Article 22 Composition of the Advisory GroupsF1

Each Advisory Group shall be composed in accordance with the tables set out in the Annex. Members of the Advisory Groups shall be individuals appointed by the Commission to represent a common interest shared by stakeholders. They shall not represent an individual stakeholder, but shall express an opinion common to the different stakeholder organisations.

Appointments are made for a period of 42 months. Members who are no longer capable of contributing effectively to the group's deliberations, who resign or who, even after their duties have ceased, disclose information of the kind covered by the obligation of professional secrecy, in particular information about undertakings, their business relations or their cost components, shall no longer be invited to participate in any meetings of the Advisory Groups and may be replaced for the remainder of their term of office.

Members of the Advisory Groups shall be selected from experts with competence in the areas referred to in Sections 3 and 4 of Chapter II and who have responded to public calls for applications. Those experts may also be appointed on the basis of proposals put forward by the entities referred to in the tables of the Annex or by Member States.

They shall be active in the field concerned and be aware of the industrial priorities.

Within each Advisory Group, the Commission shall aim at ensuring a high level of expertise, as well as a balanced representation of relevant areas of expertise and areas of interest and, as far as possible, a balanced representation of gender and geographical origin, taking into account the specific tasks of the Advisory Groups, the type of expertise required and the outcome of the experts' selection procedure.