1.The Steering Group shall be composed of the following members of the Assembly:
(a)managing authorities and/or national rural networks (one member from each Member State);
(b)EU-wide organisations referred to in Article 4(1)(d) and (e) (maximum 12 members);
(c)national authorities in charge of the evaluation of rural development programmes (maximum four members);
(d)agricultural advisory service providers and/or agricultural research institutes referred to in Article 4(1)(g) and (h) (maximum four members).
2.The members of the Steering Group shall be appointed by the Director-General following a proposal of the Assembly reflecting the geographic and thematic diversity of the members of the ENRD and of the EIP network and based on the voluntary commitment of the proposed members.
For each of the categories referred to in paragraph 1, the Assembly may propose a rotation of the members of the Steering Group.
3.A member of the Steering Group may be replaced by the Director-General following a proposal of the Assembly where:
(a)it withdraws from the Steering Group;
(b)it does not regularly designate representatives for the meetings of the Steering Group;
(c)it is no longer able to contribute effectively to the tasks of the Steering Group;
(d)it does not comply with the non-disclosure requirement relating to information covered by the obligation of professional secrecy laid down in Article 339 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
4.The chairperson and the vice-chairpersons of the civil dialogue group on rural development may take part in the Steering Group's meetings as observers.