RULES OF PROCEDURE
of the
CARIFORUM-EU Consultative Committee

RULES OF PROCEDURE
(to be adopted by the CARIFORUM-EU Consultative Committee)

PREAMBLE

1.Having regard to Article 232 of the Economic Partnership Agreement between the CARIFORUM States, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part (hereinafter referred to as "the EPA"), signed on 15 October 2008, and provisionally applied as of 29 December 2008, establishing a CARIFORUM-EU Consultative Committee (hereinafter "the Committee"), with the task of assisting the Joint CARIFORUM-EU Council in promoting dialogue and cooperation between representatives of organisations of civil society;

  1. Recognising the role of the Committee in monitoring the implementation of all economic, social and environmental aspects of the Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and its Member States and the CARIFORUM States and in strengthening dialogue between representatives of civil society on the monitoring of the agreement;

3.Having regard to Decision No1/2014 of the Joint CARIFORUM-EU Council concerning participation in the CARIFORUM-EU Consultative Committee, according to which the Committee shall establish its own Rules of Procedure in accordance with the Joint CARIFORUM-EU Council thereof;

the Cariforum-EU Consultative Committee has established the following rules of procedure:

Rule 1 Composition and chair

  1. The Committee's compositionis governed byArticle 1 of Decision No1/2014 of the Joint CARIFORUM-EU Council concerning participation in the CARIFORUM-EU Consultative Committee.
  1. At meetings of the Committee, each member organisation will be represented by one participant. Each member organisation shall notify the secretariat and the respective co-chair of the name of their representative before the meeting.
  1. The Committee shall be co-chaired by the Chair of the EU delegation and the Chair of the CARIFORUM delegation.

Rule 2 - Mandate

  1. The Committee is a platform in which representatives of civil society organisations in the CARIFORUM and in the European Union can exchange views and discuss matters related to all economic, social and environmental aspects of the EPA's implementation.
  1. The Committee shall carry out its activities on the basis of consultation by the Joint CARIFORUM-EU Council or on its own initiative and make recommendations to the Joint CARIFORUM-EU Council in accordance with Article 232(3) of the EPA.
  1. TheCommittee may also make recommendations to the CARIFORUM-EU Trade and Development Committee and to the CARIFORUM-EU Parliamentary Committee.
  1. In addition, as provided for in Articles 189(2) and 195(2) of the EPA, the Committee is entitled to issue recommendations on specific consultations by the Parties on environmental issues covered by Articles 183 to 188 of the EPA, and on social issues covered by Articles 191 to 194 of the EPA.
  1. The Committee is also entitled to issue recommendations or opinions on reports of the Committee of Experts provided for in Articles 189(6) and 195(6) of the EPA.
  1. The Co-Chairsof the Committee or other representatives may be invited by the Joint CARIFORUM-EU Council and by the CARIFORUM-EU Trade & Development Committee to inform those institutions on the work undertaken in the Consultative Committee.
  1. Within its area of competence, the Committee may express its views in the form of oral or written recommendations, opinions and reports or through any other appropriate action.

Rule 3 – Observers and other participants in Committee meetings

  1. Observers shall be invited to attend meetings of the Committee to reflect the diversity of the civil societies. The observers should be organisations fulfilling the requirements of paragraph1 of Article 232 of the EPA.
  1. Observers and representatives of the Parties may be given speaking slots upon invitation by the co-chairs.
  1. The observers shall attend Committee meetings at their own expense, unless decided otherwise.
  1. The co-Chairs of the Committee may invite experts to attend its meetings in order to provide information on specific subjects.

Rule 4 - Meetings

  1. The Committee shall meet at least once a year, with the venue alternating between the EU and one of the CARIFORUMStates unless the co-chairs decide otherwise.
  1. If the co-Chairs agree, meetings of the Committee,or smaller working groups, may be held by electronic means.
  1. Each meeting of the Committee shall be convened by the Committee Secretariat at a date and place agreed by the co-Chairs. The convening notice shall be issued within a reasonable period of time prior to the meeting, except in case of urgency.

Rule 5 - Proceedings

  1. The majority of the members selected by the European Union and the majority of the members selected by the CARIFORUM countries shall constitute the quorum of the Committee.The existence of quorum shall be determined at the beginning of the meeting. If there is not a quorum, the co-Chairswill jointly decide whether to close the meeting or to continue; in case of continuation of the meeting, a quorum shall exist irrespective of the number of members present or represented.
  1. TheCommitteeshall seek to take decisions on the basis of consensus. If this is not possible, such decision shall be deemed to have been adopted if they are supported by a majority of the members of the Europeandelegation and a majority of the members of the CARIFORUM delegation.In case of a different view expressed by 25% or more of the representatives, the conclusions and minutes of the meeting shall reflect it.
  1. The Committee can decide for particular agenda items to meet in camera.

Rule 6 - Publication

  1. The documents of the Committee should be made public unless otherwise decided. Thesecretariat should be responsible for publication and distribution of documents and for updating the website of the Committee.
  1. Upon request, documents may be translated into variousofficial EU and CARIFORUM languages.

Rule 7 - Agenda

  1. The draft agenda shall be agreed by theco-Chairs, taking into account proposals submitted by the Committee's members, and shall be sent together with the relevant documents by the Secretariat to the members within a reasonable period of time before the start of the meeting.
  1. The draft agenda shall be adopted at the start of each meeting.

Rule 8–Committee Secretariat

1.The secretariat shall be defined inaccordance withArticle 5 of Decision No1/2014 of the Joint CARIFORUM-EU Council, concerning participation in the CARIFORUM-EU Consultative Committee.

2.The secretariat of the Committee shall be provided alternately for periods of 12 months, by the secretariat of the European delegation and the secretariat of the CARIFORUM delegation.

  1. The Committee secretariat shall write the conclusionsand minutes of each meeting under the form of a joint statement.

Rule 9 – Languages

  1. The maximum number of working languages of the Committee shall be 4: English, Spanish, French and Dutch.

Rule 10- Financial provisions

  1. The Parties of the CARIFORUM-EPA shall bear the respective costs incurred by their delegation's attendance of the meetings of the Committee, as regards travel and hotel expenses, daily allowances and staffing costs.
  1. Expenses related to the practical organisation of the meetings, namely the meeting venue, interpretation, technical equipment and written translation of documents, shall be met by the host Party.

Rule 11 – Approval of the Rules of Procedure by the Joint CARIFORUM-EU Council

  1. According to Article 232(4), the Rules of Procedure as agreed by the Committee shall beforwarded for approval to the Joint CARIFORUM-EU Council.

Rule 12- Revision of the Rules of Procedure

  1. Proposals for the revisions shall be deemed to have been agreed if they are supported by a majority of the members of the EU delegation and a majority of the members of the CARIFORUM delegation, present at the meeting.
  1. Any proposed revisions to the Rules of Procedure should be submitted to the Joint CARIFORUM-EU Council for approval.

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EESC-2015-00203-00-00-TCD-TRA (EN) 1/5