Article 7Operation
1.The Commission shall
(a)determine the form and the timetable according to which the Group will meet;
(b)chair the meetings of the Group;
(c)provide secretarial services and organise the Group’s work.
2.Sub-groups may be set up to examine specific questions under terms of reference established by the Group. Such groups shall be dissolved as soon as their mandates are fulfilled.
3.The Group may issue opinions at the request of the Commission or on a proposal from a member with the agreement of the Commission. When requesting an opinion, the Commission may fix the deadline within which the opinion is to be delivered. For each opinion, the Group may appoint one or more rapporteurs from amongst its members. The rapporteur shall have the overall responsibility for the preparation of the opinion.
4.The group shall adopt its own rules of procedure on the basis of a proposal made by the Commission.
5.The Commission shall publish on the Internet site of the Health and Consumers Directorate-General, in the original language of the document concerned, any opinion, summary, conclusion, or partial conclusion or working document of the group.
6.The members of the Group representing national consumer organisations shall inform and consult the associations they are representing in the Group. Each member shall put in place effective reporting mechanisms to systematically inform all consumer organisations at national level of the work of the Group and shall convey their views in return.
7.Each member shall produce a report to the Commission by 1 March on the work undertaken in the previous calendar year in pursuit of their obligation under paragraph 6. The content of this report will be further defined in the rules of procedure.