1.The Scientific Committees and their working groups, the ICCG as well as other meetings, workshops or events related to the application of this Decision shall be convened by the Commission.
2.The Commission shall provide the scientific and administrative secretariat for the Scientific Committees and their working groups as well as for all other activities related to the application of this Decision.
3.The secretariat shall be responsible for providing scientific and administrative support necessary to facilitate the efficient functioning of the Scientific Committees, to monitor compliance with the rules of procedure, particularly in relation to the requirements for excellence, independence and transparency, to ensure communication on the Committees’ activities and the appropriate stakeholder dialogue, including in particular organisation of hearings on the activities of the Committees, and publication of the opinions and other public documents. Moreover, the secretariat shall provide support to the Committees and organise and apply quality control of the opinions, as provided for in the rules of procedure, as far as completeness, consistency, clarity, correspondence with requests and with editorial standards are concerned.
4.The secretariat shall ensure the scientific and technical coordination of the activities of the Scientific Committees and where necessary coordination of their activities with those of other Community, national and international bodies, as well as the application of the stakeholder dialogue procedure set up in the rules of procedure and the communication on the activities of the Committees.