title: Commission Decision of 24 January 2017 establishing the Commission Expert Group ‘Platform on Animal Welfare’ (Text with EEA relevance. )

text:
               31.1.2017

               EN

               Official Journal of the European Union

               C 31/61

         COMMISSION DECISION
   of 24 January 2017
   establishing the Commission Expert Group ‘Platform on Animal Welfare’
   (Text with EEA relevance)
   (2017/C 31/12)
   THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
   Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
   Whereas:

               (1)

               Article 13 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union recognises animals as sentient beings and requires the Union and the Member States to pay full regard to the welfare requirements of animals in formulating and implementing Union agriculture, fisheries, transport, internal market, research and technical development and space policies while respecting the legislative or administrative provisions of the Member States relating in particular to religious rites, cultural traditions and regional heritage.

               (2)

               In accordance with Article 11(2) of the Treaty on European Union, the institutions are to maintain an open, transparent and regular dialogue with representative associations and civil society.

               (3)

               Article 26 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union provides that the Union is to adopt measures with the aim of establishing and ensuring the functioning of the internal market with free movement of goods, persons, services and capital.

               (4)

               Article 38 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union assigns the Union the task of defining and implementing a common agriculture policy.

               (5)

               Article 179 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union provides that the Union has the objective of strengthening its scientific and technological bases by achieving a European research area. According to Article 180(b) of the said Treaty the Union is to promote the cooperation in the field of Union research, technological development and demonstration with third countries and international organisations.

               (6)

               In 2011 the Commission set up an expert group on animal welfare (1) with the aim of assisting and advising the Commission on issues relating to the animal welfare legislation and of facilitating the exchange of information, experience and good practices in the area of animal welfare legislation.

               (7)

               The European Parliament (2) and the Council of the European Union (3) have called for the establishment of a Union platform on animal welfare in order to improve dialogue among stakeholders as to share experience, expertise and views.

               (8)

               To answer Parliament’s and Council’s requests, a new expert group named ‘Platform on Animal Welfare’ (‘the Platform’) should assist the Commission and help to hold regular dialogue on Union matters directly related to animal welfare such as enforcement of the legislation, exchanges of scientific knowledge, innovations and good animal welfare practices/initiatives, or animal welfare international activities. The Platform should also assist the Commission on Union relevant topics which may interact with animal welfare issues such as trade, antimicrobial resistance, food safety, research or environment. Since the Platform will have the same mandate than the existing expert group on animal welfare it is not necessary to maintain the later one.

               (9)

               The Platform should work with due consideration to the activities of other relevant dialogue groups or networks on animal welfare such as working groups and networks of the European Food Safety Authority or the World Organisation for Animal Health Regional Platform on animal welfare for Europe.

               (10)

               The Platform should be composed of representatives from competent authorities from all Member States, business organisations involved at the European Union level in the food supply chain as well as in keeping of animals for other farming purposes, organisations from the civil society involved at the European Union level in animal welfare as well as from academic and research institutes working on animal welfare sciences. The membership of the Platform should be also open to experts from the competent authorities from non-EU countries which are contracting parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area as well from international intergovernmental organisations.

               (11)

               Rules on disclosure of information by members of the Platform should be laid down.

               (12)

               Personal data should be processed in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4).

               (13)

               It is appropriate to fix a period for the application of this Decision. The Commission will in due time consider the advisability of an extension of the Decision,

         HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
   Article 1
   Subject matter
   A group of experts named ‘Platform on Animal Welfare’ (‘the Platform’) is hereby set up.
   Article 2
   Tasks
   The Platform’s tasks shall be:

               (a)

               to assist the Commission with the development and exchange of coordinated actions which shall have the aim of contributing to the implementation and application of European Union legislation related to animal welfare and the understanding, within and outside the Union, of the Union legislation as well as international standards on animal welfare;

               (b)

               to facilitate the development and the use of voluntary commitments on animal welfare improvement by businesses;

               (c)

               to contribute to the promotion of Union standards on animal welfare as to valorise the market value of Union products at global level;

               (d)

               to encourage dialogue between competent authorities, businesses, civil society, academia, scientists, and international intergovernmental organisations on Union relevant topics related to animal welfare;

               (e)

               to promote exchange of experiences and good practices, scientific knowledge and innovations on related to animal welfare relevant for the Union;

               (f)

               to share information on policy development in the fields and on activities mentioned above.

         Article 3
   Consultation
   The Commission may consult the Platform on any matter related to animal welfare relevant for the Union.
   Article 4
   Membership
   1.   The Platform shall be composed of not more than 75 members.
   2.   The Platform shall comprise the following members:

               (a)

               competent authorities of the Member States of the European Union and of those non-EU countries which are contracting parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area (‘the EEA members’) responsible for animal welfare;

               (b)

               business and professional organisations having activities at Union level in the food supply chain where animals or animal products are involved as well as in the keeping of animals for other farming purposes;

               (c)

               organisations from the civil society having activities at Union level in relation to animal welfare;

               (d)

               Independent experts from academic and research institutes having activities on animal welfare sciences which have an impact on Union policies;

               (e)

               International intergovernmental organisations having activities on animal welfare (5);

               (f)

               the European Food Safety Authority.

         3.   Members listed under paragraph 2(d) are appointed in a personal capacity and shall act independently and in the public interest.
   4.   Members listed under paragraph 2(b) and (c), shall be selected according to the procedure laid down in Article 5. They shall nominate their representatives in the Platform at senior-level and shall be responsible for ensuring that their representatives are permanent and provide a sufficiently high level of expertise. The Commission may refuse a representative nominated by these members if it considers, on the basis of justified grounds specified in the rules of the call of applications of the Platform, that the nomination is not appropriate. In such case, the organisation concerned shall be asked to appoint another representative.
   6.   Members listed under paragraph 2(a), (e) and (f) shall nominate their representatives responsible for animal welfare and shall be responsible for ensuring that their representatives provide a sufficiently high level of expertise.
   7.   Members who are no longer capable of contributing effectively to the expert group’s activities, who, in the opinion of Directorate-General for Food and Health Safety, do not comply with the conditions set out in Article 339 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union or who resign, shall no longer be invited to participate in any meetings of the Platform and may be replaced for the remainder of their term of office.
   Article 5
   Selection process
   1.   The selection of the Platform’s members listed under Article 4(2)(b) to (d) shall be carried out via a public call for applications, to be published on the Register of Commission expert groups and other similar entities (‘the Register of expert groups’). In addition, the call for applications may be published through other means, including on dedicated websites.
   The call for applications shall clearly outline the selection criteria, including the required expertise and the interests to be represented in relation to the work to be performed. The minimum deadline for applications shall be four weeks.
   2.   Members listed under Article 4(2)(d) shall disclose any circumstances that could give rise to a conflict of interest. In particular, the Commission shall require those individuals to submit a declaration of interests (‘DOI’) form on the basis of the standard DOI form for expert groups, together with an updated curriculum vitae (CV), as part of their application. Submission of a duly completed DOI form shall be necessary in order to be eligible to be appointed as a member in a personal capacity. The conflict of interest assessment shall be performed in compliance with the Commission’s horizontal rules on expert groups (‘the horizontal rules’) (6).
   3.   Registration in the Transparency Register is required in order for organisations listed under Article 4(2)(b) and (c) to be appointed.
   4.   Members listed under Article 4(2)(b) to (d) shall be appointed by the Director-General for Health and Food Safety from applicants with adequate competence in the areas referred to in Article 2 and who have responded to the call for applications.
   5.   Members shall be appointed until 31 December 2019. They shall remain in office until the end of their term of office. Their term of office may be renewed.
   6.   As regards members listed under Article 4, paragraph (2)(d), the Director-General for Health and Food Safety shall appoint alternate members, in accordance with the same conditions as members, who shall automatically replace any members who are absent or indisposed. The Director-General shall also establish, after their consent, a reserve list of suitable candidates that may be used to appoint members’ replacements.
   Article 6
   Chair
   The Platform shall be chaired by the Director-General for Health and Food Safety or his/her representative.
   Article 7
   Operation
   1.   The Platform shall act at the request of the Chair, in compliance with the horizontal rules.
   2.   In principle, the Platform shall meet at least twice a year at the premises of the Commission and whenever the Commission considers a meeting necessary.
   3.   The Commission services shall provide secretarial services. Commission officials from other departments with an interest in the works of the Platform may attend meetings of the Platform and its sub-groups.
   4.   In agreement with the Chair, the Platform may, by simple majority of its members, decide that deliberations shall be public.
   5.   Minutes on the discussion on each point on the agenda and an the conclusions of the debates shall be meaningful and complete. Minutes shall be drafted by the secretariat under the responsibility of the Chair.
   6.   The Platform shall adopt reports or conclusions by consensus. In the event of a vote, the outcome of the vote shall be decided by simple majority of the members. Members who have voted against shall have the right to have a document summarising the reasons for their position annexed to the corresponding report or conclusion.
   Article 8
   Sub-groups
   1.   The Director-General for Health and Food Safety may set up sub-groups for the purpose of examining specific questions on the basis of terms of reference defined by the Commission. Sub-groups shall operate in compliance with the horizontal rules and shall report to the Platform. They shall be dissolved as soon as their mandate is fulfilled.
   2.   The members of sub-groups that are not members of the Platform shall be selected via a public call for applications, in compliance with Article 5 and the horizontal rules (7).
   Article 9
   Invited experts
   The Chair may invite experts with specific expertise with respect to a subject matter on the agenda to take part in the work of the Platform or the sub-groups, on an ad hoc basis.
   Article 10
   Observers
   1.   Individuals, organisations or public entities may be granted an observer status, in compliance with the horizontal rules, either by direct invitation or as a result of a call for applications.
   2.   Organisations or public entities appointed as observers shall nominate their representatives.
   3.   Observers and their representatives may be permitted by the Chair to take part in the discussions of the Platform and provide expertise. However, they shall not have voting rights and shall not participate in the drafting of reports or conclusions of the Platform.
   4.   The Platform shall not have more than five observers.
   Article 11
   Rules of procedure
   On a proposal by and in agreement with the Chair the Platform shall adopt its rules of procedure by simple majority of its members, on the basis of the standard rules of procedure for expert groups, in compliance with the horizontal rules.
   Article 12
   Professional secrecy and handling of classified information
   The members of the Platform and their representatives, as well as invited experts and observers, are subject to the obligation of professional secrecy, which by virtue of the Treaties and the rules implementing them applies to all members of the institutions and their staff, as well as to the Commission’s rules on security regarding the protection of Union classified information, laid down in Commission Decisions (EU, Euratom) 2015/443 (8) and (EU, Euratom) 2015/444 (9). Should they fail to respect these obligations, the Commission may take all appropriate measures.
   Article 13
   Relationship with the European Parliament
   The European Parliament shall be kept informed of the Platform’s work. Upon request of the European Parliament and in accordance with the modalities laid down in the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission (10), the Commission may invite the Parliament to send experts to attend the meetings.
   Article 14
   Transparency
   1.   The Platform and sub-groups shall be registered in the Register of expert groups.
   2.   As concerns the group composition, the following data shall be published on the Register of expert groups:

               (a)

               the names of individuals appointed in a personal capacity;

               (b)

               the names of member organisations; the interest represented shall be disclosed;

               (c)

               the names of other public entities;

               (d)

               the names of observers.

         3.   All relevant documents, including the agendas, the minutes and the participants’ submissions, shall be made available either on the Register of expert groups or via a link from the Register to a dedicated website, where this information can be found. Access to dedicated websites shall not be submitted to user registration or any other restriction. In particular, the agenda and other relevant background documents shall be published in due time ahead of the meeting, followed by timely publication of minutes. Exceptions to publication shall only be foreseen where it is deemed that disclosure of a document would undermine the protection of a public or private interest as defined in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and Council (11).
   Article 15
   Meeting expenses
   1.   Participants in the activities of the Platform and the sub-groups shall not be remunerated for the services they offer.
   2.   Travel and subsistence expenses incurred by participants in the activities of the Platform and the sub-groups shall be reimbursed by the Commission. Reimbursement shall be made in accordance with the provisions in force within the Commission and within the limits of the available appropriations allocated to the Commission departments under the annual procedure for the allocation of resources.
   Article 16
   Applicability
   This Decision shall apply until 31 December 2019.

      Done at Brussels, 24 January 2017.

            For the Commission

         Vytenis ANDRIUKAITIS

            Member of the Commission

      (1)  Expert group on animal welfare E02668.

      (2)  European Parliament resolution on a new Animal Welfare Strategy for 2016-2020 of 24 November 2015 (2015/2957(RSP)).

      (3)  3464th Council meeting — Agriculture and Fisheries — 17 May 2016.

      (4)  Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data (OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1).

      (5)  E.g. World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).

      (6)  Commission Decision of 30.5.2016 establishing horizontal rules on the creation and operation of Commission expert groups.

      (7)  See Articles 10 and 14.2 of the horizontal rules.

      (8)  OJ L 72, 17.3.2015, p. 41.

      (9)  OJ L 72, 17.3.2015, p. 53.

      (10)  OJ L 304, 20.11.2010, p. 47.

      (11)  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 (OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43).


title: 2011/652/: Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 September 2011 on mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, in accordance with point 28 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and sound financial management (application EGF/2010/007 AT/Steiermark and Niederösterreich from Austria)

text:
               7.10.2011

               EN

               Official Journal of the European Union

               L 263/9

         DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
   of 27 September 2011
   on mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, in accordance with point 28 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and sound financial management (application EGF/2010/007 AT/Steiermark and Niederösterreich from Austria)
   (2011/652/EU)
   THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
   Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
   Having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and sound financial management (1), and in particular point 28 thereof,
   Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 establishing the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (2), and in particular Article 12(3) thereof,
   Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
   Whereas:

               (1)

               The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) was established to provide additional support for workers made redundant as a result of major structural changes in world trade patterns due to globalisation and to assist them with their reintegration into the labour market.

               (2)

               The scope of the EGF was broadened for applications submitted from 1 May 2009 to include support for workers made redundant as a direct result of the global financial and economic crisis.

               (3)

               The Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 allows the mobilisation of the EGF within the annual ceiling of EUR 500 million.

               (4)

               Austria submitted an application on 9 March 2010 to mobilise the EGF in respect of redundancies in 54 enterprises in NACE Revision 2 Division 24 (‘Manufacture of basic metals’) in the contiguous NUTS II regions of Steiermark (Styria, AT22) and Niederösterreich (Lower Austria, AT12) in Austria, and supplemented it by additional information up to 27 January 2011. This application complies with the requirements for determining the financial contributions as laid down in Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006. The Commission, therefore, proposes to mobilise an amount of EUR 8 284 908.

               (5)

               The EGF should, therefore, be mobilised in order to provide a financial contribution for the application submitted by Austria,

         HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
   Article 1
   For the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2011, the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund shall be mobilised to provide the sum of EUR 8 284 908 in commitment and payment appropriations.
   Article 2
   This Decision shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

      Done at Strasbourg, 27 September 2011.

            For the European Parliament

            The President

         J. BUZEK

            For the Council

            The President

         M. DOWGIELEWICZ

      (1)  OJ C 139, 14.6.2006, p. 1.

      (2)  OJ L 406, 30.12.2006, p. 1.


title: Council Decision 2014/821/CFSP of 4 November 2014 concerning the signing and conclusion of the Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine on the status of the European Union Advisory Mission for Civilian Security Sector Reform Ukraine (EUAM Ukraine)

text:
               21.11.2014

               EN

               Official Journal of the European Union

               L 334/1

         COUNCIL DECISION 2014/821/CFSP
   of 4 November 2014
   concerning the signing and conclusion of the Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine on the status of the European Union Advisory Mission for Civilian Security Sector Reform Ukraine (EUAM Ukraine)
   THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
   Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular Article 37 thereof, in conjunction with Article 218(5) and (6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
   Having regard to the proposal from the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,
   Whereas:

               (1)

               On 22 July 2014, the Council adopted Decision 2014/486/CFSP (1).

               (2)

               On the same day, the Council adopted the Decision authorising the opening of negotiations with Ukraine in order to conclude an Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine on the status of the European Union Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) mission in Ukraine.

               (3)

               An agreement on the status of European Union Advisory Mission for Civilian Security Sector Reform Ukraine (EUAM Ukraine) (‘the Agreement’) has been negotiated between the Union and Ukraine.

               (4)

               The Agreement should be approved,

         HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
   Article 1
   The Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine on the status of the European Union Advisory Mission for Civilian Security Sector Reform Ukraine (EUAM Ukraine) is hereby approved on behalf of the Union.
   The text of the Agreement is attached to this Decision.
   Article 2
   The President of the Council is hereby authorised to designate the person(s) empowered to sign the Agreement in order to bind the Union.
   Article 3
   This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

      Done at Brussels, 4 November 2014.

            For the Council

            The President

         S. GOZI

      (1)  Council Decision 2014/486/CFSP of 22 July 2014 on the European Union Advisory Mission for Civilian Security Sector Reform Ukraine (EUAM Ukraine) (OJ L 217, 23.7.2014, p. 42).


title: Council Decision of 24 September 2012 appointing one member of the Management Board of the European Chemicals Agency

text:
               25.9.2012

               EN

               Official Journal of the European Union

               C 288/4

         COUNCIL DECISION
   of 24 September 2012
   appointing one member of the Management Board of the European Chemicals Agency
   2012/C 288/03
   THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
   Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
   Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency (1), and in particular Article 79 thereof,
   Whereas:

               (1)

               Article 79 of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 provides that the Council is to appoint as members of the Management Board of the European Chemicals Agency (‘the Management Board’) one representative from each Member State.

               (2)

               By Decision of 7 June 2007 (2) the Council appointed 27 members of the Management Board of the European Chemicals Agency.

               (3)

               The Hungarian Government has informed the Council of its intention to replace the Hungarian representative on the Management Board and has submitted a nomination for a new representative, who should be appointed for a period which runs until 31 May 2013,

         HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
   Article 1
   Ms. Krisztina CSENGŐDY of Hungarian nationality, born on 9 January 1961, shall be appointed member of the Management Board of the European Chemicals Agency in place of Mr. Zoltán ADAMIS for the period from 25 September 2012 to 31 May 2013.
   Article 2
   This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its adoption.

      Done at Brussels, 24 September 2012.

            For the Council

            The President

         S. ALETRARIS

      (1)  OJ L 396, 30.12.2006, p. 1.

      (2)  OJ C 134, 16.6.2007, p. 6.


title: Council Decision 2012/372/CFSP of 10 July 2012 amending and extending Decision 2010/330/CSFP on the European Union Integrated Rule of Law Mission for Iraq, EUJUST LEX-IRAQ

text:
               11.7.2012

               EN

               Official Journal of the European Union

               L 179/22

         COUNCIL DECISION 2012/372/CFSP
   of 10 July 2012
   amending and extending Decision 2010/330/CSFP on the European Union Integrated Rule of Law Mission for Iraq, EUJUST LEX-IRAQ
   THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
   Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular Article 28 and Articles 42(4) and 43(2) thereof,
   Having regard to the proposal from the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,
   Whereas:

               (1)

               On 7 March 2005, the Council adopted Joint Action 2005/190/CFSP on the European Union Integrated Rule of Law Mission for Iraq, EUJUST LEX (1).

               (2)

               On 14 June 2010, the Council adopted Decision 2010/330/CFSP (2), which extended the mission until 30 June 2012.

               (3)

               Following the recommendations in the Strategic Review, the mission should be extended for a further period of 18 months.

               (4)

               EUJUST LEX-IRAQ will be conducted in the context of a situation which may deteriorate and could impede the achievement of the objectives of the Union’s external action as set out in Article 21 of the Treaty.

               (5)

               Decision 2010/330/CFSP should therefore be amended accordingly,

         HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
   Article 1
   Decision 2010/330/CFSP is hereby amended as follows:

               (1)

               Article 2(4) is replaced by the following:
               ‘4.   The training activities shall take place in Iraq and in the region as well as in the Union. EUJUST LEX-IRAQ shall have offices in Brussels, in Baghdad, including an antenna in Basra, and in Erbil (Kurdistan Region).’;

               (2)

               Article 2(5) is deleted;

               (3)

               Article 6(5) is replaced by the following:
               ‘5.   All staff shall carry out their duties and act in the interest of the Mission. All staff shall respect the security principles and minimum standards established by Council Decision 2011/292/EU of 31 March 2011 on the security rules for protecting EU classified information (3).

               (4)

               Article 10 is hereby amended as follows:

                           (a)

                           paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:
                           ‘1.   The Civilian Operation Commander shall direct the Head of Mission’s planning of security measures and ensure their proper and effective implementation for EUJUST LEX-IRAQ in accordance with Articles 4 and 8.’;

                           (b)

                           paragraph 4 is deleted;

                           (c)

                           paragraph 8 is replaced by the following:
                           ‘8.   EUJUST LEX-IRAQ staff members, trainers and experts shall undergo mandatory security training and, when appropriate, medical checks prior to any deployment or travel to Iraq.’;

               (5)

               in Article 11 the following paragraph is added:
               ‘2a.   The financial reference amount intended to cover the expenditure related to the Mission between 1 July 2012 and 30 June 2013 shall be EUR 27 150 000.’;

               (6)

               in Article 16 the second subparagraph is replaced by the following:
               ‘It shall apply from 1 July 2010 until 31 December 2013.’.

         Article 2
   This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its adoption.
   It shall apply from 1 July 2012.

      Done at Brussels, 10 July 2012.

            For the Council

            The President

         A. D. MAVROYIANNIS

      (1)  OJ L 62, 9.3.2005, p. 37.

      (2)  OJ L 149, 15.6.2010, p. 12.

      (3)  OJ L 141, 27.5.2011, p. 17.’;


Avis juridique important

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32002B0453

2002/453/EC: Decision of the European Parliament of 25 April 2002 concerning discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the 2000 financial year — Section II — Council, Section IV — Court of Justice, Section V — Court of Auditors, Section VI — Economic and Social Committee, Section VII — Committee of the Regions, Section VIII — Ombudsman and concerning discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the 1996 to 1999 financial years, Section VI — Economic and Social Committee

Official Journal L 158 , 17/06/2002 P. 0066 - 0076

Decision of the European Parliamentof 25 April 2002concerning discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the 2000 financial year - Section II - Council, Section IV - Court of Justice, Section V - Court of Auditors, Section VI - Economic and Social Committee, Section VII - Committee of the Regions, Section VIII - Ombudsman and concerning discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the 1996 to 1999 financial years, Section VI - Economic and Social Committee(2002/453/EC)THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,- Having regard to the revenue and expenditure account and balance sheet in respect of the financial year 2000 (SEC(2001) 530 - C5-0240/2001, C5-0241/2001, C5-0242/2001, C5-0243/2001, C5-0244/2001),- Having regard to the annual report of the Court of Auditors for the financial year 2000, together with the institutions' replies (C5-0617/2001)(1),- Having regard to the Statement of Assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions provided by the Court of Auditors pursuant to Article 248 of the EC Treaty (C5-0617/2001),- Having regard to the Council's recommendation of 5 March 2002 (C5-0124/2002),- Having regard to Articles 272(10) and 275 of the EC Treaty,- Having regard to Article 22(2) and (3) of the Financial Regulation,- Having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A5-0094/2002),- Having regard to the second report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A5-0113/2002),A. Whereas it is incumbent upon Parliament to monitor the efficient use of the European Union's budget on the basis of reports from the Court of Auditors; this evaluation should involve an assessment of the way in which taxpayers' money is spent and an appraisal of the effectiveness and impact of the Community budget in carrying out the policies and goals laid down in the Treaties and in secondary legislation;B. Whereas the concept of value for money is of vital importance in assessing the performance of all EU institutions;C. Whereas Parliament adopted a resolution on 4 April 2001 postponing the decision concerning discharge in respect of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 1999 Section VI - Part A: Economic and Social Committee(2), following similar postponements in respect of the financial years 1996, 1997 and 1998;D. Whereas the Treaty of Nice changed the description of the members of the Economic and Social Committee (ESC) so that it will in future - if the Treaty is ratified - consist of "representatives of the various economic and social components of organised civil society" (Article 257 of the EC Treaty); for the Committee of the Regions (CoR) it explicitly states that the members must hold a regional or local electoral mandate or be politically accountable to an elected assembly (Article 263 of the EC Treaty);E. Whereas in its resolution of 31 May 2001 on the Treaty of Nice and the future of the European Union(3) (paragraph 24) Parliament applauded the provisions relating to the ESC, "which make it more representative of the various sectors of society" and those relating to the CoR, "the democratic legitimacy of whose members is strengthened";F. Whereas Council Regulation (EC, ECSC, Euratom) No 2673/1999 of 13 December 1999 amending the Financial Regulation of 21 December 1977 applicable to the general budget of the European Communities(4) which entered into force on 1 January 2000 stated that the Ombudsman's budget would in future represent an independent section (Section VIII) within the general budget of the European Union;G. Whereas under the terms of Article 22(5) of the Financial Regulation, the Ombudsman is to be treated, for the purposes of the Financial Regulation, as an institution of the Communities;H. Whereas although the Ombudsman is appointed by the European Parliament, he is completely independent in the performance of his duties and he enjoys full budgetary autonomy since 2000 which justifies a discharge decision separate from the one relating to the Secretary-General of the European Parliament;General matters concerning all institutions1. Notes the Court of Auditors' observations (see paragraph 7.3 of the annual report) that the general approach adopted by the institutions to the analysis of budgetary management does not inform readers of the most significant features of expenditure for the year; agrees with the Court that the institutions should provide a more global analysis in the future, focusing on the main trends in expenditure and the major capital items, as well as identifying the key savings and measures of efficiency;2. Endorses the Court's recommendation (paragraph 7.66) that the institutions in Brussels should explore the possibility of setting up a joint structure to take charge of the various technical and financial aspects of construction matters; urges the institutions to pursue their efforts to create a joint structure in Luxembourg;3. Invites all institutions to comply with the recommendations of the Court (paragraph 7.35) to amend the way they set out their budget so as to distinguish between rent, costs of acquisition and other types of expenditure, such as lease payments where there is an option to purchase;4. Recalls the second paragraph of Article 24 of the Financial Regulation which requires each financial controller to draw up an annual report on his work; asks that each of these annual reports in respect of all the institutions be forwarded to Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control, as soon as possible, so that they may be taken into account in the preparation of the next discharge decision;5. Recalls that Article 24a(4) of the Financial Regulation requires each internal auditor to submit an annual internal report to his institution on his work; asks that these reports be transmitted to Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control so as to help that Committee in its assessments in the discharge context;6. Notes that the eighth paragraph of Article 24 of the Financial Regulation requires that, as regards financial controllers, "their appointment, their promotion and disciplinary rules or transfer, and any interruption or termination of appointment by whatever procedure shall be the subject of reasoned decisions to be forwarded, for information, to the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission and the Court of Auditors"; insists that all such documentation be sent to the Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control in the context of its discharge responsibilities;Section II - Council7. Notes the reply from the Chairman of the Permanent Representatives Committee dated 25 January 2002 to the questionnaire sent by the Committee on Budgetary Control on 6 December 2001 and the additional information received subsequently;8. Is grateful for the answers provided by the Council relating to budgetary aspects of the Common Foreign and Security Policy; notes that a substantial part of the Council's budget is now spent on activities in the fields of foreign affairs, security and defence policy and justice and home affairs, and that the expenditure in these areas is not currently subject to the same close scrutiny as the administrative and operational expenditure of the other Institutions;9. Accepts that the European Parliament and the Council have not, in the past, scrutinised the implementation of their respective sections of the budget; considers that in view of the increasingly operational nature of expenditure, financed under the Council's administrative budget, in the fields of foreign affairs, security and defence policy and justice and home affairs, the scope of this arrangement should be clarified with a view to distinguishing traditional administrative expenditure from operations in these new policy areas;Section IV - Court of Justice10. Welcomes the fact that for the first time the balance sheet includes the value of buildings held by the Court of Justice under a lease with an option to purchase;11. Notes with satisfaction the Court of Justice's reply that when the balance sheet for the financial year 2001 is drawn up, the net accounting value will be amended to take account of the over-valuation of the buildings (incorrect calculation of depreciation) pointed out by the Court of Auditors (paragraph 7.13);12. Notes the Court of Auditors' finding (paragraph 7.14) that the reliability of the value of the other tangible fixed assets shown on the balance sheet, i.e. EUR 9,8 million in total, cannot be guaranteed; notes that the Court of Justice addresses this point in its replies;13. Draws attention to an apparent contradiction between the Court of Auditors' statement (paragraph 7.14) that the Court of Justice has still not implemented the new inventory management system or conducted a full physical inventory and the Court of Justice's replies to the annual report for 2000 and to the questionnaire forwarded by the Committee on Budgetary Control;14. Notes that the Court of Justice's replies do, however, refer to inconsistencies between the physical inventory and the data recorded in the new computerised system;15. Invites the Court of Justice in the interest of clarification to submit a full report to the Committee on Budgetary Control by 1 July 2002 setting out the current position with regard to its inventory management system;16. Recalls that in the context of the 1999 discharge procedure it considered the Court of Auditors' Special Report No 5/2000(5) on the Court of Justice's expenditure on buildings (see paragraph 20 of the Special Report) and asked to be informed of the conclusions of the expert appointed jointly with the Luxembourg authorities by the first reading of the 2002 draft budget;17. Notes that according to paragraph 7.67 of the Court of Auditors' annual report these investigations into invoicing irregularities had only just started in June 2001 and that the Court of Justice(6) expects them to be completed during the first half of 2002;18. Asks the Court of Justice to forward the expert's report on invoicing irregularities as soon as it is available to the Committee on Budgetary Control, together with the separate expert's report determining items of expenditure which should not be included in the final statement of account;19. Notes that the Court of Auditors (paragraph 7.27 of the annual report) found five cases where the grounds for claiming exemption from tender procedures were questionable, of which four related to the Court of Justice, and one case (also concerning the Court of Justice) where a procurement need appeared to have been split into several contracts; takes note of the replies of the Court of Justice which justify the procedures followed in all five cases; endorses the recommendation of the Court of Auditors (paragraph 7.30) that "all institutions should apply the same thresholds when deciding whether a proposed procurement of services or supplies falls within the scope of Public Procurement Directives 92/50/EEC and 93/36/EEC";20. Notes that the time required for the Court of Justice to complete its judicial work has increased, as has the backlog of cases pending; calls on the Court of Justice and the Court of Auditors to make more in-depth assessments of the causes of such problems in order to identify in particular exactly what may be attributed to the court procedures provided for in the Treaty, what to administrative problems that can be resolved and what to a lack of staff and facilities;Section V - Court of Auditors21. Notes the report(7) by the independent auditor (KPMG Audit, Luxembourg) on the Court of Auditors' accounts for the financial year 2000;22. Points out that while the Court of Auditors gives a single Statement of Assurance based on the consolidated accounts of all revenue and expenditure of the Community in accordance with Article 248(1) of the Treaty, that Statement of Assurance nevertheless contains remarks concerning the legality and regularity of the transactions carried out by individual institutions (paragraph 7.6); asks the Court in the interests of greater transparency to examine the possibility of issuing a separate Statement of Assurance for each institution in its next annual report;23. Welcomes the addition to Article 248(1) by the Treaty of Nice of a provision to the effect that the Statement of Assurance "may be supplemented by specific assessments for each major area of Community activity";24. Calls on the Court of Auditors to adapt the Statement of Assurance into an instrument enabling the discharge and budgetary authorities to compare and monitor progress in financial management and control over time, preferably in a quantified manner;25. Urges the Court to agree with the Commission on a common methodology for calculating error rates by directorate-general or by category of expenditure; suggests the Court uses data from Member States resulting from obligatory controls in the field of agriculture and the Structural Funds in order to increase the sample; expects the Court to publish a global error rate and error rates by directorate-general or by category of expenditure in the context of the 2001 discharge;26. Welcomes the fact that as regards Parliament's demand for "naming" specific Member States found or suspected to be deficient in protecting the financial interests of the Union, the annual report for 2000 and the Special Reports published during the year already contain references to individual Member States; regrets that the Court(8) does not consider it appropriate to list in an annex to the annual report the individual errors identified in each Member State in an easily readable way;27. Welcomes the priority being given by the Court to improving the presentation of its audit observations in its reports so as to make them more consumer-friendly by the use of more informative headings and more clearly identified recommendations but waits for action on this before making a judgment on its success;Requests made to the Court of Auditors28. Notes that on taking office the Members of the Court, in accordance with their code of conduct, complete a form containing information concerning their financial interests and assets which is forwarded to the President of the Court; takes the view that these declarations, like those of Members of the European Parliament and of the Commission, should be published on the Internet, as requested in paragraph 18 of Parliament's decision of 4 April 2001, concerning discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the 1999 financial year: Section IV - Court of Justice, Section V - Court of Auditors, Section VI - Part B - Committee of the Regions(9); invites the Court as recomposed following the new appointments made with effect from 1 January 2002 to take a formal decision on this issue and communicate it in writing to the Committee on Budgetary Control by 1 July 2002;29. Asks the Court to include in its work programme for 2003 a timetable indicating anticipated completion of the Court's special reports;30. Recalls paragraph 19 of its abovementioned decision of 4 April 2001 requesting the Court to extend its auditing activities to the Council, thus enabling Parliament, if appropriate, to make observations on the implementation of that institution's budget in the framework of the discharge procedure;31. Notes with satisfaction that the annual report for 2000 contains remarks concerning the Council (mission expenses, entry of depreciation of buildings in the balance sheet) to which the Council has consented to reply (paragraphs 7.2 and 7.12);Section VI - Economic and Social Committee (ESC)Value for money32. Emphasises that the Parliament has a responsibility to ensure that the European taxpayer is well served and that it has a duty to ensure value for money;33. Points out that in recent years the views of some of the organisations represented in the ESC have been increasingly channelled through the European Parliament;34. Notes that the Social Protocol first referred to in the Maastricht Treaty, and later incorporated into the Social Chapter of the EC Treaty (Article 138) makes provision for the social partners to be consulted in the formulation of policy;35. Points out that the ESC can only be consulted on the formulation of policy and can make recommendations but that the social dialogue by contrast can lead to binding legislation;36. Is concerned on the one hand that the social partners are critical about the lack of resources available to them for the social dialogue and on the other hand notes that in 2000 the ESC's final budget was EUR 80976436; enlargement is expected to bring its annual expenditure up to EUR 99,6 million(10) by 2004 (although some of this includes joint costs with the CoR);37. Points out that this is the first time the Parliament has had the opportunity to assess the value for money of the ESC since the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty and since the social dialogue has been set up;38. Recognises that the ESC can act as a forum for interest groups which would not otherwise be able to make their voices heard in the EU context;39. Believes that there is a real question as to the value for money of running both the ESC and the social dialogue;40. Points out that responsibility for nominating Members of the ESC lies with the Member States; urges the Member States to examine carefully their representation within the ESC in the context of the forthcoming renewal of its membership;41. Takes the view that ESC Members must improve their efforts to ensure that information about the ESC's activities reaches the grass roots, e.g. trade unionists in the Member States;42. Urges the ESC to continue its efforts on the path towards modernisation;43. Invites the ESC to redouble its efforts to consult as wide a network as possible of national contacts in order to increase the visibility of the ESC;44. Calls on the Commission to think again about the efficiency and significance of the ESC in the context of the some 300 existing consultative bodies and committees configured around the Commission, so as to avoid overlapping and duplication of effort;OLAF report45. Recalls that in previous years' discharge procedures, Parliament decided to postpone its decision in respect of the ESC for the financial years 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999 pending clarification of irregularities concerning the payment of Members' travel allowances in 1995 to 1996;46. Draws attention to paragraph 2 of its resolution of 7 October 1998 informing the Economic and Social Committee of the reasons for the postponement of the decision concerning the discharge of the general budget of the European Union for the 1996 financial year - Section VI - Part A - Economic and Social Committee(11) in which Parliament called for the issue to be referred to the Court of Auditors and to UCLAF:(i) to enable the reliability of the new reimbursement system recommended by the Court of Auditors and the conditions for the recovery of incorrectly paid expenditure to be checked; and(ii) to enable the extent of administrative involvement or responsibility to be fully determined as regards the entry into the accounts, the commitment, the authorisation and the payment of expenditure;47. Notes that following Parliament's abovementioned resolution of 7 October 1998:- the Court of Auditors confirmed in its annual report for 1999 that between the end of 1998 and the beginning of 2000 the ESC had gradually implemented the measures recommended in its opinion No 7/98(12) with regard to the reform of its rules and arrangements for the payment of allowances to its Members,- on 30 July 2001 OLAF(13) completed the final report containing its conclusions and recommendations with respect to the reimbursement of the travel expenses of Members of the ESC in 1995 and 1996;48. Regrets, however, that OLAF was unwilling to supply a copy of the final report to the Chairman of the Committee on Budgetary Control;49. Notes that according to its standard practice OLAF delivered its report to the ESC on the understanding that it was the responsibility of the ESC to pass it on to the European Parliament;50. Notes the finding by the OLAF Supervisory Committee (minutes of the Supervisory Committee meeting of 15 and 16 January 2002) that OLAF had not been in a position to handle that case appropriately and that its investigation had been a failure in every respect;51. Endorses the call by the OLAF Supervisory Committee for no-holds-barred disclosure of the reasons for that failure and notes that, to date, no credible explanation has been given as to why:(a) the investigators were evidently prevented by their superiors from sending a questionnaire to all the ESC Members concerned;(b) even the 60 ESC Members most affected were not questioned by OLAF;(c) the ESC Directors-General and Secretaries-General responsible at the time in question were not questioned by OLAF either although it had been alleged that they had covered up and hushed up the travel expenses refund fraud which had been committed for years;(d) the Belgian judicial authorities had not been involved in time: the OLAF investigators knew that the courts would have no option but to take no further action because the matter had become time-barred;52. Requests the OLAF Supervisory Committee to notify the Committee on Budgetary Control of the outcome of its further investigations into this matter; expects disciplinary proceedings to be instituted if suspicions are confirmed that, in this case, there was gross negligence on the part of OLAF's senior management and that the actions of a number of officials called into question their competence as investigators;53. Considers that procedures must be devised to allow Parliament's competent committee to be given access by OLAF to reports directly concerning the discharge procedure; acknowledges the need for such information to be dealt with on a confidential basis where judicial or analogous investigations are still pending; invites OLAF to submit proposals for the sharing of such information in future cases, subject if necessary to appropriate safeguards;54. Commends the current Chairman and Secretary-General of the ESC for their willingness to provide a copy of the OLAF report, albeit on a confidential basis, and all other documentation requested by the Chairman of the Committee on Budgetary Control and the rapporteur;55. Regrets that the OLAF report has been so long delayed and that its late arrival now obviates implementation of its recommendations either for the recovery of further sums from its Members or for disciplinary proceedings against officials;56. Notes that the Belgian judicial authorities decided in August 2001 to file the matter without further action on the ground inter alia that the facts disclosed were now so old as to be time-barred under the Belgian statute of limitations;57. Notes serious worries in the report, such as OLAF's failure to interview in their capacity as authorising officers the Secretaries-General of the ESC in office at the time of the events in question and immediately thereafter; regrets that as regards its substantive findings, the report does not enable the extent of administrative responsibility to be fully determined;58. Points out that it would have been open to the ESC itself to refer the matter to UCLAF or the Belgian judicial authorities when it was first informed of the results of its Financial Controller's inquiries in 1996 but that it did not do so;59. Regrets that so much time was allowed to pass and the apparent lack of any real effort on the part of those in positions of responsibility at the ESC at the relevant time to take early remedial action despite clear knowledge of the seriousness of the irregularities affecting the reimbursement of travel expenses in 1995 to 1996;60. Regrets that OLAF was impeded in the conduct of its inquiries by the reluctance of certain airlines to confirm that specific journeys claimed for by ESC Members had actually been made; believes that it is not acceptable for OLAF's legitimate inquiries to be thwarted in this way; invites OLAF to submit proposals for dealing with such situations more vigorously should they arise in the future;61. Recognises that the Members of the ESC receive no remuneration from that institution for their activities on its behalf other than the reimbursement of travel and subsistence expenses;62. Notes as regards the financial year 2000 and the period to date that the ESC has embarked on a substantial programme of modernisation(14) comprising:- reorganisation of its decision-making bodies including a reduction in the number of Bureau Members;- increasing the number of administrative checks on the reimbursement of Members' expenses;- generalised payments by bank transfer;- preparatory work on the drafting of a Members' statute;expects the ESC to continue to pursue the same course of action over the coming years;63. Notes that the ESC failed to make every effort to limit the loss to the taxpayer or make good that loss as far as possible; points out in this connection that:(a) right from the outset, given that there had been fraud over many years, the ESC's estimate of the loss was far too low and, for 1995 and 1996 alone, an amount of EUR 830185,77 ought to have been claimed back,(b) only EUR 167432,39 was actually repaid and the ESC has evidently dispensed with recovering the remainder;Section VII - Committee of the Regions (CoR)64. Notes from the Committee of the Regions' replies to the Court of Auditors' annual report (paragraph 7.22) that the CoR is often unable to use the results of tenders organised by other institutions either for official reasons or because they do not take account of the Committee's specific needs;65. Calls upon the larger institutions in the interests of economy and efficiency to make greater use of inter-institutional calls for tender and in the preparatory stages thereof to ensure whenever possible that due account is taken of the specific needs of the smaller institutions; invites all the institutions to examine the feasibility of using other institutions' tender procedures on the basis of "mutual recognition";66. Notes that as from 1 January 2000 the Common Organisational Structure with the ESC was replaced by a cooperation agreement between the two committees which maintains joint operations in the majority of departments but establishes autonomy in the finance and staff departments; asks the CoR to submit a report evaluating the budgetary advantage of maintaining separate finance and staff departments for the two committees to the Committee on Budgetary Control and to the Committee on Budgets by 1 July 2002;Buildings policy (ESC and CoR)67. Notes that on 15 December 2000 the ESC and the CoR signed contracts each conferring a 27-year lease with an option to purchase the Belliard and Montoyer buildings respectively;68. Welcomes the reply to paragraph 7.33 by the ESC and the CoR that the capital value of the Montoyer and Belliard buildings will be included in their balance sheets for 2001, together with the advance of EUR 26 million already paid;69. Recalls the conclusion of the Court of Auditors (paragraph 7.68) that "the committees (ESC and CoR) when renewing and renegotiating the contract concerning the Belliard building formerly occupied by the European Parliament found themselves in a difficult position as a result of an obligation placed upon them by the Parliament, i.e. that of taking over this building, for which the Parliament had signed a lease running until 2007";70. Recalls that in paragraph 9 of its abovementioned resolution of 4 April 2001 postponing the 1999 discharge for the ESC, Parliament undertook "to examine the conditions of this agreement in next year's discharge procedure";71. Notes that the essential features of the overall arrangement were as follows:- Parliament was released from its obligation to continue to rent the Belliard building until 2007;- the owners would reimburse Parliament's rent payment in respect of the period 1 January to 31 March 2001;- the two committees would reimburse Parliament's rent payments during 2000;- Parliament would be released from its obligation to return the building to its original state on termination of its lease;- the two committees would, in late 2003 or early 2004, occupy a building suitable for their needs with modern technical facilities and meeting high ecological standards;- the terms entailed an advance payment of EUR 26 million intended to finance the specific needs of the two committees in a building fully renovated by the owners and an indexed yearly payment of EUR 8,28 million (reduced to EUR 6709288 for the period of the renovation work);- the committees would have the option to purchase the freehold for EUR 1;72. Recalls that by letter of 17 October 2000 the Chairman and rapporteur of the Committee on Budgets informed the ESC and the CoR that the signature of the contract was in line with the principles set by Parliament on 28 March 2000 when it approved the carry-over of EUR 26 million intended to finance the specific functional requirements of the two committees; the Committee on Budgets therefore had no objection to the two committees signing 27-year lease contracts for the Belliard and Montoyer buildings;73. Draws attention, however, to the remark by the Court of Auditors [paragraph 7.27(c)] that the rental contract also covered refurbishment work which was not put out to tender; notes that the two committees' replies do not address this point;74. Observes that the two committees responded to the Court of Auditors' suggestion (paragraph 7.68) that the contract should be renegotiated forthwith to provide the option of an early repayment under economically reasonable conditions; notes, however, that the owners were unwilling to offer acceptable terms and that the two committees had therefore suspended negotiations;75. Points out that while the contracts signed on 15 December 2000 have the advantage of providing the two committees with up-to-date accommodation suitable for their needs and which they will ultimately own outright, and removing from Parliament's accounts the budgetary burden of a building which was no longer required after the opening of the D3 (Spinelli building), the Belliard building will have been unoccupied for some six years but with rent still being paid from the Community budget from September 1997 to late 2003 or early 2004;76. Observes moreover that the move to the Belliard building will generate further financial consequences, namely:- the cost of removals from the ESC's and the CoR's current premises in the Ravenstein building;- the cost of restoring the Ravenstein building prior to handing it back to the owners after 40 years occupation;- the additional posts in the committees' establishment plans required to manage the Belliard project;77. Notes that as a consequence of the ESC's takeover of the Belliard building, the owners have avoided a situation in which they would in 2007 have recovered possession of an obsolete building with some asbestos contamination(15) and therefore requiring full renovation at their sole expense in order to be made suitable for re-letting;78. Endorses the recommendation by the Court of Auditors (paragraph 7.66), broadly welcomed by the institutions in their replies, for the setting-up of a joint structure to take charge of the technical and financial aspects of construction matters for the EU institutions in Brussels and Luxembourg;Section VIII - Ombudsman79. Recalls that in paragraph 41 of its decision of 4 April 2001 concerning discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the 1999 financial year - Section I - European Parliament/Ombudsman (Annex)(16) Parliament pointed out the need to avoid the cancellation of a significant part of the appropriations available to the Ombudsman;80. Notes that in the Ombudsman's implementation of the 2000 budget the proportion of initial appropriations cancelled was 17,52 % (1999: 14,46 %; 1998: 8,58 %), representing an upward trend; repeats its request to the Ombudsman to improve the take-up of the funds placed at his disposal by the budgetary authority;Discharge decisions81. Grants discharge to the Secretary-General of the Economic and Social Committee in respect of the implementation of its budget for the financial years 1996 and 1997;82. Grants discharge to the Secretary-General of the Economic and Social Committee in respect of the implementation of its budget for the financial years 1998 and 1999;83. Grants discharge to the Registrar of the Court of Justice, to the Secretaries-General of the Court of Auditors, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions and to the Ombudsman in respect of the implementation of their budgets for the financial year 2000;84. Instructs its President to forward this decision to the Council, the Commission, the Court of Justice, the Court of Auditors, the Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions and to the Ombudsman and to have it published in the Official Journal (L series).The Secretary-GeneralJulian PriestleyThe PresidentPat Cox(1) OJ C 359, 15.12.2001.(2) OJ C 21 E, 24.1.2002, p. 236.(3) OJ C 47 E, 21.2.2002, p. 108.(4) OJ L 326, 18.12.1999, p. 1.(5) OJ C 109, 14.4.2000.(6) Replies to the questionnaire, paragraph 4.3.(7) OJ C 312, 7.11.2001.(8) Replies to questionnaire, paragraph 6.1.(9) OJ L 160, 15.6.2001, p. 38.(10) ESC report to the budgetary authorities, October 2001.(11) OJ C 328, 26.10.1998, p. 115.(12) Opinion No 7/98 on the effectiveness of the methods of recovery applied by the ESC and on the new system introduced in the ESC for the administration and reimbursement of travel expenses.(13) The investigative unit which replaced UCLAF with effect from 1 July 1999 (http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/olaf/mission/en.htm).(14) "The ESC on the road to modernisation", October 2000.(15) ESC/CoR progress reports to the Committee on budgets, 6.10.2000 and 14.6.2001.(16) OJ L 160, 15.6.2001, p. 25.


title: Council Decision 2014/213/CFSP of 14 April 2014 amending Decision 2010/638/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against the Republic of Guinea

text:
                  15.4.2014

                  EN

                  Official Journal of the European Union

                  L 111/83

         COUNCIL DECISION 2014/213/CFSP
         of 14 April 2014
         amending Decision 2010/638/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against the Republic of Guinea
         THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
         Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular Article 29 thereof,
         Whereas:

                     (1)

                     On 25 October 2010, the Council adopted Decision 2010/638/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against the Republic of Guinea (1).

                     (2)

                     In view of the developments in the Republic of Guinea, the arms embargo and the embargo on equipment which might be used for internal repression should be lifted.

                     (3)

                     Decision 2010/638/CFSP should therefore be amended accordingly,

               HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

            Article 1
            In Decision 2010/638/CFSP, Articles 1 and 2 are deleted.

            Article 2
            This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

            Done at Luxembourg, 14 April 2014.

                  For the Council

                  The President

               C. ASHTON

            (1)  OJ L 280, 26.10.2010, p. 10.


title: Council Decision 2011/635/CFSP of 26 September 2011 amending Decision 2010/231/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Somalia

text:
               27.9.2011

               EN

               Official Journal of the European Union

               L 249/12

         COUNCIL DECISION 2011/635/CFSP
   of 26 September 2011
   amending Decision 2010/231/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Somalia
   THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
   Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, in particular Article 29 thereof,
   Whereas:

               (1)

               On 10 December 2002, the Council adopted Common Position 2002/960/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Somalia (1) following United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR) 733 (1992), 1356 (2001) and 1425 (2002).

               (2)

               On 16 February 2009, the Council adopted Common Position 2009/138/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Somalia and repealing Common Position 2002/960/CFSP (2), implementing UNSCR 1844 (2008). On 1 March 2010, the Council adopted Decision 2010/126/CFSP amending Common Position 2009/138/CFSP (3) and implementing UNSCR 1907 (2009).

               (3)

               On 26 April 2010, the Council adopted Decision 2010/231/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Somalia and repealing Common Position 2009/138/CFSP (4) following the adoption of UNSCR 1916 (2010) and the adoption of the list of persons and entities which are subject to restrictive measures by the Sanctions Committee established pursuant to UNSCR 751 (1992) concerning Somalia (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Sanctions Committee’).

               (4)

               On 28 July 2011, the Sanctions Committee updated the list of persons and entities subject to restrictive measures.

               (5)

               On 29 July 2011, the United Nations Security Council adopted UNSCR 2002 (2011) extending the designation criteria to include political or military leaders recruiting or using children in armed conflicts in Somalia in violation of applicable international law, and individuals and entities being responsible for violations of applicable international law in Somalia involving the targeting of civilians including children and women in situations of armed conflict, including killing and maiming, sexual and gender-based violence, attacks on schools and hospitals and abduction and forced displacement.

               (6)

               In addition, UNSCR 2002 (2011) clarified the exemption permitting the making available of funds, other financial assets or economic resources necessary to ensure the timely delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance in Somalia, by the United Nations, its specialised agencies or programmes, humanitarian organisations having observer status with the United Nations General Assembly that provide humanitarian assistance, and their implementing partners.

               (7)

               Decision 2010/231/CFSP should be amended accordingly,

         HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
   Article 1
   Decision 2010/231/CFSP is hereby amended as follows:

               1.

               Article 2 is replaced by the following:
               ‘Article 2
               Restrictive measures as provided for in Articles 3, 5(1) and 6(1) and (2) shall be imposed against persons and entities designated by the Sanctions Committee as:

                           —

                           engaging in or providing support for acts that threaten the peace, security or stability of Somalia, including acts that threaten the Djibouti Agreement of 18 August 2008 or the political process, or threaten the TFIs or AMISOM by force,

                           —

                           having acted in violation of the arms embargo and related measures as referred to in Article 1,

                           —

                           obstructing the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Somalia, or access to, or distribution of, humanitarian assistance in Somalia,

                           —

                           being political or military leaders recruiting or using children in armed conflicts in Somalia in violation of applicable international law,

                           —

                           being responsible for violations of applicable international law in Somalia involving the targeting of civilians including children and women in situations of armed conflict, including killing and maiming, sexual and gender-based violence, attacks on schools and hospitals and abduction and forced displacement.

                     The relevant persons and entities are listed in the Annex.’.

               2.

               Article 6(6) is replaced by the following:
               ‘6.   Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply to the making available of funds, other financial assets or economic resources necessary to ensure the timely delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance in Somalia, by the United Nations, its specialised agencies or programmes, humanitarian organisations having observer status with the United Nations General Assembly that provide humanitarian assistance, and their implementing partners, including bilaterally or multilaterally funded NGOs participating in the UN Consolidated Appeal for Somalia.’.

         Article 2
   The Annex to Decision 2010/231/CFSP shall be replaced by the text set out in the Annex to this Decision.
   Article 3
   This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

      Done at Brussels, 26 September 2011.

            For the Council

            The President

         M. KOROLEC

      (1)  OJ L 334, 11.12.2002, p. 1.

      (2)  OJ L 46, 17.2.2009, p. 73.

      (3)  OJ L 51, 2.3.2010, p. 18.

      (4)  OJ L 105, 27.4.2010, p. 17.

      ANNEX

            ‘ANNEX

               LIST OF PERSONS AND ENTITIES REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 2

            I.   Persons

                        1.

                        Yasin Ali Baynah (a.k.a. a) Ali, Yasin Baynah, b) Ali, Yassin Mohamed, c) Baynah, Yasin, d) Baynah, Yassin, e) Baynax, Yasiin Cali, f) Beenah, Yasin, g) Beenah, Yassin, h) Beenax, Yasin, i) Beenax, Yassin, j) Benah, Yasin, k) Benah, Yassin, l) Benax, Yassin, m) Beynah, Yasin, n) Binah, Yassin, o) Cali, Yasiin Baynax)
                        Date of birth: 24 December 1965. Nationality: Somalia. Alt. Nationality: Sweden. Location: Rinkeby, Stockholm, Sweden; Mogadishu, Somalia. Date of UN designation: 12 April 2010.
                        Yasin Ali Baynah has incited attacks against the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). He has also mobilised support and raised funds on behalf of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia and Hisbul Islam, both of which have actively engaged in acts that threaten the peace and security of Somalia, including rejection of the Djibouti Agreement, and attacks on the TFG and AMISOM forces in Mogadishu.

                        2.

                        Hassan Dahir Aweys (a.k.a. a) Ali, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, b) Awes, Hassan Dahir, c) Awes, Shaykh Hassan Dahir, d) Aweyes, Hassen Dahir, e) Aweys, Ahmed Dahir, f) Aweys, Sheikh, g) Aweys, Sheikh Hassan Dahir, h) Dahir, Aweys Hassan, i) Ibrahim, Mohammed Hassan, j) OAIS, Hassan Tahir, k) Uways, Hassan Tahir, l) ‘Hassan, Sheikh’)
                        Date of birth: 1935. Citizen: Somalia. Nationality: Somalia. Location: Somalia. Date of UN designation: 12 April 2010.
                        Hassan Dahir Aweys has acted and continues to act as a senior political and ideological leader of a variety of armed opposition groups responsible for repeated violations of the general and complete arms embargo and/or acts that threaten the Djibouti peace agreement, the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) forces. Between June 2006 and September 2007, AWEYSs served as chairman of the central committee of the Islamic Courts Union; in July 2008 he declared himself chairman of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia-Asmara wing; and in May 2009 he was named chairman of Hisbul Islam, an alliance of groups opposed to the TFG. In each of these positions, AWEYS’s statements and actions have demonstrated an unequivocal and sustained intention to dismantle the TFG and expel AMISOM by force from Somalia.

                        3.

                        Hassan Abdullah Hersi Al-Turki (a.k.a. a) Al-Turki, Hassan, b) Turki, Hassan, c) Turki, Hassan Abdillahi Hersi, d) Turki, Sheikh Hassan, e) Xirsi, Xasan Cabdilaahi, f) Xirsi, Xasan Cabdulle)
                        Date of birth: circa 1944. Place of birth: Ogaden Region, Ethiopia. Nationality: Somalia. Location: Somalia. Date of UN designation: 12 April 2010.
                        Hassan Abdullah Hersi Al-Turki has been a senior leader of an armed militia group since the mid-1990s and had engaged in numerous arms embargo violations. In 2006, al-Turki contributed forces to the Islamic Courts Union take-over of Mogadishu and emerged as a military leader in the group, aligned with al-Shabaab. Since 2006, al-Turki has made territory under his control available for training by various armed opposition groups including al-Shabaab. In September 2007, al-Turki appeared in an al-Jazeera news video showing militia training under his leadership.

                        4.

                        Ahmed Abdi aw-Mohamed (a.k.a. a) Abu Zubeyr, Muktar Abdirahman, b) Abuzubair, Muktar Abdulrahim, c) Aw Mohammed, Ahmed Abdi, d) Aw-Mohamud, Ahmed Abdi, e) ‘Godane’, f) ‘Godani’, g) ‘Mukhtar, Shaykh’, h) ‘Zubeyr, Abu’)
                        Date of birth: 10 July 1977. Place of birth: Hargeysa, Somalia. Nationality: Somalia. Date of UN designation: 12 April 2010.
                        Ahmed Abdi Aw-Mohamed is a senior leader of al-Shabaab and was publically named emir of the organisation in December 2007. He exercises command responsibility for al-Shabaab operations across Somalia. Aw-Mohamed has denounced the Djibouti peace process as a foreign conspiracy, and in a May 2009 audio recording to Somali media, he acknowledged that his forces were engaged in recent fighting in Mogadishu.

                        5.

                        Fuad Mohamed Khalaf (a.k.a. a) Fuad Mohamed Khalif, b) Fuad Mohamed Qalaf, c) Fuad Mohammed Kalaf, d) Fuad Mohamed Kalaf, e) Fuad Mohammed Khalif, f) Fuad Khalaf, g) Fuad Shongale, h) Fuad Shongole, i) Fuad Shangole, j) Fuad Songale, k) Fouad Shongale, l) Fuad Muhammad Khalaf Shongole)
                        Nationality: Somalia. Location: Mogadishu, Somalia. Alt. Location: Somalia. Date of UN designation: 12 April 2010.
                        Fuad Mohamed Khalaf has facilitated financial support to al-Shabaab; in May 2008, he held two fundraising events for al-Shabaab at mosques in Kismaayo, Somalia. In April 2008, Khalaf and several other individuals directed vehicle-borne explosive device attacks on Ethiopian bases and Somali Transitional Federal Government elements in Mogadishu, Somalia. In May 2008, Khalaf and a group of fighters attacked and captured a police station in Mogadishu, killing and wounding several soldiers.

                        6.

                        Bashir Mohamed Mahamoud (a.k.a. a) Bashir Mohamed Mahmoud, b) Bashir Mahmud Mohammed, c) Bashir Mohamed Mohamud, d) Bashir Mohamed Mohamoud, e) Bashir Yare, f) Bashir Qorgab, g) Gure Gap, h) ‘Abu Muscab’, i) ‘Qorgab’)
                        Date of birth: circa 1979-1982. Alt. Date of birth: 1982. Nationality: Somalia. Location: Mogadishu, Somalia. Date of UN designation: 12 April 2010.
                        Bashir Mohamed Mahamoud is a military commander of al-Shabaab. Mahamoud was also one of approximately ten members on al-Shabaab’s leadership council as of late 2008. Mahamoud and an associate were in charge of the 10 June 2009 mortar attack against the Somali Transitional Federal Government in Mogadishu.

                        7.

                        Mohamed Sa’id (a.k.a. a) ‘Atom’, b) Mohamed Sa’id Atom, c) Mohamed Siad Atom)
                        Date of birth: circa 1966. Place of birth: Galgala, Somalia. Location: Galgala, Somalia. Alternative Location: Badhan, Somalia. Date of UN designation: 12 April 2010.
                        Mohamed Sa’id ‘Atom’ has engaged in acts that threaten the peace, security or stability of Somalia. Atom has directly or indirectly supplied, sold, or transferred to Somalia arms or related matériel or advice, training, or assistance, including financing and financial assistance, related to military activities in violation of the arms embargo. Atom has been identified as one of the principal suppliers of arms and ammunition for al-Shabaab operations in the Puntland region. He is described as the leader of a militia that emerged in 2006 in the eastern Sanaag region of northern Somalia. The militia comprises as many as 250 fighters and has been implicated in incidents of kidnapping, piracy and terrorism, and imports its own weapons, in violation of the arms embargo. Atom has established his force as the principal military presence in the area, with a primary base near Galgala and a secondary base near Badhan. According to some information, Atom is aligned with al-Shabaab and may receive instructions from al-Shabaab leader Fu’aad Mohamed Khalaf.
                        Furthermore, Atom is reportedly involved in arms trafficking into Somalia. Information from a number of sources indicates that his forces receive arms and equipment from Yemen and Eritrea. According to a December 2008 report, an eyewitness described six such shipments during a four-week period in early 2008, each sufficient to fill two pickup trucks with small arms, ammunition, and rocket-propelled grenades. According to a Bossaso businessman familiar with the arms trade, Atom’s consignments do not enter the arms market, suggesting that they are either retained for the use of his forces or are transferred to recipients in southern Somalia, where al-Shabaab operates.
                        Atom’s forces were implicated in the kidnapping of a German aid worker, in the kidnapping of two Somalis near Bossaso, and in a bombing of Ethiopian migrants in Bossaso on 5 February 2008, which killed 20 people and wounded over 100 others. Atom’s militia may also have played a secondary role in the kidnapping of a German couple captured by pirates in June 2008.

                        8.

                        Fares Mohammed Mana’a (a.k.a.: a) Faris Mana’a, b) Fares Mohammed Manaa)
                        Date of birth: 8 February 1965. Place of birth: Sadah, Yemen. Passport No.: 00514146; Place of issue: Sanaa, Yemen. ID Card No.: 1417576; Place of issue: Al-Amana, Yemen; Date of issue: 7 January 1996. Date of UN designation: 12 April 2010.
                        Fares Mohammed Mana’a has directly or indirectly supplied, sold or transferred to Somalia arms or related material in violation of the arms embargo. Mana’a is a known arms trafficker. In October 2009, the Yemeni government released a blacklist of arms dealers with Mana’a ‘on top’ as part of an effort to stem the flood of weapons in the country, where weapons reportedly outnumber people. ‘Faris Mana’a is a major weapons trafficker, and that’s well known’, according to June 2009 reporting by a U.S. journalist who is a commentator on Yemeni affairs, authors a semi-annual country report, and has contributed to Jane’s Intelligence Group. In a December 2007 Yemen Times article, he is referenced as ‘Sheikh Fares Mohammed Mana’a, an arms dealer’. In a January 2008 Yemen Times article, he is referred to as ‘Sheikh Faris Mana’a, an arms tradesman’.
                        As of mid-2008, Yemen continues to serve as a hub for illegal arms shipments to the Horn of Africa, particularly arms shipments by boat to Somalia. There are unconfirmed reports that Faris Mana’a has participated in shipments to Somalia on numerous occasions. In 2004, Mana was involved in weapons contracts from Eastern Europe for weapons allegedly marketed to Somali fighters. Despite the Somalia UN arms embargo since 1992, Mana’a’s interest in trafficking arms into Somalia can be traced back at least to 2003. Mana’a made an offer to buy thousands of arms in 2003 from Eastern Europe, and indicated that he planned to sell some of the arms in Somalia.

                        9.

                        Hassan Mahat Omar (a.k.a.: a) Hassaan Hussein Adam, b) Hassane Mahad Omar, c) Xassaan Xuseen Adan, d) Asan Mahad Cumar, e) Abu Salman, f) Abu Salmaan, g) Sheikh Hassaan Hussein).
                        Date of birth: 10 April 1979. Place of birth: Garissa, Kenya. Nationality: Possibly Ethiopian. Passport No.: A 1180173 Kenya, expiry 20 August 2017. ID Card No.: 23446085. Location: Nairobi, Kenya. Date of UN designation: 28 July 2011.
                        Hassan Mahat Omar is engaging in acts that threaten the peace, security or stability of Somalia. He is an Imam and one of the leaders of Masjid-ul-Axmar, an informal Al-Shabaab affiliated centre in Nairobi. He is also involved in recruiting new members and soliciting funds for Al-Shabaab, including online at the Al-Shabaab affiliated website alqimmah.net.
                        In addition, he has issued fatwas calling for attacks against the TFG on an Al-Shabaab chat room site.

                        10.

                        Omar Hammami (a.k.a.: a) Abu Maansuur Al-Amriki, b) Abu Mansour Al-Amriki, c) Abu Mansuur Al-Amriki, d) Umar Hammami, e) Abu Mansur Al-Amriki).
                        Date of birth: 6 May 1984. Place of birth: Alabama, United States. Nationality: United States. Also believed to hold Syrian nationality.
                        Passport No.: 403062567 (US). Social Security No: 423-31-3021 (US). Location: Somalia. Other information: Married to a Somali woman. Lived in Egypt in 2005 and moved to Somalia in 2009. Date of UN designation: 28 July 2011.
                        Omar Hammami is engaging in acts that threaten the peace, security or stability of Somalia. He is a senior member of Al-Shabaab. He is involved in recruitment, finance and payroll for foreign fighters in Somalia. He is described as an expert in explosives and warfare in general. Since October 2007 he has appeared in television reports and in Al-Shabaab propaganda videos. He has been shown in a video training Al-Shabaab fighters. He has also been shown in videos and on websites calling for more fighters to join Al-Shabaab.

                  II.   Entities

            Al-Shabaab (a.k.a. a) Al-Shabab, b) Shabaab, c) The Youth, d) Mujahidin Al-Shabaab Movement, e) Mujahideen Youth Movement, f) Mujahidin Youth Movement, g) MYM, h) Harakat Shabab Al-Mujahidin, i) Hizbul Shabaab, j) Hisb’ul Shabaab, k) Al-Shabaab Al-Islamiya, l) Youth Wing, m) Al-Shabaab Al-Islaam, n) Al-Shabaab Al-Jihaad, o) The Unity Of Islamic Youth, p) Harakat Al-Shabaab Al-Mujaahidiin,q) Harakatul Shabaab Al Mujaahidiin, r) Mujaahidiin Youth Movement)
            Location: Somalia. Date of UN designation: 12 April 2010.
            Al-Shabaab has engaged in acts that directly or indirectly threaten the peace, security, or stability of Somalia, including but not limited to: acts that threaten the Djibouti Agreement of August 18, 2008, or the political process; and, acts that threaten the Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs), the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), or other international peacekeeping operations related to Somalia.
            Al-Shabaab has also obstructed the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Somalia, or access to, or distribution of, humanitarian assistance in Somalia.
            According to the statement by the Chairman of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 751 (1992) concerning Somalia to the Security Council delivered on 29 July 2009, both Al-Shabaab and Hisb'ul Islam publicly and repeatedly claimed responsibility for the attacks by forces on the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and AMISOM. Al-Shabaab had also claimed responsibility for the killing of TFG officials, and on 19 July 2009 had raided and shut down the field offices of UNOPS, UNDSS and UNDP in the Bay and Bakool regions, in violation of paragraph (c) of resolution 1844 (2008). Al-Shabaab has also repeatedly obstructed access to, or distribution of, humanitarian assistance in Somalia.
            The United Nations Security Council’s Report of the Secretary-General on the situation in Somalia, dated 20 July 2009, contained the following paragraphs involving the activities of al-Shabaab in Somalia:
            Insurgent groups, such as al-Shabaab, are alleged to be extorting money from private companies and recruiting young people to join the fight against the Government in Mogadishu, including child soldiers. Al-Shabaab has confirmed the presence of foreign fighters within its ranks and has stated openly that it is working with al-Qaida in Mogadishu to remove the Government of Somalia. The foreign fighters, many of whom reportedly originate from Pakistan and Afghanistan, appear to be well trained and battle-tested. They have been observed wearing hoods and directing offensive operations against Government forces in Mogadishu and neighbouring regions.
            Al-Shabaab has intensified its strategy to coerce and intimidate the Somali population, as reflected in the carefully selected high gain assassinations and arrests of clan elders, several of whom have been murdered. On 19 June 2009, Omar Hashi Aden, the Minister of National Security, was killed in a large-scale suicide car bomb in Beletwyne. Over 30 other people were killed in the attack, which was strongly condemned by the international community and a broad cross-section of Somali society.
            According to the December 2008 report from the UN Security Council Somalia Monitoring Group (2008/769), al-Shabaab is responsible for a variety of attacks within Somalia over the last several years, including:

                        —

                        The reported killing and beheading of a Somali driver working for the World Food Programme in September 2008,

                        —

                        The bombing of a market in Puntland that killed 20 and wounded over 100 on 6 February 2008,

                        —

                        A campaign of bombings and targeted killings in Somaliland intended to disrupt the 2006 parliamentary elections,

                        —

                        The murders of several foreign aid workers in 2003 and 2004,

                  According to reporting, al-Shabaab raided United Nations compounds in Somalia on 20 July 2009, and issued a decree banning three agencies of the United Nations from the al-Shabaab controlled areas of Somalia. Additionally, Somali Transitional Federal Government forces fought al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam insurgents from 11-12 July 2009 resulting in the deaths of over 60 people. In the fighting on 11 July 2009, al-Shabaab landed four mortars inside Villa Somalia that resulted in the deaths of three African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) soldiers and injuries to eight others.
            According to an article published by the British Broadcasting Corporation on 22 February 2009, al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for a suicide car bomb attack on an African Union military base in Mogadishu. According to the article, the African Union confirmed that 11 African Union peacekeepers were killed and 15 others were hurt.
            According to an article published by Reuters on 14 July 2009, al-Shabaab militants made gains in 2009 in guerrilla-style attacks on Somali and African Union forces.
            According to an article published by Voice of America on 10 July 2009, al-Shabaab was involved in an attack on Somali government forces in May 2009.
            According to an article posted on the website of the Council on Foreign Relations authored on 27 February 2009, al-Shabaab has waged an insurgency against Somalia’s transitional government and its Ethiopian supporters since 2006. Al-Shabaab killed eleven Burundian soldiers in the deadliest attack on AU peacekeepers since their deployment and states that al-Shabaab engaged in heavy fighting that killed at least fifteen people in Mogadishu.’


title: 2008/904/EC: Council Decision of 27 November 2008 appointing a Dutch member and two Dutch alternate members of the Committee of the Regions

text:
               5.12.2008

               EN

               Official Journal of the European Union

               L 327/18

      COUNCIL DECISION

   of 27 November 2008
   appointing a Dutch member and two Dutch alternate members of the Committee of the Regions
   (2008/904/EC)
   THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
   Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 263 thereof,
   Having regard to the proposal of the Dutch Government,
   Whereas:

               (1)

               On 24 January 2006 the Council adopted Decision 2006/116/EC appointing the members and alternate members of the Committee of the Regions for the period from 26 January 2006 to 25 January 2010 (1).

               (2)

               A member’s seat on the Committee of the Regions has become vacant following the resignation of Mr Nico SCHOOF. One alternate member’s seat has become vacant following the resignation of Mr Lodewijk ASSCHER. Another alternate member’s seat becomes vacant following the appointment, by this Decision, of Mr Bas VERKERK as a member of the Committee of the Regions,

         HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
   Article 1
   The following are hereby appointed to the Committee of the Regions for the remainder of the current term of office, which runs until 25 January 2010:

               (a)

               as member:

                           —

                           Mr Bas VERKERK, Burgemeester van Delft (change of mandate);

                     and

               (b)

               as alternate members:

                           —

                           Mr Job COHEN, Burgemeester van Amsterdam,

                           —

                           Mr Hans KOK, Burgemeester van Hof van Twente.

         Article 2
   This Decision shall take effect on the date of its adoption.

      Done at Brussels, 27 November 2008.

            For the Council

            The President

         L. CHATEL

      (1)  OJ L 56, 25.2.2006, p. 75.


title: Council Decision (CFSP) 2016/713 of 12 May 2016 amending Joint Action 2008/851/CFSP on a European Union military operation to contribute to the deterrence, prevention and repression of acts of piracy and armed robbery off the Somali coast

text:
               13.5.2016

               EN

               Official Journal of the European Union

               L 125/12

         COUNCIL DECISION (CFSP) 2016/713
   of 12 May 2016
   amending Joint Action 2008/851/CFSP on a European Union military operation to contribute to the deterrence, prevention and repression of acts of piracy and armed robbery off the Somali coast
   THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
   Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular Article 28, Article 42(4) and Article 43(2) thereof,
   Having regard to the proposal from the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,
   Whereas:

               (1)

               On 10 November 2008, the Council adopted Joint Action 2008/851/CFSP (1) establishing the European Union military operation Atalanta.

               (2)

               On 21 November 2014, the Council adopted Decision 2014/827/CFSP (2) amending Joint Action 2008/851/CFSP and extended Atalanta until 12 December 2016.

               (3)

               The Union has set up the CRIMARIO programme to enhance maritime situational awareness in the Indian Ocean. Atalanta should contribute to the implementation of CRIMARIO within its means and capabilities.

               (4)

               Atalanta should be allowed to share with relevant partners information, other than personal data, gathered on illegal or unauthorised maritime activities during the course of routine counter-piracy operations.

               (5)

               United Nations Security Council Resolution 2244 (2015) extended the mandate of the Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group (SEMG), in particular as regards the Somalia arms embargo and the import and export of Somali charcoal, and welcomed the efforts of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) in their efforts to disrupt the export and import of charcoal to and from Somalia, while expressing concern that the charcoal trade provides funding for Al-Shabaab.

               (6)

               Joint Action 2008/851/CFSP should therefore be amended accordingly,

         HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
   Article 1
   Joint Action 2008/851/CFSP is amended as follows:

               (1)

               in Article 2, point (l) is replaced by the following:

                           ‘(l)

                           assist through logistical support, provision of expertise or training at sea, upon their request and within means and capabilities, EUCAP Nestor, EUTM Somalia, the EU Special Representative for the Horn of Africa, the EU Delegation to Somalia with respect to their mandates and the area of operation of Atalanta and contribute to the implementation of relevant EU programmes, in particular the regional Maritime security programme (MASE) under the 10th EDF and CRIMARIO;’;

               (2)

               Article 15(3) is replaced by the following:
               ‘3.   The HR is hereby authorised to release to the United States-led Combined Maritime Forces (“CMF”), through its Headquarters, as well as to third States not participating in CMF and to international organisations, which are present in the area of the EU military operation, classified EU information and documents generated for the purposes of the EU military operation at the level RESTREINT UE, on the basis of reciprocity, where such release at theatre level is necessary for operational reasons, in accordance with the Council's security regulations and subject to arrangements between the HR and the competent authorities of the third parties referred to above.’;

               (3)

               in Article 15, the following paragraph is added:
               ‘4.   Atalanta is hereby authorised to share with the SEMG and with the CMF information, other than personal data, gathered on illegal or unauthorised activities during the course of the counter-piracy operations.’.

         Article 2
   This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

      Done at Brussels, 12 May 2016.

            For the Council

            The President

         F. MOGHERINI

      (1)  Council Joint Action 2008/851/CFSP of 10 November 2008 on a European Union military operation to contribute to the deterrence, prevention and repression of acts of piracy and armed robbery off the Somali coast (OJ L 301, 12.11.2008, p. 33).

      (2)  Council Decision 2014/827/CFSP of 21 November 2014 amending Joint Action 2008/851/CFSP on a European Union military operation to contribute to the deterrence, prevention and repression of acts of piracy and armed robbery off the Somali coast (OJ L 335, 22.11.2014, p. 19).