Article 3 Membership – Appointment

The members of the group, ‘members’, shall be appointed by the Commission from specialists with competence in the areas referred to in Article 2(2) and who have responded to the call for an expression of interest.

The group shall be composed of a maximum of 20 members.

The members shall be appointed in a personal capacity and shall advise the Commission independently of any outside influence.

Once appointed, members shall remain in office until 2 November 2013 .

Members who are no longer capable of contributing effectively to the group's deliberations, who resign or who do not respect the conditions set out in paragraph 3 of this Article, or Article 339 TFEU may be replaced by the Commission.

Members appointed in a personal capacity shall each year sign an undertaking to act in the public interest and a declaration indicating the absence or existence of any interest which may undermine their objectivity.

The names of the members appointed in a personal capacity shall be listed in the Annex to this Decision. The names of members shall be collected, processed and published in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001.