Article 9 Steering Committee

United Kingdom

The Steering Committee shall be composed of one representative appointed by each Member State and shall be the decision-making body of the ESDC. Each member of the Committee may be represented or accompanied by an alternate member.

Members of the Steering Committee may be accompanied by experts to meetings of the Committee.

The Steering Committee shall be chaired by a representative of the HR who has appropriate experience. It shall meet at least four times a year.

Representatives from countries acceding to the Union may attend the Steering Committee's meetings as active observers.

The Head, other ESDC staff, the Chairperson of the Board and, when appropriate, the Chairpersons of its different configurations as well as a representative of the Commission and other Union institutions, including EEAS, shall participate in the meetings of the Steering Committee without the right to vote.

The tasks of the Steering Committee shall be to:

(a)

approve and keep under regular review the ESDC training and education activities reflecting the agreed CSDP training and education requirements;

(b)

approve the annual academic programme of the ESDC;

(c)

select and prioritise the training and education activities to be run under the ESDC, taking into account the resources made available to the ESDC and the training and education requirements identified;

(d)

select the Member State(s) hosting the ESDC training and education activities and the institutes conducting them;

(e)

decide on opening specific ESDC training and education activities to third- country participation within the general political framework set by the Political and Security Committee;

(f)

adopt the curricula for all ESDC training and education activities;

(g)

take note of the course evaluation reports;

(h)

take note of the general annual report on ESDC training and education activities and adopt the recommendations therein, to be forwarded to the relevant Council bodies;

(i)

provide overall guidance to the work of the Board;

(j)

appoint the Chairpersons of the Board and its different configurations;

(k)

take the necessary decisions with regard to the functioning of the ESDC in so far as these are not attributed to other bodies;

(l)

approve the annual budget and any amending budget, acting on proposals from the Head;

(m)

approve the annual accounts and give a discharge to the Head;

(n)

approve additional rules applicable to expenditure managed by the ESDC;

(o)

approve any financing agreement and/or technical arrangement with the Commission, the EEAS, a Union Agency or a Member State regarding the financing and/or the implementation of the ESDC expenditure;

(p)

contribute to the selection process of the Head as defined in Article 11(3);

(q)

evaluate the performance of his or her tasks by the Head as regards the potential extension of his or her mandate as referred in Article 11(4).

The Steering Committee shall approve its Rules of Procedure.

Except for the case provided for in Article 2(6) of the Financial Rules applicable to expenditure funded by the ESDC and to the financing of the expenditure of the ESDC, which are set out in the Annex to this Decision (the "Financial Rules"), the Steering Committee shall act by qualified majority, as defined in Article 16(4) TEU.