Article 18 Monitoring Committees

A Monitoring Committee shall supervise the implementation of each SPD.

The OCT authorities shall set up the Monitoring Committee no more than three months after the approval of the SPD.

The Monitoring Committee shall be chaired by the Territorial Authorising Officer or his representative.

A representative of the Commission, and, where appropriate, of the European Investment Bank, may participate in the work of the Monitoring Committee in an advisory capacity.

The authorities or bodies designated by the OCT, the Commission, the Member State concerned and, where appropriate, the European Investment Bank and/or any other co-financing institution shall be represented in the committee. Where regional and local authorities and private enterprises are responsible for the implementation of a project and where they are directly concerned by a project, they shall also be represented in such committees.

The Monitoring Committee shall draw up its own rules of procedure within the institutional, legal and financial framework of the OCT concerned and agree on them with the Territorial Authorising Officer.

For the meetings of the monitoring committee the Territorial Authorising Officer shall submit progress reports in accordance with the standard model provided by the Commission. The report shall be received by the Commission 15 working days ahead of the scheduled meeting.

In order to verify the effectiveness and quality of the implementation of assistance the Monitoring Committee shall: