Article 5 Operation

The Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, acting in close cooperation with the EGE's chairperson, shall be responsible for coordinating and organising the work of the EGE and for providing its Secretariat.

The EGE shall elect a chairperson and a deputy-chairperson from among its members for the duration of their term by a simple majority.

Members of the EGE, as well as invited experts, shall comply with the obligations of professional secrecy laid down by the Treaties and their implementing rules, as well as with the Commission's rules on security regarding the protection of EU classified information, laid down in Commission Decisions (EU, Euratom) 2015/443^f1 and (EU, Euratom) 2015/444^f2. Should they fail to respect these obligations, the Commission may take all appropriate measures.

The EGE Work Programme, including such ethical analyses suggested on the own initiative of the EGE, shall be agreed by the Commission. Each request for an ethical analysis shall include the parameters of the requested analysis. The Commission shall, when seeking the advice of the EGE, set a time limit within which such advice shall be given.

EGE Opinions shall include a set of recommendations. They shall be based on an overview of the state of the art of the sciences and technologies concerned and a thorough analysis of the ethical issues at stake. Relevant services of the Commission shall be informed of the recommendations produced by the EGE.

The EGE shall operate in a collegial way, seeking consensus among its members. The EGE shall adopt its Rules of Procedure on the basis of the standard Rules of Procedure for expert groups with the agreement of the Commission's representative. The working procedures shall seek to ensure that all members take an active role in the activities of the group.

The meetings of the EGE shall normally be held on Commission premises according to the modalities and the calendar fixed by the Commission. The EGE should meet at least six times during a 12-month period involving around 12 working days a year. Further meetings may be organised when necessary, in agreement with the Commission's representative.

For the purpose of the preparation of EGE analyses and within the limits of the available resources, the Commission's representative may:

• Invite experts and representatives of relevant NGOs or representative organisations when appropriate for an exchange of views on an ad hoc basis. The Commission may also enlist external experts to participate in the work of the EGE on an ad hoc and temporary basis should it be deemed necessary to cover the wide spectrum of ethical questions related to advances in science and new technologies.

• Initiate studies in order to collect all necessary scientific and technical information.

• Allow for working groups to be set up to consider specific issues.

• Establish close links with representatives of the various ethics bodies in the Member States and in third countries.

Moreover, the Commission shall organise a public round table in order to promote dialogue and improve transparency for each Opinion that the EGE produces. The EGE shall establish close links with Commission departments concerned by issues the Group is working on.

The Group shall endeavour to reach consensus. However, where an Opinion is not adopted unanimously, it shall include any dissenting point of view (as a ‘minority opinion’) together with the name(s) of the dissenting Member(s). The Opinion shall be transmitted to the President of the Commission or to a representative designated by the President. Each Opinion shall be forthwith published and transmitted to the European Parliament and to the Council of the European Union after its adoption.

If operational circumstances require that advice on a particular subject be given more quickly than the adoption of an Opinion would allow, short Statements or other forms of analyses can be produced, to be followed if necessary by a fuller analysis in the form of an Opinion, while ensuring that transparency is respected as for any other Opinion. Statements will be published and made available on the EGE website. As part of its Work Programme, in agreement with the Commission's representative, the EGE may update an Opinion if it deems it necessary.

The EGE's discussions shall be confidential. In agreement with the Commission's representative, the EGE may, by a simple majority of its members, decide to open its deliberations to the public.

All relevant documents related to the activities of the EGE (such as agendas, minutes, Opinions and participants' submissions) shall be made available either in the Register of expert groups or via a link from the Register to a dedicated website. Exceptions to publication are possible where disclosure of a document is deemed to undermine the protection of a public or private interest as defined in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council^f3.

A report on the activities of the EGE shall be produced under the responsibility of the chairperson before the end of its mandate. The report shall be published and transmitted according to the modalities set out in paragraph 11.