Establishment and Tasks of the Steering Committee

ESTABLISHMENT AND TASKS OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE

Article 1

1.  The steering Committee of the Programme of the Community Initiative INTERREG III A / GREECE – FYROM , was established by the Decision No 55253 SS 734/ 7-8-2003 of the Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance on «Establishment of the Steering Committee for the Programme of Community Initiative INTERREG IIIA / GREECE – FYROM».

2.  The Steering Committee of the Programme of the Community Initiative INTERREG III A / GREECE – FYROM, is a body which will be responsible of the selection for all the projects of the Programme of the Community Initiative INTERREG III A / GREECE – FYROM, in accordance with:

a. The Commission Communication E(2000) 1101-EL / 28-4-2000, article 28 and article 40 on the «Establishment of general guidelines for the Community Initiative INTERREG».

b. The joint Programming Document INTERREG III A /GREECE – FYROM ( Commission decision No E (2002) 118/19-03-2002) on the role, duties and composition of the Steering Committee.

c. The decision of the Monitoring Committee, date 17-06-2002, of the cross border Programme from which the Programme Complement of the Community Initiative INTERREG III A /GREECE-FYROM, was approved.

STRUCTURE OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE

Article 2

1.  The composition of the Steering Committee of the Community Initiative INTERREG IIIA / GREECE – FYROM, will be according to the Establishment Decision of the Steering Committee.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE CHAIRMAN

Article 3

1.  Chairman of the Steering Committee will be the General Secretary of the Region of Central Macedonia and the General Secretary of the Region of Western Macedonia, in rotation.

2.  The Chairman:

-  Convokes the meetings of the Committee

-  Signs the approval documents of the projects which have previously been selected by the Steering Committee.

CONVOCATION OF THE MEETING

Article 4

1.  Each Chairman who takes the initiative to call the meeting should invite, by official letter, all the members of the Steering Committee, at least two (2) weeks before the agreed date. In this official letter must written the date and the place, the draft agenda and the appropriate documents for this meeting.

2.  Meetings of the Committee take place twice a year also in case of emergency.

3.  The Chairman is responsible for the organization of the meeting.

4.  The Chairman is named by the Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance, according to the decision of the Establishment of the Steering Committee.

In urgent cases the committee will be chaired by the General Secretary of Investment and Development of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

AGENDA

Article 5

1.  The Chairman submits the agenda for approval to the members of the Committee, at the beginning of the meeting.

2.  Subjects, off the record will be proposed by the members and approved by decision of the members of the Committee, according to article 6 of the present Regulation.

DECISIONS

Article 6

1.  Decisions shall be taken by consensus of all the members of the Committee who have voting rights.

2.  In case of failure to reach a decision by consensus of all the present members of the Committee, the decision is taken by simple majority, after voting.(50+1)

3.  No decision is taken without the Chairman’s agreement.

4.  The decisions and the conclusions are signed by the Chairman of the Committee, authorized by the voting members present. The text shall be accompanied by the minutes of the meeting.

5.  A quorum is considered when the 50+1 of the voting members are present.

6.  The decision could also be taken by written procedure, according to article 7 of the present Regulation.

WRITTEN PROCEDURE

Article 7

In case where the decisions are taken by writing procedure, the following steps are:

When the request for the project approval is made by one of the two Regions, then the General Secretary of respective region will send his request to the General Secretary of Investments and Development of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, who forwards the reports for approved to the members of the Steering Committee.

Within 20 calendar days the members must express their opinions in writing. The recommendation of the project is considered approved when the 60% of all members have responded positively.

It is considered as accepted when members does not respond in writing to the request, within the above mentioned time limit. For the projects that have been approved through this procedure, all outcome documents must be send for information purposes to FYROM Authorities.

The period 1-31 August is not included to the above mentioned time limit.

In extremely urgent cases, the time limit of the 20 calendar days may be shortened.

SECRETARIAT

Article 8

1.  Secretarial duties will be performed by the Management Service of R.O.P. (Technical Secretary of INTERREG), of the side hosting the meeting of the Steering Committee.

2.  Secretariat is responsible for:

-  Compiling a list of members for the use of Chairman

-  Keeping full minutes and preparing the results and decisions of the Steering Committee.

-  Sending the minutes, the decisions and the results to the Management Service of P.C.I INTERREG and to the members of Steering Committee, for their information, within 30 calendar days of the end of the Committee meeting.

-  In case of Article 7, secretarial duties will be performed by the Management Service of P.C.I. INTERREG.

OFFICIAL LANGUAGES

Article 9

1.  The official languages of the Steering Committee shall be Greek and English. Simultaneous translation will be available.

2.  To ensure effective and rapid communication among the members, the English language may be used as the practical working language when necessary.

AMENDMENT OF THE REGULATION OF INTERNAL FUNCTION

Article 10

1.  This present Internal Regulation will be approved at the first meeting of the Committee and could be amended or competed in the future, after decision of the members, according to Article 6 of the Regulation.

Internal Regulation Of The Joint Steering Committee of the Community Initiative Interreg III A / Greece – FYROM