Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/786Show full title

CHAPTER IV INDEPENDENCE, CONFIDENTIALITY AND TRANSPARENCY

Article 15 Communication

1. The Chair of the panel shall act as the contact person for the Member States and the Commission.

2. The Chair shall immediately report to the Commission any circumstances that could jeopardise the functioning of the panel.

Article 16 Independence

1. The members of the panel shall be appointed in a personal capacity. They shall not delegate their responsibilities to any other person. In performing their functions, they shall respect the principles of independence, impartiality and confidentiality and act in the public interest.

2. Experts applying to be appointed as members of the panel shall be required to submit a declaration indicating any interest that may compromise or reasonably be perceived to compromise their independence, including any relevant circumstances relating to their close family members or partners. Submission of a duly completed declaration of interests shall be necessary in order for an expert to be eligible to be appointed as a member of the panel. If the Commission concludes that no conflict of interest exists, the applicant shall be eligible for appointment, provided he or she is considered to possess the required expertise.

3. Panel members shall promptly inform the Commission if there is any change in the information provided in their declaration, in which case they must immediately submit a new declaration showing relevant changes.

4. At each meeting, panel members shall declare any specific interest that may compromise or reasonably be perceived to compromise their independence in relation to any item on the agenda. In such cases, the Chair may request that the member concerned withdraw from the meeting or from parts of the meeting. The Chair shall inform the Commission of such declaration and actions taken.

5. The panel members shall refrain from having any direct or indirect contact with the tobacco industry or its representatives.

Article 17 Confidentiality and protection of personal data

1. The panel members shall not divulge information, including commercially sensitive or personal data, acquired as a result of the panel's work or of other activities relating to the application of this Decision, even after they have ceased to be members. They shall sign a declaration of confidentiality to this effect.

2. The panel members shall comply with the Commission's security rules on the protection of EU classified and sensitive non-classified information, as set out in Commission Decisions (EU, Euratom) 2015/443(1) and (EU, Euratom) 2015/444(2). Should they fail to respect these obligations, the Commission may take all appropriate measures.

Article 18 Commitment

The panel members shall undertake to contribute actively to the work of the panel. They shall sign a declaration of commitment to this effect.

Article 19 Transparency

1. The activities of the panel shall be carried out with a high level of transparency. The Commission shall publish all relevant documents on a dedicated website and provide a link to this website from the register of expert groups. In particular, it shall make available to the public, without undue delay:

(a) the members' names;

(b) the members' declarations of interests, confidentiality and commitment;

(c) the panel's rules of procedure;

(d) the opinions adopted by the panel pursuant to Article 10;

(e) the agendas and minutes of the panel's meetings;

(f) the methodology established in accordance with Article 9.

2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, publication shall not be required where disclosure of a document would undermine the protection of a public or private interest as defined in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council(3).

(1)

Commission Decision (EU, Euratom) 2015/443 of 13 March 2015 on Security in the Commission (OJ L 72, 17.3.2015, p. 41).

(2)

Commission Decision (EU, Euratom) 2015/444 of 13 March 2015 on the security rules for protecting EU classified information (OJ L 72, 17.3.2015, p. 53).

(3)

Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43).