Annexes to COM(2006)604 - European Institute of Technology - Main contents
Please note
This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2006)604 - European Institute of Technology. |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2006)604  |
| date | March 11, 2008 |
(7) OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72.
(8) OJ L 391, 30.12.2006, p. 1.
(9) OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1.
(10) OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43.
(11) OJ 17, 6.10.1958, p. 385/58. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1791/2006 (OJ L 363, 20.12.2006, p. 1).
(12) OJ L 314, 7.12.1994, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1645/2003 (OJ L 245, 29.9.2003, p. 13).
(13) OJ L 136, 31.5.1999, p. 1.
(14) OJ L 136, 31.5.1999, p. 15.
ANNEX
Statutes of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology
Article 1
Composition of the Governing Board
1. The Governing Board shall consist both of appointed members providing a balance between those with experience in business, higher education and research (hereinafter referred to as appointed members) and members elected by and from among the higher education, research and innovation, technical and administrative staff, students and doctoral candidates of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and the Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) (hereinafter referred to as representative members).
As a transitional provision, the initial Governing Board shall consist exclusively of appointed members until elections for representative members can be held, after the first KIC has been established.
2. There shall be 18 appointed members. They shall have a six-year non-renewable term of office. They shall be appointed by the Commission, in accordance with a transparent procedure. The Commission shall inform the European Parliament and the Council about the selection process and the final appointment of those members of the Governing Board.
The appointed members of the initial Governing Board shall be appointed on the basis of a list of potential candidates proposed by an ad-hoc Identification Committee, which shall be composed of four independent high level experts appointed by the Commission. The subsequent appointed members shall be appointed on the basis of a list of potential candidates proposed by the Governing Board.
3. The Commission shall have regard to the balance between higher education, research, innovation and business experience as well as to gender balance and an appreciation of the higher education, research and innovation environments across the Union.
4. One third of the appointed members shall be replaced every two years. An appointed member who has served for a period of less than four years shall be eligible for reappointment, subject to an overall limit of six years in office.
During a transitional period, 12 appointed members of the initial Governing Board shall be chosen by lot to serve for a four-year term of office. At the end of the initial four-year period, six of the 12 newly appointed members shall be chosen by lot to serve for a four-year term of office. The Chairperson of the Governing Board is not part of this transitional process.
5. There shall be four representative members. They shall have a three-year term of office, renewable once. Their term of office shall cease if they leave the EIT or a KIC. They shall be replaced through the same election process for the remainder of the term of office.
6. The conditions and modalities for election and replacement of the representative members shall be approved by the Governing Board on the basis of a proposal from the Director before the first KIC is in operation. This mechanism shall ensure an appropriate representation of the diversity and shall take into account the evolution of the EIT and the KICs.
7. In the event that a member of the Governing Board is unable to complete his term of office, a substitute member shall be appointed or elected by the same procedure as the incapacitated member in order to complete the latter’s term of office.
Article 2
Responsibilities of the Governing Board
1. The Governing Board members shall act in the interests of the EIT, safeguarding its goals and mission, identity and coherence, in an independent way.
2. The Governing Board shall, in particular:
| (a) | define the EIT strategy as enshrined in the Strategic Innovation Agenda (SIA), the triennial rolling work programme, its budget, its annual accounts and balance sheet and its annual activity report on the basis of a proposal from the Director; |
| (b) | specify the priority fields in which to establish the KICs; |
| (c) | provide a contribution in view of the preparation of the SIA; |
| (d) | draw up detailed specifications and terms of references on the operation of the EIT in the framework of the SIA, including criteria and procedures for the financing, monitoring and evaluating of the activities of the KICs; |
| (e) | select and designate a partnership as a KIC or withdraw the designation if necessary; |
| (f) | ensure continuing evaluation of the activities of KICs; |
| (g) | adopt its rules of procedure, including those for the selection of the KICs, those for the Executive Committee, as well as the specific financial rules of the EIT; |
| (h) | define, with the Commission’s agreement, appropriate honoraria for members of the Governing Board and of the Executive Committee; these honoraria shall be benchmarked against similar provision in the Member States; |
| (i) | adopt a procedure for choosing the Executive Committee and the Director; |
| (j) | appoint and if necessary dismiss the Director, and exercise disciplinary authority over him/her; |
| (k) | appoint the Accounting Officer, the members of the Executive Committee and the members of the Internal Auditing Function; |
| (l) | establish where appropriate advisory groups which may have a defined duration; |
| (m) | promote the EIT globally, so as to raise its attractiveness and make it a world-class body for excellence in higher education, research and innovation; |
| (n) | adopt a code of good conduct regarding conflicts of interest; |
| (o) | define principles and guidelines for the management of intellectual property rights; |
| (p) | set up an Internal Auditing Function in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002; |
| (q) | be empowered to establish a Foundation (hereinafter referred to as the EIT Foundation) with the specific objective of promoting and supporting the activities of the EIT; |
| (r) | ensure complementarity and synergy between EIT activities and other Community programmes; |
| (s) | decide on EIT’s language regime, taking into account the existing principles on multilingualism and the practical requirements of its operations. |
3. The Governing Board may delegate specific tasks to the Executive Committee.
4. The Governing Board shall elect its Chairperson from among the appointed members. The term of office of the Chairperson shall be three years, renewable once.
Article 3
Functioning of the Governing Board
1. Without prejudice to paragraph 2, the Governing Board shall adopt decisions by simple majority of all its members.
However, decisions under Article 2(2)(a), (b), (c), (d), (i) and (s), and (4) shall require a majority of two thirds of all its members.
2. The representative members may not vote on decisions under Article 2(2)(e), (g), (i), (j), (k), (q) and (s).
3. The Governing Board shall meet in ordinary session at least three times a year and in extraordinary session when convened by its Chairperson or on request of at least one third of its members.
Article 4
The Executive Committee
1. The Executive Committee shall consist of five persons including the Chairperson of the Governing Board who will also chair the Executive Committee.
The four members other than the Chairperson shall be chosen by the Governing Board from among the Governing Board’s appointed members.
2. The Executive Committee shall meet on a regular basis as convened by its Chairperson or on the request of the Director.
3. The Executive Committee shall take its decisions by simple majority of all its members.
4. The Executive Committee shall:
| (a) | prepare the meetings of the Governing Board; |
| (b) | oversee the implementation of the SIA and rolling triennial work programme; |
| (c) | oversee the selection procedure for KICs; |
| (d) | take any decisions delegated to it by the Governing Board. |
Article 5
The Director
1. The Director shall be a person with expertise and high reputation in the areas where the EIT operates. The Director shall be appointed by the Governing Board for a term of office of four years. The Governing Board may extend that term of office once by four years when it considers that the interests of the EIT are best served by so doing.
2. The Director shall be responsible for the day-to-day management of the EIT and be its legal representative. The Director shall be accountable to the Governing Board and report to it on an ongoing basis on the development of the EIT activities.
3. The Director shall in particular:
| (a) | support the Governing Board and the Executive Committee in their work and provide the secretariat for their meetings; |
| (b) | prepare a draft SIA, a draft rolling triennial work programme, the annual report and the annual budget for submission to the Governing Board through the Executive Committee; |
| (c) | administer the selection process for KICs and ensure that the various stages of that process are carried out in a transparent and objective manner; |
| (d) | organise and manage the activities of the EIT; |
| (e) | ensure the implementation of effective monitoring and evaluation procedures relating to the performance of the EIT in accordance with Article 16 of the Regulation; |
| (f) | be responsible for administrative and financial matters, including the implementation of the EIT budget. In this the Director shall take due account of advice received from the Internal Auditing Function; |
| (g) | be responsible for all staff matters; |
| (h) | submit the draft annual accounts and balance sheet to the Internal Auditing Function, and subsequently to the Governing Board, through the Executive Committee; |
| (i) | ensure that the obligations of the EIT with regard to the contracts and agreements it concludes are met; |
| (j) | provide the Executive Committee and the Governing Board with all information necessary for the performance of their functions. |
Article 6
Preparation of establishment of the support structure
For a transitional period, the Commission shall provide the necessary support towards the establishment of the EIT structure. For that purpose, until such time as the first appointed members of the Governing Board are appointed, an official appointed by the Commission shall be the EIT legal representative and be responsible for staff, administrative and financial matters, including the implementation of the EIT budget. Thereafter, the Governing Board shall designate, according to a transparent procedure, a person who shall fulfil these functions or extend the mandate of the official appointed by the Commission, until such time as the Director takes up his/her duties following his/her appointment by the Governing Board, in accordance with Article 5. The Governing Board shall launch the procedure for choosing the Director of the EIT without delay.
Article 7
Staff of the EIT
1. The staff of the EIT shall consist of personnel employed directly by the EIT under fixed term contracts. The conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities shall apply to the Director and the Staff of the EIT.
2. Experts may be seconded to the EIT for a limited duration by participating States or other employers.
The Governing Board shall adopt provisions enabling seconded experts from participating States or other employers to work at the EIT and defining their rights and responsibilities.
3. The EIT shall exercise, with regard to its staff, the powers which are devolved to the authority authorised to conclude the contracts with the staff members.
4. A member of staff may be required to make good, in whole or in part, any damage suffered by the EIT as a result of serious misconduct on his/her part in the course of or in connection with the performance of his/her duties.
Article 8
Principles for the evaluation and monitoring of KICs
The EIT shall organise continuous monitoring and periodic independent evaluations of the outcomes and results of each KIC. These evaluations shall be based on good administrative practice and result-oriented parameters and avoid unnecessary formal and procedural aspects.
Article 9
Duration, continuation and termination of a KIC
1. Subject to the outcomes of periodic evaluations and to the specificities of particular fields, a KIC shall normally have a time-frame of seven to 15 years.
2. The Governing Board may decide to extend the operation of a KIC beyond the period initially set if this is the most appropriate way to achieve the objective of the EIT.
3. In the event that evaluations of a KIC show inadequate results, the Governing Board shall take appropriate measures including reduction, modification or withdrawal of its financial support or termination of the agreement.
Article 10
Winding up of the EIT
In the event of winding up of the EIT, its liquidation shall intervene under the supervision of the Commission in conformity with the laws applicable. The agreements with the KICs and the act establishing the EIT Foundation shall lay down the appropriate provisions in such situation.