction and translation rights in respect of the institutions’ publications; (j) promoting and selling the publications and services which it offers to the public. 2. The Office shall provide advice and assistance to the institutions for: (a) programming and planning their publications programmes; (b) implementing their publishing projects, whatever the publishing medium; (c) providing page make-up and design for their publishing projects; (d) providing information on trends in the publications market in the Member States and on the subjects likely to find the widest audience; (e) deciding print-runs and establishing distribution plans; (f) pricing and selling publications; (g) promoting, distributing and evaluating their publications, whether free of charge or offered for sale; (h) analysing, evaluating and setting up websites and Web services for the public; (i) drafting framework contracts for publishing activities; (j) providing technological supervision of publishing systems. Article 4 Responsibilities of the institutions 1. Each institution shall have exclusive competence to take decisions on the publishing of its own publications. 2. The institutions shall use the services of the Office to publish their mandatory publications. 3. The institutions may publish their non-mandatory publications without the involvement of the Office. In that case, they shall ask the Office for international standard numbers and/or catalogue numbers and give the Office an electronic version of the publication, whatever its format, as well as two paper copies of the publication where appropriate. 4. The institutions shall undertake to guarantee all reproduction, translation and distribution rights in respect of all the constituent elements of a publication. 5. The institutions shall undertake to establish a distribution plan, approved by the Office, for their publications. 6. The institutions may conclude service agreements with the Office in order to define the methods of their cooperation. Article 5 Tasks of the Office 1. Tasks performed by the Office shall include the following: (a) the collation of documents for publication; (b) the preparation, graphic design, correction, page make-up and verification of the texts and other components, in whatever format and on whatever medium, as instructed by the institutions and in compliance with the typographical and linguistic presentation requirements established in cooperation with the institutions; (c) the indexation and cataloguing of publications; (d) the documentary analysis of texts published in the Official Journal and other official texts; (e) the consolidation of legislative texts; (f) the management, development, updating and distribution of the Eurovoc multilingual thesaurus; (g) the organisation of printing by its service providers; (h) the monitoring of the performance of work; (i) quality control; (j) acceptance as regards quality and quantity; (k) the physical and electronic distribution of the Official Journal, official texts other than those published in the Official Journal and other non-mandatory publications; (l) storage; (m) physical and electronic archiving; (n) the reprinting of publications that are out of print and printing on request; (o) the creation of a consolidated catalogue of the institutions’ publications; (p) the sale, including the issue of invoices, collection and transfer of revenue, and management of claims; (q) promotion; (r) the creation, purchase, management, updating, monitoring and supervision of the mailing lists of the institutions and the creation of targeted mailing lists; 2. Within the framework of its own powers or on the basis of the delegation of authorising officer powers by the institutions, the Office shall be responsible for: (a) public procurement, including entering into legally binding commitments; (b) financial oversight of contracts with suppliers; (c) settlement of expenditure, including acceptance as regards quality and quantity, expressed by signing an authorisation for payment; (d) authorisation of expenditure; (e) revenue operations. Article 6 Management Committee 1. A Management Committee shall be established within which all the signatory institutions are represented. The Management Committee shall be made up of the Registrar of the Court of Justice, the Deputy Secretary-General of the Council and the Secretaries-General of the other institutions or their representatives. The European Central Bank shall take part in the work of the Management Committee as an observer. 2. The Management Committee shall designate a Chairperson, to be chosen among its members, for a period of two years. 3. The Management Committee shall meet at least four times a year at the initiative of its Chairperson or at the request of an institution. 4. The Management Committee shall adopt its Rules of Procedure, which shall be published in the Official Journal. 5. The Management Committee’s decisions shall be taken by simple majority, except where otherwise provided. 6. Each institution which is a signatory to this Decision shall have one vote on the Management Committee. Article 7 Tasks and responsibilities of the Management Committee 1. By way of derogation from Article 6, the Management Committee shall, by unanimous decision, in the common interest of the institutions and within the scope of competence of the Office, adopt the following decisions: (a) on the basis of a proposal from the Director, it shall adopt the strategic objectives of the Office and the rules governing its operation; (b) it shall set the guidelines for the general policies of the Office, particularly as regards sales, distribution and publishing, and shall ensure that the Office contributes to the formulation and implementation of information and communication policies within its areas of competence; (c) on the basis of a draft prepared by the Director of the Office, it shall adopt an annual management report to the institutions concerning the implementation of the strategy and services supplied by the Office; by 1 May of each year, it shall send its report on the financial year just ended to the institutions; (d) it shall approve the estimates of the Office’s revenue and expenditure under the budget procedure for the Office’s administrative budget; (e) it shall approve the criteria by which the Office conducts its cost accounting, which the Director of the Office shall adopt; (f) it shall submit to the institutions any suggestions it has for improving the smooth running of the Office. 2. The Management Committee shall take account of the guidelines produced by the interinstitutional bodies on communication and information set up for this purpose. The Chairperson of the Management Committee shall communicate with these bodies every year. 3. The contact person with discharge authority for strategic decisions within the areas of competence of the Office shall be the Chairperson of the Management Committee in his capacity as representative of interinstitutional cooperation. 4. The Chairperson of the Management Committee and the Director of the Office shall by common agreement draw up mutual information and communication rules to formalise their relations. This agreement shall be sent to the members of the Management Committee for information. Article 8 Director of the Office The Director of the Office shall be responsible for the smooth running of the Office, acting under the authority of the Management Committee and within its scope of competence. For the application of administrative and financial procedures, he shall act under the authority of the Commission. Article 9 Tasks and responsibilities of the Director of the Office 1. The Director of the Office shall provide the secretariat for the Management Committee and shall submit quarterly reports to the Management Committee on the performance of his duties. 2. The Director of the Office shall submit to the Management Committee any proposal for improving the smooth running of the Office. 3. After consulting the Management Committee for advice, the Director of the Office shall determine the types of service which the Office may perform against payment for the institutions, and the corresponding charges. 4. The Director of the Office shall, after obtaining the approval of the Management Committee, determine the criteria by which the Office is to conduct its cost accounting. He shall define the procedures for accounting cooperation between the Office and the institutions in agreement with the Commission Accounting Officer. 5. The Director of the Office shall draw up draft estimates of the Office’s revenue and expenditure under the budget procedure for the Office’s administrative budget. After approval by the Management Committee, these proposals shall be submitted to the Commission. 6. The Director of the Office shall decide whether, and in accordance with what procedures, publications from third parties may be published. 7. The Director of the Office shall take part in interinstitutional activities concerning information and communication within the areas of competence of the Office. 8. As regards the publishing of legislation and official documents relating to the legislative procedure, including the Official Journal, the Director of the Office shall: (a) ensure that the competent authorities in each institution take the basic decisions that are to be applied jointly; (b) submit proposals for improving the structure and presentation of the Official Journal and official legislative texts; (c) submit proposals to the institutions for harmonising the presentation of texts for publication; (d) examine any difficulties encountered in the course of day-to-day operations, draft, within the context of the Office, the necessary instructions and suggest to the institutions appropriate recommendations in order to overcome such difficulties. 9. The Director of the Office shall, in accordance with the Financial Regulation, draw up an annual activity report covering the management of funds assigned by the Commission and other institutions under the Financial Regulation. The report shall be addressed to the Commission and the institutions concerned and, for information, to the Management Committee. 10. For the purposes of the assignment of Commission funds and implementation of the budget, information and consultation procedures between the Commissioner responsible for relations with the Office and the Director of the Office shall be established by common agreement. 11. The Director of the Office shall be responsible for implementing the strategic objectives adopted by the Management Committee and for the sound management of the Office and its activities as well as the management of its budget. 12. Should the Director of the Office be absent or unavailable, the deputisation rules based on grade and seniority shall apply unless the Management Committee, on a proposal from its Chairperson or the Director of the Office, decides on a different order. 13. The Director of the Office shall inform the institutions about the planning and use of resources and the progress of work in a quarterly report. Article 10 Staff 1. The Commission, having obtained the unanimous approval of the Management Committee, shall make appointments to the posts of Director-General and Director. The Commission’s rules on mobility and evaluation of senior management shall apply to the Director-General and Directors (grades AD 16/AD 15/AD 14). When the mobility deadline normally provided for in the relevant rules is approaching for an official occupying such a post, the Commission shall inform the Management Committee, which may issue a unanimous opinion on the case. 2. The Management Committee shall be closely involved in any procedures that have to be completed before the appointment of officials or other servants to the posts of Director-General (grades AD 16/AD 15) and Director (grades AD 15/AD 14) at the Office, especially in drafting vacancy notices, examining applications and appointing competition selection boards in relation to those posts. 3. The powers of the appointing authority and those of the authority empowered to conclude contracts of employment in respect of officials and other servants assigned to the Office shall be exercised by the Commission. The Commission may delegate some of its powers within the Commission and to the Director of the Office. Such delegation shall be effected under the same conditions as for Commission Directors-General. 4. Subject to paragraph 2, the provisions and procedures adopted by the Commission to implement the Staff Regulations of Officials and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities shall apply to officials and other servants assigned to the Office under the same conditions as for Commission officials and other servants serving in Luxembourg. 5. The officials of all the institutions shall be informed of any post vacant within the Office for which a vacancy notice is to be published, as soon as the appointing authority or the authority empowered to conclude contracts of employment decides to fill that post. 6. The Director of the Office shall report to the Management Committee on staff management on a quarterly basis. Article 11 Financial aspects 1. The appropriations allocated to the Office, the total amount of which shall be shown under a separate heading within the section of the budget relating to the Commission, shall be set out in detail in an annex to that section. This annex shall be in the form of a statement of revenue and expenditure subdivided in the same way as the sections of the budget. 2. The establishment plan of the Office shall be set out in an annex to the establishment plan of the Commission. 3. Each institution shall be authorising officer for the relevant appropriations under the ‘publishing expenditure’ heading in its budget. 4. Each institution may delegate authorising officer powers to the Director of the Office for the management of appropriations entered in its section and shall set the limits and conditions for this delegation of powers in accordance with the Financial Regulation. The Director of the Office shall report to the Management Committee on such delegation of powers on a quarterly basis. 5. The budgetary and financial management of the Office, including management of the appropriations assigned by institutions other than the Commission, shall be conducted in compliance with the Financial Regulation and its implementing provisions and the financial framework in force at the Commission. 6. The Office’s accounts shall be drawn up in accordance with the accounting rules and methods approved by the Commission Accounting Officer. The Office shall keep separate accounts for the sale of the Official Journal and publications. Net receipts from sales shall be passed on to the institutions. Article 12 Oversight 1. The function of internal auditor shall be performed at the Office by the Commission internal auditor, in accordance with the Financial Regulation. The Office shall establish an internal audit capability using arrangements similar to those for the Commission’s Directorates-General and departments. The institutions may ask the Director of the Office to include specific audits in the work programme of the Office’s internal audit capability. 2. The Office shall answer any questions falling within its competence in connection with the remit of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). In order to protect the interests of the European Union, an agreement setting out mutual information arrangements shall be drawn up between the Chairperson of the Management Committee and the Director of OLAF. Article 13 Complaints and requests 1. Within the limits of its competence, the Office shall be responsible for answering questions from the European Ombudsman and the European Data Protection Supervisor. 2. Any legal action within the areas of competence of the Office shall be brought against the Commission. Article 14 Public access to documents 1. The Director of the Office shall take the decisions referred to in Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (4). Where applications are refused, decisions on confirmatory applications shall be taken by the Secretary-General of the Commission. 2. The Office shall keep a register of documents in accordance with Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. Article 15 Repeal Decision 2000/459/EC, ECSC, Euratom is repealed. References to the repealed Decision shall be construed as references to this Decision. Article 16 Effective date This Decision shall take effect on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. Done at Brussels and at Luxembourg, 26 June 2009. For the European Parliament The President H.-G. PÖTTERING For the Council The President K. SCHWARZENBERG For the Commission The President J. M. BARROSO For the Court of Justice The President V. SKOURIS For the Court of Auditors The President V. M. SILVA CALDEIRA For the European Economic and Social Committee The President M. SEPI For the Committee of the Regions The President L. VAN DEN BRANDE (1) OJ 152, 13.7.1967, p. 18. (2) OJ L 183, 22.7.2000, p. 12. (3) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1. (4) OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43.

Summary: Publications Office Publications Office SUMMARY OF: Decision 2009/496/EC, Euratom — the organisation and operation of the Publications Office of the European Union WHAT IS THE AIM OF THIS DECISION? It sets out the role, responsibilities, tasks and organisational structure of the Publications Office of the European Union. KEY POINTS Role The Publications Office (OP) is an interinstitutional office whose task is to publish the publications of the EU institutions. It is responsible for publishing legal and general publications in both paper and electronic formats, such as: the daily Official Journal of the EU in 23 languages (24 when Irish is required); a range of websites for EU citizens, governments and businesses, including:EUR-Lex,EU Open Data Portal,EU Bookshop,Tenders Electronic Daily,the Community Research and Development Information Service. The OP also ensures the long-term preservation of content produced by EU institutions and bodies. In addition, the OP provides advice and assistance to the EU institutions in a number of areas, including: programming and planning their publications programmes; providing information on trends in the publications market in the EU countries and on the subjects likely to find the widest audience; providing technological supervision of publishing systems. Tasks The OP has a number of specific tasks, including: collating documents for publication; providing preparation, graphic design, correction, page make-up and checking of texts for publication; indexing and cataloguing publications; documentary analysis of texts published in the Official Journal and other official texts; consolidating legislative texts; managing, developing, updating and distributing the EuroVoc multilingual thesaurus; organising the printing of publications by the Office’s service providers; quality control of factors involved in production; distributing the Official Journal, official texts other than those published in the Official Journal and other non-mandatory publications (via EUR-Lex, EU Publications or as physical prints); physical and electronic archiving; creating, purchasing, managing, updating, monitoring and supervising the mailing lists of the institutions and creating targeted mailing lists. Responsibilities of the institutions Each institution must use the services of the OP to publish their mandatory publications. As for non-mandatory publications, EU institutions decide on whether to use the OP services or not. When EU institutions publish without the involvement of the OP, they must nevertheless ask the Office for identifiers (a classification of publications in an unequivocal and exclusive way) and provide it with copies of the publications. FROM WHEN DOES THE DECISION APPLY? It has applied since 1 July 2009. BACKGROUND For more information, see: The Publications Office of the European Union (Europa). MAIN DOCUMENT Decision 2009/496/EC, Euratom of the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission, the Court of Justice, the Court of Auditors, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions of 26 June 2009 on the organisation and operation of the Publications Office of the European Union (OJ L 168, 30.6.2009, pp. 41-47) Successive amendments to Decision 2009/496/EC have been incorporated into the original document. This consolidated version is of documentary value only. last update 15.12.2017


15.3.2008 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 73/13 DECISION No 234/2008/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE CONCIL of 11 March 2008 establishing the European Statistical Advisory Committee and repealing Council Decision 91/116/EEC (Text with EEA relevance) THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 285 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1), After consulting the Committee of the Regions, Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (2), Whereas: (1) The consultation of users and producers of statistical information as well as respondents to requests for such information is essential for the preparation and development of the Community’s statistical information policy. (2) The European Advisory Committee on Statistical Information in the Economic and Social Spheres set up by Council Decision 91/116/EEC (3) currently assists the Council and the Commission in the coordination of the objectives of the Community’s statistical information policy, taking into account user requirements and the costs borne by information providers and producers. (3) The European Advisory Committee on Statistical Information in the Economic and Social Spheres has been of use but changes that have taken place in the Community, in particular its enlargement to 27 Member States, require that a number of modifications be made to the role, mandate, composition and procedures of that Committee. In the interests of clarity, it is appropriate to replace that Committee by a new European Statistical Advisory Committee (the Committee). (4) The Committee should contribute to a close cooperation in the programme-planning process in order to improve the governance of the European Statistical System and enhance the quality of Community statistics. To this effect, close collaboration should be maintained with the Statistical Programme Committee established by Council Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom (4) and with the Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments Statistics established by Council Decision 91/115/EEC (5). (5) A balance should be achieved between the need to reduce membership in order to enable the Committee to work efficiently in an enlarged Community on the one hand, and the need to allow representation of all stakeholders in Community statistics, as requested in the Council conclusions of 8 November 2005, on the other. (6) In order to meet the objectives of better assessing and balancing the benefits and costs of Community statistical requirements and rebalancing and reducing the burden of Community statistical legislation, so facilitating compliance with increasing demand, the Committee should play a stronger role in preparing and implementing the Community statistical programme. (7) The Committee should serve as a channel for advice from users, respondents and producers of statistical information on the objectives of the Community’s statistical information policy. (8) Decision 91/116/EEC should therefore be repealed, HAVE DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: Article 1 European Statistical Advisory Committee 1. The European Statistical Advisory Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Committee) is hereby established. 2. The Committee shall assist the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission in ensuring that user requirements and the costs borne by information providers and producers are taken into account in coordinating the strategic objectives and priorities of the Community’s statistical information policy. 3. That assistance shall cover all statistical domains relevant to the Community’s statistical information policy. Article 2 Tasks 1. The Commission shall consult the Committee at an early stage in the preparation of the Community statistical programme. The Committee shall deliver an opinion addressing in particular: (a) the relevance of the Community statistical programme to the requirements of European integration and development, as expressed by the Community institutions, national and regional authorities, the various economic and social categories and scientific circles; (b) the relevance of the Community statistical programme in relation to the activities of the Community, taking into account economic, social and technical developments; (c) the balance as regards priorities and resources between different areas in the Community statistical programme, the annual statistical work programme of the Commission, and possibilities of re-prioritising statistical work; (d) the adequacy of the resources needed to implement the Community statistical programme, including the costs incurred directly by both the Community and national authorities, and appropriateness to users’ needs of the scope, level of detail, and costs of Community statistics; (e) the costs related to the provision of statistical information by information providers and possibilities of reducing the response burden, with particular reference to the burden on small and medium-sized enterprises. 2. The Committee shall also draw the Commission’s attention to areas in which it may be necessary to develop new statistical activities and shall advise the Commission how to improve the relevance of the Community statistics to users, taking into account the costs borne by information providers and producers. Article 3 Relations with Community institutions and other bodies 1. At the request of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, the Committee shall deliver an opinion on matters relating to user requirements and costs incurred by data suppliers in the development of the Community’s statistical information policy, in the priorities of the Community statistical programme, in the evaluation of existing statistics, in data quality and in dissemination policy. 2. The Committee shall deliver opinions and present reports relating to user requirements and the costs borne by data providers in the production and dissemination of Community statistics to the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission whenever it considers this necessary for the fulfilment of its task. The Commission shall report on an annual basis on how it has taken account of the Committee’s opinions. 3. In order to accomplish its task, the Committee shall cooperate with the Statistical Programme Committee and the Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments Statistics. It shall regularly inform those two Committees of its opinions regarding the tasks set out in Article 2 and shall send them the opinions and reports referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article. 4. The Committee shall establish relationships with national statistical user councils. Article 4 Composition and procedure for appointment 1. The Committee shall comprise 24 members, as follows: (a) twelve members shall be appointed by the Commission, after consulting the European Parliament and the Council. They shall act independently. With a view to the appointment of those twelve members, each Member State shall provide the Commission with a list of three candidates with a well-established qualification in the field of statistics. The Commission shall endeavour to ensure that the selection of the 12 members represent, in equal measure, users, respondents, and other stakeholders in Community statistics (including the scientific community, the social partners and civil society). The 12 members shall perform their duties in their personal capacity; (b) eleven members shall be appointed directly by the institutions and bodies to which they belong, as follows: (i) one member representing the European Parliament, (ii) one member representing the Council, (iii) one member representing the European Economic and Social Committee, (iv) one member representing the Committee of the Regions, (v) one member representing the European Central Bank, (vi) two members representing the Statistical Programme Committee, (vii) one member representing the Confederation of European Business (BUSINESSEUROPE), (viii) one member representing the European Trade Union Confederation, (ix) one member representing the European Association of Craft Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, and (x) the European Data Protection Supervisor; (c) the Director-General of Eurostat shall be an ex officio member of the Committee, without a voting right. 2. The list of members of the Committee shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union, C series. Article 5 Duration of mandate 1. Members of the Committee shall be appointed for a term of five years, renewable once. On the expiry of their term of office, members shall remain in office until they are replaced or until their appointments are renewed. 2. If a member resigns before the expiry of his or her term of office, he or she shall be replaced for the remainder of the term by a member appointed in accordance with Article 4. Article 6 Structure and operation 1. The Committee shall elect its chairperson from among the members appointed by the Commission. The chairperson shall be appointed for a term of five years, renewable once. 2. The chairperson shall convene the Committee at least once a year, either on his or her own initiative or at the request of at least one third of its members. 3. For the preparation of opinions on highly complex statistical matters, the Committee may, in agreement with the Commission, establish temporary working parties to be chaired by a Committee member. Each working party shall be made up of experts providing an appropriate balance of professional backgrounds and geographical distribution. The chairpersons of those working parties shall present the results of their proceedings in the form of a report at a meeting of the Committee. 4. For the performance of its tasks, the Committee may commission studies and hold seminars. 5. Representatives of any Commission department concerned may participate in the meetings of the Committee and the working parties as observers. The chairperson may authorise other observers to attend meetings of the Committee. 6. The Commission shall provide secretarial services for the Committee and the working parties. 7. The Commission shall include the Committee’s expenses in its budgetary estimates. Article 7 Decision-making procedures The Committee’s internal rules of procedure shall specify the detail of its decision-making procedures. Article 8 Confidentiality Without prejudice to Article 287 of the Treaty, Committee members shall be required not to disclose information to which they have gained access through Committee or working party proceedings if the Commission informs them that such information is justifiably of a confidential nature or that responding to a request for an opinion or a question raised would lead to the disclosure of such confidential information. Article 9 Internal Rules of Procedure After consulting the Commission, the Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure. The rules of procedure shall be transmitted for information purposes to the European Parliament and the Council. Article 10 Repeal Decision 91/116/EEC shall be repealed. Article 11 Entry into force This Decision shall enter into force on 15 June 2008. Done at Strasbourg, 11 March 2008. For the European Parliament The President H.-G. PÖTTERING For the Council The President J. LENARČIČ (1) OJ C 97, 28.4.2007, p. 1. (2) Opinion of the European Parliament of 24 October 2007 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 14 February 2008. (3) OJ L 59, 6.3.1991, p. 21. Decision as amended by Decision 97/255/EC (OJ L 102, 19.4.1997, p. 32). (4) OJ L 181, 28.6.1989, p. 47. (5) OJ L 59, 6.3.1991, p. 19. Decision as replaced by Decision 2006/856/EC (OJ L 332, 30.11.2006, p. 21).

Summary: European Statistical Advisory Committee European Statistical Advisory Committee SUMMARY OF: Decision No 234/2008/EC establishing the European Statistical Advisory Committee WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE DECISION? It sets up the European Statistical Advisory Committee, a consultative body which contributes to the development and implementation of EU statistical information policy. It repeals Council Decision 91/116/EEC. KEY POINTS The committee contributes to close cooperation in the statistics programme-planning process to improve the governance of the European Statistical System and to enhance the quality of European statistics. The committee serves as a channel for advice from users, respondents and producers of statistical information on the objectives of the EU’s statistical information policy. Mission The European Commission must consult the committee in the course of the preparation of the EU’s statistical programme. It delivers opinions on the programme addressing in particular: the programme’s relevance to the requirements of European integration and development; the programme’s relevance in relation to the EU’s activities in terms of economic, social and technical developments; the balance as regards priorities and resources between different areas in the programme; the adequacy of resources needed to implement the programme; the production costs borne by providers of statistical information. The committee advises the Commission on the development and use of EU statistical information. Relations with other bodies and institutions At the request of the European Parliament, the Council or the Commission, the committee delivers opinions on: EU statistical information policy; the priorities of the European statistical programme; the evaluation of existing statistics; data quality and dissemination policy. It accomplishes its task by cooperating with the European Statistical System Committee. Composition The committee is comprised of 24 members appointed for a term of 5 years, renewable once. Members are chosen in a balanced manner by: the Commission, which appoints 12 members after consulting the European Parliament and Council, using a list provided by EU countries. The Commission endeavours to ensure that the selection of the 12 members represent, in equal measure, users, respondents and other interested parties in EU statistics; the institutions and bodies to which they belong, which appoint 11 members (1 representative per organisation: European Parliament, Council, European Economic and Social Committee, Committee of the Regions, European Central Bank, European Statistical System Committee [2 representatives], BusinessEurope, European Trade Union Confederation, European Association of Craft Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, European Data Protection Supervisor. The Director-General of Eurostat is an ex officio* member, without a voting right). The committee elects its chairperson for a term of 5 years, renewable once. The committee’s secretariat is provided by the Commission. FROM WHEN DOES THE DECISION APPLY? It has applied since 15 June 2008. BACKGROUND The European Statistical Advisory Board replaces the European Advisory Committee on Statistical Information in the Economic and Social Spheres. For more information, see: European Statistical Advisory Committee (Eurostat). KEY TERMS Ex officio: by virtue of his/her position or office which, in this case, is that of Director-General. MAIN DOCUMENT Decision No 234/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March establishing the European Statistical Advisory Committee and repealing Council Decision 91/116/EEC (OJ L 73, 15.3.2008, pp. 13-16) last update 18.04.2018


28.12.2006 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 381/1 REGULATION (EC) No 1986/2006 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 20 December 2006 regarding access to the Second Generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) by the services in the Member States responsible for issuing vehicle registration certificates THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 71 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1), After consulting the Committee of the Regions, Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (2), Whereas: (1) Council Directive 1999/37/EC of 29 April 1999 on the registration documents for vehicles (3) provides that Member States are to assist one another in the implementation of that Directive and may exchange information at bilateral or multilateral level, in particular, so as to check, before any registration of a vehicle, the latter's legal status in the Member State in which it was previously registered. Such checking may involve the use of an electronic network. (2) Regulation (EC) No 1987/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 and Council Decision 2006/000/JHA of … on the establishment, operation and use of the second generation of the Schengen Information System (SIS II) (4) (5) constitute the legislative basis for governing SIS II, which constitutes a shared database between Member States containing, inter alia, data on motor vehicles with a cylinder capacity exceeding 50 cc, data on trailers with an unladen weight exceeding 750 kg and caravans and data on vehicle registration certificates and vehicle number plates which have been stolen, misappropriated, lost or invalidated. (3) Regulation (EC) No 1987/2006 and Decision 2006/000/JHA replace Articles 92 to 119 of the Convention of 19 June 1990 implementing the Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985 between the governments of the States of the Benelux economic union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic on the gradual abolition of checks at their common borders (6) (‘the Schengen Convention’) with the exception of Article 102a thereof. That Article concerns access to the Schengen Information System by the authorities and services in the Member States responsible for issuing registration certificates for vehicles. (4) It is now necessary to adopt a third instrument, based on Title V of the Treaty and complementing Regulation (EC) No 1987/2006 and Decision 2006/000/JHA in order to allow access to SIS II by the services in the Member States responsible for issuing registration certificates for vehicles, and to replace Article 102a of the Schengen Convention. (5) Alerts on objects, including motor vehicles, are entered in SIS II for the purposes of seizure or use as evidence in criminal proceedings, pursuant to Decision 2006/000/JHA. (6) Pursuant to Decision 2006/000/JHA, access to alerts on objects entered in SIS II is reserved exclusively to the authorities responsible for border control and other police and customs checks as well as judicial authorities and Europol. (7) Government or non-government services clearly identified for this purpose and responsible in the Member States for issuing registration certificates for vehicles should have access to data included in SIS II concerning motor vehicles with a cylinder capacity exceeding 50 cc, trailers with an unladen weight exceeding 750 kg, caravans and vehicle registration certificates and vehicle number plates which have been stolen, misappropriated, lost or invalidated in order to enable them to check whether the vehicles presented to them for registration have been stolen, misappropriated or lost. (8) To that end, it is necessary to grant those services access to those data, and to allow them to use those data for the administrative purposes of properly issuing vehicle registration certificates. (9) To the extent that services in the Member States responsible for issuing registration certificates for vehicles are non-government bodies, such access should be granted indirectly, that is to say through the intermediary of an authority granted access in accordance with Decision 2006/000/JHA that is responsible for ensuring compliance with the security and confidentiality rules of the Member States as referred to in that Decision. (10) Decision 2006/000/JHA lays down the action to be taken if access to SIS II brings to light an alert for an object entered in SIS II. (11) Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (7) applies to the processing of personal data by the services in the Member States responsible for issuing registration certificates for vehicles. The specific provisions on the protection of personal data on security, confidentiality and keeping of log files contained in Decision 2006/000/JHA supplement or clarify the principles set out in that Directive when personal data is processed by those services in the context of SIS II. (12) Since the objective of the action to be taken, namely to grant access to SIS II to services in the Member States responsible for issuing registration certificates for vehicles, in order to facilitate their tasks under Directive 1999/37/EC, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of the very nature of SIS II as a joint information system, only be achieved at Community level, the Community may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective. (13) This Regulation respects the fundamental rights and observes the principles recognised in particular by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. (14) As regards Iceland and Norway, this Regulation constitutes a development of provisions of the Schengen acquis within the meaning of the Agreement concluded by the Council of the European Union and the Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway concerning the association of those two States with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis (8) which fall within the area referred to in Article 1, point G, of Council Decision 1999/437/EC of 17 May 1999 (9) on certain arrangements for the application of that Agreement. (15) As regards Switzerland, this Regulation constitutes a development of the provisions of the Schengen acquis within the meaning of the Agreement signed between the European Union, the European Community and the Swiss Confederation concerning the association of the Swiss Confederation with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis, which fall within the area referred to in Article 1, point G, of Decision 1999/437/EC read in conjunction with Article 4(1) of Council Decisions 2004/849/EC (10) and 2004/860/EC (11). (16) This Regulation constitutes an act building on the Schengen acquis or otherwise related to it within the meaning of Article 3(2) of the 2003 Act of Accession, HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 1. Notwithstanding Articles 38, 40 and 46(1) of Decision 2006/000/JHA, the services in the Member States responsible for issuing registration certificates for vehicles, as referred to in Directive 1999/37/EC, shall have access to the following data entered into SIS II in accordance with Article 38(2)(a), (b) and (f) of that Decision for the sole purpose of checking whether vehicles presented to them for registration have been stolen, misappropriated or lost or are sought as evidence in criminal proceedings: (a) data concerning motor vehicles with a cylinder capacity exceeding 50 cc; (b) data concerning trailers with an unladen weight exceeding 750 kg and caravans; (c) data concerning vehicle registration certificates and vehicle number plates which have been stolen, misappropriated, lost or invalidated. Subject to paragraph 2, the law of each Member State shall govern access to those data by those services in that Member State. 2. Services as referred to in paragraph 1 that are government services shall have the right to access directly the data entered in SIS II. 3. Services as referred to in paragraph 1 that are non-government services shall have access to data entered in SIS II only through the intermediary of an authority as referred to in Article 40 of the Decision mentioned in paragraph 1. That authority shall have the right to access the data directly and to pass them on to the service concerned. The Member State concerned shall ensure that the service in question and its employees are required to respect any limitations on the permissible use of data conveyed to them by the authority. 4. Article 39 of that Decision shall not apply to access gained in accordance with this Article. The communication to the police or judicial authorities by services as referred to in paragraph 1 of any information brought to light by access to SIS II which gives rise to suspicion of a criminal offence shall be governed by national law. Article 2 This Regulation replaces Article 102a of the Schengen Convention. Article 3 This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. It shall apply from the date set in accordance with Article 71(2) of Decision 2006/000/JHA. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 20 December 2006. For the European Parliament The President J. BORRELL FONTELLES For the Council The President J. KORKEAOJA (1) OJ C 65, 17.3.2006, p. 27. (2) Opinion of the European Parliament of 25 October 2006 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 19 December 2006 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (3) OJ L 138, 1.6.1999, p. 57. Directive as last amended by Commission Directive 2003/127/EC (OJ L 10, 16.1.2004, p. 29). (4) See page 4 of this Official Journal. (5) See page 99 of this Official Journal. (6) OJ L 239, 22.9.2000, p. 19. Convention as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1160/2005 (OJ L 191, 22.7.2005, p. 18). (7) OJ L 281, 23.11.1995, p. 31. Directive as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003 (OJ L 284, 31.10.2003, p. 1). (8) OJ L 176, 10.7.1999, p. 36. (9) OJ L 176, 10.7.1999, p. 31. (10) Council Decision 2004/849/EC of 25 October 2004 on the signing, on behalf of the European Union, and on the provisional application of certain provisions of the Agreement between the European Union, the European Community and the Swiss Confederation concerning the Swiss Confederation's association with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis (OJ L 368, 15.12.2004, p. 26). (11) Council Decision 2004/860/EC of 25 October 2004 on the signing, on behalf of the European Community, and on the provisional application of certain provisions of the Agreement between the European Union, the European Community and the Swiss Confederation, concerning the Swiss Confederation's association with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis (OJ L 370, 17.12.2004, p. 78).

Summary: Access of vehicle registration services to SIS II Access of vehicle registration services to SIS II SUMMARY OF: Regulation (EC) No 1986/2006 on access to the Second Generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) by EU countries’ services responsible for issuing vehicle registration certificates WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE REGULATION? It allows services in European Union (EU) countries that are responsible for issuing vehicle registration certificates access to the Second Generation Schengen Information System (SIS II). This is for the sole purpose of checking whether a vehicle presented for registration has not been stolen and/or is not sought as evidence in criminal proceedings. KEY POINTS The regulation gives the right to vehicle registration services to access data in SIS II concerning: motor vehicles with a cylinder capacity exceeding 50 cc (cubic centimetres); trailers with an unladen weight exceeding 750 kg and caravans; vehicle registration certificates and vehicle number plates which have been stolen, misappropriated, lost or invalidated. Vehicle registration services that are not public services have access to the data in SIS II only through one of the authorities referred to in the SIS II Decision (i.e. Council Decision 2007/533/JHA). These authorities include border control authorities, police and customs. The SIS II Decision lays down the action to be taken, should SIS II bring to light a vehicle that has been stolen or is being sought as evidence in criminal proceedings. FROM WHEN DOES THE REGULATION APPLY? It has applied since 17 January 2007. BACKGROUND EU countries are required to assist one another in the implementation of Council Directive 1999/37/EC on the registration documents for vehicles. They may exchange information to check a vehicle’s legal status in the country in which it was previously registered. Regulation (EC) No 1987/2006 and Decision 2007/533/JHA concerning the establishment, operation and use of SIS II (SIS II Regulation and Decision) replaced all but one article of the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985. That article concerns access to the Schengen Information System by the authorities and services in the EU countries responsible for issuing registration certificates for vehicles. This third act completes the SIS II legal framework, ensuring that EU countries’ vehicle registration services have access to SIS II once operational. For more information, see: ‘Schengen Information System’ on the European Commission's website. MAIN DOCUMENT Regulation (EC) No 1986/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 regarding access to the Second Generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) by the services in the Member States responsible for issuing vehicle registration certificates (OJ L 381, 28.12.2006, pp. 1-3) Subsequent amendments to Regulation (EC) No 1986/2006 have been incorporated into the basic text. This consolidated version is of documentary value only. last update 16.08.2016