Regulation (EU) 2019/126 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

CHAPTER V U.K. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 21 U.K. Legal status

1. EU-OSHA shall be a Union agency. It shall have legal personality.

2. In each of the Member States, EU-OSHA shall enjoy the most extensive legal capacity accorded to legal persons under national law. It may, in particular, acquire and dispose of movable and immovable property and be party to legal proceedings.

3. EU-OSHA shall have its seat in Bilbao.

4. EU-OSHA may establish a liaison office in Brussels to further its cooperation with the relevant Union institutions in accordance with Article 11(6).

Article 22 U.K. Privileges and immunities

Protocol No 7 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union shall apply to EU-OSHA and its staff.

Article 23 U.K. Language arrangements

1. The provisions laid down in Council Regulation No 1(1) shall apply to EU-OSHA.

2. The translation services required for EU-OSHA's functioning shall be provided by the Translation Centre.

Article 24 U.K. Transparency and data protection

1. EU-OSHA shall carry out its activities with a high level of transparency.

2. Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council(2) shall apply to documents held by EU-OSHA.

3. The Management Board shall, within six months of the date of its first meeting, adopt the detailed rules for applying Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.

4. The processing of personal data by EU-OSHA shall be subject to Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council(3). The Management Board shall, within six months of the date of its first meeting, establish measures for the application of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 by EU-OSHA, including those concerning the appointment of a Data Protection Officer. Those measures shall be established after consulting the European Data Protection Supervisor.

Article 25 U.K. Combating fraud

1. In order to facilitate the fight against fraud, corruption and other illegal activities under Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council(4), EU-OSHA shall, by 21 August 2019, accede to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 25 May 1999 between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the Commission of the European Communities concerning internal investigations by the European Anti-fraud Office (OLAF)(5) and shall adopt appropriate provisions applicable to all its employees using the template set out in the Annex to that Agreement.

2. The Court of Auditors shall have the power of audit, on the basis of documents and of on-the-spot inspections, over all grant beneficiaries, contractors and subcontractors who have received Union funds from EU-OSHA.

3. OLAF may carry out investigations, including on-the-spot checks and inspections with a view to establishing whether there has been fraud, corruption or any other illegal activity affecting the financial interests of the Union in connection with a grant agreement or grant decision or a contract funded by EU-OSHA, in accordance with the provisions and procedures laid down in Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013 and in Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96(6).

4. Without prejudice to paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, cooperation agreements with third countries and international organisations, contracts, grant agreements and grant decisions of EU-OSHA shall contain provisions expressly empowering the Court of Auditors and OLAF to conduct such audits and investigations, in accordance with their respective competences.

Article 26 U.K. Security rules on the protection of classified and sensitive non-classified information

EU-OSHA shall adopt security rules equivalent to the Commission's security rules for protecting European Union Classified Information (EUCI) and sensitive non-classified information, set out in Decisions (EU, Euratom) 2015/443 and (EU, Euratom) 2015/444, where required. EU-OSHA's security rules shall cover, inter alia, and where appropriate, provisions for the exchange, processing and storage of such information.

Article 27 U.K. Liability

1. EU-OSHA's contractual liability shall be governed by the law applicable to the contract in question.

2. The Court of Justice of the European Union (Court of Justice) shall have jurisdiction to give judgment pursuant to any arbitration clause contained in a contract concluded by EU-OSHA.

3. In the case of non-contractual liability, EU-OSHA shall, in accordance with the general principles common to the laws of the Member States, make good any damage caused by its departments or by its staff in the performance of their duties.

4. The Court of Justice shall have jurisdiction relating to compensation for damage as referred to in paragraph 3.

5. The personal liability of its staff towards EU-OSHA shall be governed by the provisions laid down in the Staff Regulations and in the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants.

Article 28 U.K. Evaluation

1. In accordance with Article 29(5) of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1271/2013, EU-OSHA shall carry out ex ante and ex post evaluations of those programmes and activities that entail significant spending.

2. By 21 February 2024, and every five years thereafter, the Commission shall ensure that an evaluation is carried out in accordance with the Commission guidelines to assess EU-OSHA's performance in relation to its objectives, mandate and tasks. The Commission shall consult members of the Management Board and the other main stakeholders during its evaluation. The evaluation shall, in particular, address the possible need to amend the mandate of EU-OSHA, and the financial implications of any such amendments.

3. The Commission shall report to the European Parliament, the Council and the Management Board on the findings of the evaluation. The findings of the evaluation shall be made public.

Article 29 U.K. Administrative inquiries

The activities of EU-OSHA shall be subject to the inquiries by the European Ombudsman in accordance with Article 228 TFEU.

Article 30 U.K. Cooperation with third countries and international organisations

1. In so far as is necessary in order to achieve the objectives set out in this Regulation, and without prejudice to the respective competences of the Member States and of the Union institutions, EU-OSHA may cooperate with the competent authorities of third countries and with international organisations.

To that end, EU-OSHA may, subject to the authorisation of the Management Board and after the approval of the Commission, establish working arrangements with the competent authorities of third countries and with international organisations. Those arrangements shall not create legal obligations incumbent on the Union or the Member States.

2. EU-OSHA shall be open to the participation of third countries that have entered into agreements with the Union to that effect.

Under the relevant provisions of the agreements referred to in the first subparagraph, arrangements shall be developed specifying, in particular, the nature, extent and manner in which the third countries concerned are to participate in the work of EU-OSHA, including provisions relating to participation in the initiatives carried out by EU-OSHA, financial contributions and staff. As regards staff matters, those arrangements shall, in any event, comply with the Staff Regulations.

3. The Management Board shall adopt a strategy for relations with third countries and international organisations concerning matters for which EU-OSHA is competent.

Article 31 U.K. Headquarters Agreement and operating conditions

1. The necessary arrangements concerning the accommodation to be provided for EU-OSHA in the host Member State and the facilities to be made available by that Member State together with the specific rules applicable in the host Member State to the Executive Director, members of the Management Board, staff and members of their families shall be laid down in a Headquarters Agreement between EU-OSHA and Member State where the seat is located.

2. EU-OSHA's host Member State shall provide the necessary conditions to ensure EU-OSHA's functioning, including multilingual, European-oriented schooling and appropriate transport connections.

(1)

Council Regulation No 1 determining the languages to be used by the European Economic Community (OJ 17, 6.10.1958, p. 385).

(2)

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).

(3)

Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39).

(4)

Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 September 2013 concerning investigations conducted by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Regulation (Euratom) No 1074/1999 (OJ L 248, 18.9.2013, p. 1).

(5)

OJ L 136, 31.5.1999, p. 15.

(6)

Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 of 11 November 1996 concerning on-the-spot checks and inspections carried out by the Commission in order to protect the European Communities' financial interests against fraud and other irregularities (OJ L 292, 15.11.1996, p. 2).