Call for applications for the selection of experts as members of Commission expert groups under the responsibility of the Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry

2012/C 265/05

1.   Description of the Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry and the role of Commission expert groups

In the context of ‘Europe 2020’, the EU’s strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, the Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry is working towards five general objectives: to strengthen Europe’s industrial base and promote the transition to a low carbon economy; to promote innovation as a means of generating new sources of growth and meeting societal needs; to encourage the creation and development of SMEs and encourage an entrepreneurial culture; to ensure an open internal market for goods; and to support the European presence in space.

Commission expert groups are consultative entities, set up by the Commission or its departments, comprising at least six public or private-sector members, which are expected to meet more than once. The role of expert groups is to provide advice and expertise to the Commission and its departments in relation to:

The creation and functioning of expert groups are governed by the horizontal rules published in Commission communication C(2010) 7649 on 10 November 2010.

Expert groups do not take binding decisions, although they may formulate opinions and recommendations or submit reports. They are first and foremost fora for discussion and brainstorming, whose primary function is to provide the Commission with high-level expertise. Gathering expertise from a variety of sources is another way of collecting the views of different stakeholders. The Commission and its departments remain fully independent with regard to taking into account the expertise and views gathered. When proposing a new policy or measure, they always strive to find the best solution in the general interest of the European Union and its Member States.

When defining the composition of expert groups, the Commission and its departments aim to ensure a balanced representation of relevant areas of expertise and interest, while taking into account the specific tasks of every particular expert group and the type of expertise required.

In the light of this requirement the Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry aims to improve the balance of stakeholders in some expert groups by appointing new members representing a number of non-industry interests.

Travel and subsistence expenses incurred by members of the group will be reimbursed by the Commission, in accordance with the provisions in force, within the limits of the available budgetary appropriations. Members will not receive any remuneration for their duties.

The working language for both documents and meetings will be English.

2.   Commission expert groups included in this call for applications

Applications are accepted for the following Commission expert groups:

The mission, scope of work and past activity of the groups can be consulted in the Public Register of Commission Expert Groups at the following address:

http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regexpert/

3.   Eligibility criteria

Candidates must, as of the closing date for applications:

4.   Selection criteria

The following will be taken into consideration when applications are evaluated:

5.   Selection procedure

A panel of three officials from the Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry will be nominated by the Director General for each expert group to examine applications. They will decide which applicants will be invited to become members of a Commission expert group. There is no minimum or maximum number of new members to be invited to join a Commission expert group. The new members will be appointed as of 1 January 2013.

6.   Submission of applications

A letter of motivation, together with the application form (Annex), clearly stating the expert group for which the application is submitted and signed by an authorised representative of the applicant legal entity, must be sent to the e-mail address indicated below by 31 October 2012 at the latest. All applying organisations must clearly indicate the type of interest they represent (i.e. consumers, environment etc.), propose their representative(s) and include non-certified copies of documents justifying the fulfilment of the eligibility and selection criteria. Each application must be completed in one of the official languages of the European Union. However, applications in English would facilitate the evaluation procedure.

The completed and duly signed application, consisting of the above, must be sent to the e-mail address: ENTR-CALL-EXPERTGROUPS@ec.europa.eu, by 31 October 2012 at the latest, as attested by a delivery notification.

Organisations wishing to apply for membership of more than one expert group are asked to send their applications in one e-mail but with separate motivation letters for each expert group concerned.

The Commission reserves the right to ask for any supporting documents at a later stage, and to replace any member who has provided inaccurate or false declarations.

Personal data will be collected, processed and published in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 45/2001.

The list of members of the expert group will be published in the public register: http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regexpert/

For any further information, please send your query to: ENTR-CALL-EXPERTGROUPS@ec.europa.eu

(1)  If no legal entity exists (e.g. for certain trade unions), the organisation should be represented by a natural person.