ANNEX

Rules of Procedure of the Joint Committee

Article 1

Composition and chair

1.   The Joint Committee shall perform the tasks provided for in Article 49 of the Agreement.

2.   The Joint Committee shall be composed of representatives of the Parties at the highest possible level and shall be chaired alternately, for a period of one calendar year, by the Party hosting the meeting in the calendar year in question.

3.   The Joint Committee shall be chaired alternately by the Minister of Finance of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. They may delegate their authority to preside over all or part of the meetings of the Joint Committee to a senior official.

Article 2

Meetings

1.   The Joint Committee shall meet annually. Meetings of the Joint Committee shall be convened by the Chair. Meetings shall be held in Brussels and Kabul alternately, on a date fixed by mutual agreement. Special sessions of the Joint Committee may be held at the request of either Party, if the Parties so agree.

2.   If the Parties agree, the meetings of the Joint Committee may exceptionally be held by means of video-conference.

Article 3

Participants

1.   Each Party shall inform the Chair of the intended composition of its delegation, before each meeting of the Joint Committee.

2.   The Chair, in agreement with the Parties, may invite experts or representatives of other bodies to the meeting to act as observers or to provide information on a particular subject.

Article 4

Publicity

1.   The meetings of the Joint Committee shall be held behind closed doors, unless the Chair, in agreement with the Parties, decides that the meeting shall be public.

2.   The Joint Committee may issue statements to the public as it deems appropriate.

Article 5

Secretariat

A representative of the European External Action Service and a representative of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan shall act jointly as Secretaries of the Joint Committee. All communications to and from the Chair shall be forwarded to the Secretaries. Correspondence to and from the Chair may be by any written means, including electronic mail.

Article 6

Agendas for meetings

1.   The Chair shall draw up a provisional agenda for each meeting of the Joint Committee. The provisional agenda shall be sent, together with the relevant documents, to the Parties at least 15 calendar days before the date of the meeting.

2.   Either Party may request the Chair to place an item on the agenda.

3.   The agenda shall be adopted by the Joint Committee at the beginning of each meeting. Items other than those appearing on the provisional agenda may be placed on the agenda if the Parties so agree.

4.   In special circumstances and in agreement with the Parties, the Chair may shorten the time limit referred to in paragraph 1 in order to take account of the requirements of the particular case.

Article 7

Minutes

1.   The outcome of the meetings of the Joint Committee shall be in the form of agreed minutes.

2.   The Chair shall summarise the conclusions reached by the Joint Committee at each meeting. The two Secretaries shall jointly draw up draft minutes on the basis of those conclusions, preferably at the end of the meeting or at the latest within 30 calendar days following the date of the meeting.

3.   The Parties shall approve the draft preferably at the end of the meeting or at the latest within 45 calendar days following the date of the meeting or by any date agreed by the Parties. Once the Parties have approved the draft minutes, two original copies shall be signed by the Chair and by the Secretaries. Each Party shall receive one original copy.

Article 8

Decisions and recommendations

1.   Decisions and recommendations of the Joint Committee shall be adopted by common agreement of the Parties.

2.   Decisions or recommendations of the Joint Committee shall be entitled ‘Decision’ or ‘Recommendation’ respectively, followed by a serial number, the date of their adoption and a description of the subject matter. Each decision shall state the date on which it enters into force.

3.   The Joint Committee may adopt decisions or recommendations by means of a written procedure. In such cases, the Parties shall agree a time-limit for the duration of the procedure. If at the expiry of that time-limit, no Party has expressed opposition to the proposed decision or recommendation, the Chair shall declare the decision or recommendation to have been adopted by common agreement.

4.   Decisions and recommendations of the Joint Committee shall be made in two authentic copies signed by the Chair.

5.   Each Party may publish the decisions and recommendations of the Joint Committee in its respective official publication.

Article 9

Expenses

1.   Each Party shall bear the expenses it incurs in relation to its participation in the meetings of the Joint Committee, both with regard to staff, travel and subsistence expenditure and to postal and telecommunications expenditure.

2.   Each Party shall bear the expenses it incurs in connection with interpretation at meetings and translation.

3.   The Party hosting the meeting shall bear the expenses in connection with the organisation of meetings and reproduction of documents.

Article 10

Special committees and working groups

1.   The Joint Committee may set up special committees or working groups to assist it in the performance of its tasks.

2.   The Joint Committee may decide to abolish any existing special committee or working group, adopt or amend their terms of reference.

3.   The special committees or working groups shall make detailed reports of their activities to the Joint Committee after each of their meetings and may make recommendations to the Joint Committee.

ANNEX A

EU-Afghanistan Joint Committee

Special working groups