Decision

15 July 2021: Decision No 1/2021 of the UK-Faroe Islands Joint Committee on adopting rules of procedure

Published 7 September 2021

THE UK-FAROE ISLANDS JOINT COMMITTEE,

Having regard to the Free Trade Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the “United Kingdom”) and the Kingdom of Denmark in respect of the Faroe Islands (the “Faroe Islands”) (together, the “Parties”) done at London on 31 January 2019 (the “Agreement”),

Whereas:

1. The Agreement incorporated the provisions of the Agreement between the European Community, of the one part, and the Government of Denmark and the Home Government of the Faroe Islands, of the other part, signed in Brussels on 6 December 1996 (the “EU-Faroe Islands Agreement”) in effect immediately before the EU-Faroe Islands Agreement ceased to apply to the United Kingdom, subject to the provisions of the Agreement.

2. Article 8(2) of the Agreement provides that, unless the Parties agree otherwise, any decisions adopted by the Joint Committee established by the EU-Faroe Islands Agreement before the EU-Faroe Islands Agreement ceased to apply to the United Kingdom shall, to the extent those decisions relate to the Parties, be deemed to have been adopted, mutatis mutandis and subject to the provisions of the Agreement, by the Joint Committee established under incorporated Article 31.

3. Incorporated Article 31(3) provides that the Joint Committee shall adopt its own Rules of Procedure.

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The Rules of Procedure of the Joint Committee, as set out in the Annex to this Decision are adopted.

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

Done in duplicate at London and Tórshavn, on 15 July 2021.

For the Joint Committee

The Chair and Head of the United Kingdom Delegation

Johanna Michael Assistant Director, Department for International Trade

Head of the Faroe Islands Delegation

Áki Johansen

Minister-Counsellor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Culture

Annex: rules of procedure of the Joint Committee

Rule 1: composition and chair

The Joint Committee shall consist of representatives of both Parties and shall be chaired alternately for a period of 12 months by a representative of each Party. The first period shall begin, with the United Kingdom as Chair, on the date of the first meeting of the Joint Committee and end on 31 December 2021.

Rule 2: meetings

1. The Joint Committee shall meet by agreement of the Parties and in any event at least once a year, unless otherwise agreed by the Parties.

2. The Joint Committee shall hold its meetings alternately in the United Kingdom and the Faroe Islands, unless otherwise agreed by the Parties.

3. Notwithstanding paragraph 2, the Parties may agree that a meeting of the Joint Committee be held by technological means, such as videoconference or teleconference.

4. Each meeting of the Joint Committee shall be convened by the Secretariat at a date and location agreed by the Parties.

5. The Parties may agree to invite representatives of other bodies of the Parties, independent experts, or other observers on an ad hoc basis to attend the meetings of the Joint Committee.

Rule 3: secretariat

An official of the Government of the United Kingdom and an official of the Government of the Faroe Islands shall act jointly as Secretaries of the Joint Committee.

Rule 4: delegations

1. Before each meeting, the Chair shall be informed, through the Secretariat, of the intended composition of the delegation of each Party.

2. Each Party shall endeavour to include in the composition of its delegation officials of that Party having expertise relevant to the issues to be discussed.

Rule 5: correspondence

1. Each Party shall send its correspondence addressed to the Joint Committee via the Secretariat. Such correspondence may be sent in any form of written communication, including by electronic mail.

2. The Secretariat shall ensure that correspondence addressed to the Joint Committee is delivered to the members of the Joint Committee and is circulated, where appropriate.

3. All correspondence from, or addressed directly to, the Chair shall be forwarded to the Secretariat and shall be circulated, where appropriate.

Rule 6: documents

Written documents exchanged formally within the Joint Committee, whether at or between meetings, shall be numbered and circulated to the members of the Joint Committee by the Secretariat as documents of the Joint Committee.

Rule 7: confidentiality

1. Unless otherwise agreed by the Parties, the meetings of the Joint Committee shall not be open to the public.

2. When a Party submits information designated as confidential to the Joint Committee, the other Party shall treat that information as confidential and shall not otherwise use or disclose that information without the specific permission of the Party providing the information, except where this is necessary to comply with legal requirements.

Rule 8: agendas for meetings

1. The Secretariat shall jointly draw up a draft agenda for each meeting of the Joint Committee by mutual agreement between the Parties. The Secretariat shall circulate the draft agenda, together with relevant documentation, to the members of the Joint Committee no later than 10 days before the date of the meeting, unless otherwise agreed by the Parties.

1. The agenda shall be adopted by the Joint Committee at the beginning of its meeting. Items other than those appearing on the draft agenda may be added to the agenda if the Parties so decide.

Rule 9: minutes

1. Draft minutes of each meeting of the Joint Committee shall be drawn up by the Secretary of the Party hosting the meeting, within 7 days of the end of the meeting, unless Parties otherwise agree. The draft minutes shall be transmitted for comments to the Secretary of the other Party, who may submit comments within 14 days from the date of receipt of the draft minutes.

2. Where a meeting of the Joint Committee is held by technological means, the Parties may agree that a Secretary of either Party shall draw up the draft minutes of that meeting, before transmitting those draft minutes for comments to the Secretary of the other Party, in accordance with the procedure set out in paragraph 1.

3. The minutes shall, as a general rule, summarise each item on the agenda, specifying where applicable:

(a) the documentation submitted to the Joint Committee;

(b) any statement that a member of the Joint Committee has requested to be entered in the minutes; and

(c) the decisions taken, recommendations made, statements agreed upon and conclusions adopted on specific items.

4. The minutes shall include as an annex a list of participants setting out for each of the delegations the names and functions of all individuals who attended the meeting, in addition to any observers or experts who also attended.

5. The Secretariat shall revise the draft minutes on the basis of comments received and the draft minutes, as revised, shall be submitted to the Chair for approval. The draft minutes shall be approved within three months after each meeting of the Joint Committee and shall be signed by a representative of each Party, unless otherwise agreed by the Parties.

Rule 10: decisions and recommendations

1. The Joint Committee shall adopt its decisions and recommendations by mutual agreement of the Parties.

2. The decisions and recommendations of the Joint Committee shall be entitled “Decision” and “Recommendation” respectively, followed by a serial number, the date of their adoption and a description of their subject. Each decision shall specify the date of its entry into force and shall be signed by a representative of each Party.

3. In the period between meetings, the Joint Committee may adopt decisions and recommendations by written procedure.

4. Where a meeting of the Joint Committee is held by technological means, decisions and recommendations may be signed in duplicate (each copy being equally authentic) by a representative of each Party. Each Party shall forward an electronic copy of their respective signed decision or recommendation to the Secretariat for circulation to the members of the Joint Committee.

5. Each Party may decide on the publication of the decisions and recommendations of the Joint Committee in its respective official publication.

Rule 11: working language

The working language of the Joint Committee shall be English. Unless otherwise agreed by the Parties, the Joint Committee shall base its deliberations on documents prepared in English.

Rule 12: expenses

1. Each Party shall meet any expenses it incurs as a result of participating in the meetings of the Joint Committee.

2. Expenditure in connection with the organisation of meetings and reproduction of documents shall be borne by the Party hosting the meeting.

3. Expenditure in connection with interpretation in meetings, or translation of documents, shall be borne directly by the Party arranging such interpretation or translation.