AASC RULES OF PROCEDURE
The Assembly of Agency Staff Committees (hereinafter ‘AASC’),
Having regard to the rules governing the Staff Committees of:
1. Community Fisheries Control Agency (CFCA), Vigo;
2. Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO), Angers;
3. Eurojust, The Hague;
4. European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), Bilbao,
5. European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Köln;
6. European Centre for Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), Thessaloniki;
7. European Centre for Disease Controls (ECDC), Stockholm
8. European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), Helsinki;
9. European Defence Agency (EDA), Brussels;
10. European Environment Agency (EEA), Copenhagen;
11. European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Parma;
12. European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (EUROFOUND),
Dublin;
13. European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), Lisbon;
14. European Medicines Agency (EMA), London;
15. European Monitoring Centre for Drugs Addiction (EMCDDA), Lisbon;
16. European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA), Heraklion;
17. European Police College (CEPOL), Bramshill;
18. European Training Foundation (ETF), Turin;
19. European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), Vienna;
20. European Union Satellite Centre (EUSC), Torrejón de Ardoz;
21. European Railways Agency (ERA), Valenciennes;
22. Europol, The Hague;
23. Frontex, Warsaw;
24. Fusion for Energy (F4E), Barcelona;
25. Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM), Alicante;
26. Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union (CDT), Luxembourg.
Having regard to Article 1a (2) of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities
(hereinafter ‘Staff Regulations’);
Having regard to Article 10 of the Staff Regulations;
Having regard to Article 110 of the Staff Regulations;
HAS ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING RULES OF PROCEDURE:
Article 1
Definition of the terms used in this document
Agencies
1. Community bodies to which the Staff Regulations apply under the Community acts establishing
them. EUSC shall be treated as an Agency.
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Assembly of Agency Staff Committees (AASC)
2. The Assembly of Agencies Staff Committees is a collective body representing the interests of the
staff of the Agencies in the framework of the implementation of the Staff Regulations.
Secretariat
3. The Secretariat is an elected organ composed of three full members and three alternate members
chosen from among the members of the AASC. Its mission is to ensure the smooth functioning of
the AASC as well as to perform any other task entrusted to it by the AASC. The Secretariat
represents the AASC vis-à-vis any counterparts.
Article 2
Role of the AASC
The role of the AASC is to provide a forum for the Staff Committees of the Agencies to exchange
information, to define common positions and to represent the collective interests of staff of the
Agencies.
Article 3
Members of AASC
1. All Staff Committees of the European Union Agencies present and future may be members of
AASC (hereinafter ‘member Agency’).
2. Members of the Staff Committees are the staff representatives of the Agencies elected according
to Article 9 and Annex II of the Staff Regulations. An Agency Staff Committee can be represented
in the AASC by one or more of its members. It is the obligation of each member Agency to inform
the Secretariat of the AASC of changes in its composition.
3. The Central Staff Committee of the European Commission is part of the AASC. It signed a
memorandum of understanding with the AASC.
4. Upon request, any Staff Committee of any institution, organization or body may be granted
observer status by the AASC.1
Article 4
Voting
1. Each member Agency shall have one vote. The individual vote of each member Agency shall be
determined by its own internal rules. The Central Staff Committee of the European Commission
shall not have a vote.
2. The General Assembly shall form a quorum if at least two thirds of its member Agencies are
present. When voting is required, decisions shall be taken by simple majority of those present and
voting.
Article 5
Rules governing the Secretariat
The AASC shall be assisted by a Secretariat composed of at least three members.
Article 5a
Appointment of members
1. The AASC General Assembly appoints a secretariat for a term of office of two years. The
secretariat will be composed of three full and three alternate members.
2. Each member Agency shall not have more than one member and one alternate.
1
European Central Bank (ECB), Frankfurt and Eurocontrol act as observers.
.
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3. In the event that a full member resigns or is no longer a member of the Staff Committee of the
member Agency, one alternate shall replace him/her for the rest of the term, after agreement
between the Secretariat. If consensus is not reached, the longest-serving alternate member of the
Secretariat will become full member. The next AASC General Assembly will appoint a new
alternate.
If, nevertheless, the number of members falls below three during a term of office, the AASC shall
be required to appoint (a) new member(s) by written online consultation until the following AASC
General Assembly.
4. Upon the end of its mandate (every second spring meeting) and a minimum of four weeks before
the meeting of the General Assembly, the Secretariat will call on the Agency Staff Committees to
put forward candidatures for full and/or alternate members (according to the limitations laid down
in Article 5a (2) above). The General Assembly will be called on to appoint the full members and
the alternate members. If there are more than three candidatures for full member, open voting
shall take place. The three candidates receiving the most votes, of those present and voting, shall
be elected. This procedure will be repeated for the alternate members. The General Assembly will
then be called to give a vote of confidence to the Secretariat by simple majority, of those present
and voting.
Article 5b
Functioning
1. The members of the Secretariat remain in permanent contact amongst themselves and inform all
the other AASC members immediately about any developments of possible interest in the
framework of the objectives set out above.
2. The members of the Secretariat may call on experts to assist them in their work. After written
consultation of the AASC, and at the invitation of the Secretariat, those experts may attend
meetings of AASC.
3. When contacts need to be made, the Secretariat defines in common accord the course of action to
be followed. To the extent possible, all members take part in contacts with the representatives of
the administrations of the Agencies and Institutions. The Secretariat acts in the common interest
of the AASC members as a whole. When situations arise where a wider consultation is necessary,
the Secretariat uses written procedure so as to reach a consensus among the AASC on the line to
be followed.
4. The Secretariat asks the assistance and advice of the Central Staff Committee of the European
Commission and, where necessary, its intervention so as to obtain access to representatives of
the Institutions.
5. The Secretariat is also responsible for informing the group of Directors of the Agencies. Wherever
possible, the Secretariat requests assistance from the current coordinating Director of the
Agencies.
The Secretariat can invite the group of Directors to participate as an observer at their meetings.
Article 5c
Reporting
After contacts or actions taken by the Secretariat, the Secretariat informs all the AASC members and
starts a dialogue amongst the interested parties to examine the results obtained and to set up the
future objectives. Where necessary and urgent, an extraordinary AASC meeting can be convoked by
either the Secretariat or at the request of one third of the AASC members.
Article 5d
Motion of censure
A motion of censure against the Secretariat may be put forward, by half of the AASC members, at a
General Assembly. It should be communicated to the Secretariat prior to the organisation of the
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General Assembly, in order to be included in the agenda. It passes by a majority of two thirds of those
present and voting.
Article 6
Representation
1. The AASC fulfils the call introduced in Article 10 of the Staff Regulations regarding representation
of the Agencies in the Staff Regulations Committee. The General Assembly will accept
candidatures proposed by the Agency Staff Committees and appoints the AASC representatives
to the Staff Regulations Committee, the Management Committee of the Joint Sickness Insurance
Scheme or elsewhere required. The representatives should be members of the AASC as far as
possible. The General Assembly will vote on the proposed candidate(s).
2. The AASC shall be consulted by the Commission, or by any other Institution, in the name of the
staff of the Agencies.
Article 7
Organisation of AASC meetings
1. The AASC will meet to form the General Assembly, a minimum of twice a year, in autumn and in
spring. One meeting each year shall preferably be held in Brussels or Luxembourg with the help of
the Central Staff Committee of the Commission.
The date and place of the next meeting will be decided at the previous meeting. Meetings should
take place at a different Agency in turn. The material organisation of the meeting is the
responsibility of the host organization. The agenda is to be drawn up by the Secretariat in
cooperation with the host agency and approved by the AASC members. The meeting is chaired by
the Secretariat.
The minutes of the meeting are to be drawn up by the host organization and/or the Secretariat and
sent to all the members for approval as quickly as possible and, in any case, before the
establishment of the agenda of the next meeting.
2. The AASC aims to reach a consensus on any decision taken.
Article 8
Online Consultation/Decision Procedure
For urgent issues and on the initiative of the Secretariat, all the above-mentioned procedures, with the
exception of the General Assembly, may be undertaken by online consultation and communication.
Article 9
Communication forum
A special web page is set up which contains all information available for AASC members, including
agendas, minutes of meetings and all other information of common interest.
Article 10
Final provisions
1. These rules were submitted for consultation to the Staff Committees of the Agencies.
2. This agreement comes into force upon ratification by the AASC General Assembly. It replaces the
original rules adopted on 21 March 2002 and last amended in October 2009. It is valid until it is
replaced or amended by an AASC General Assembly.
Done at London, May 2011
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