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Ref. Ares(2020)7283086 - 02/12/2020
Draft rules of procedure of the Steering Board
under the joint EU approach to COVID-19 vaccines procurement
Article 1
Representation in the Steering Board and co-chairs
The representative of the European Commission shall act as co-chair of the Steering Board.
In addition, each Participating Member State shall appoint one representative to the
Steering Board, one of which is chosen as co-chair of the Steering Board.
Each member of the Steering Board may appoint an alternate member to replace the main
representative in case of absence.
All members of the Steering Board will obtain the status of experts associated to the
procurement process as provided for in the Financial Regulation.
Article 2
Convening a meeting
A meeting of the Steering Board shall be convened by the co-chairs. Meetings can be held
physically or virtually.
Article 3
Agenda
The co-chairs shall draw up the agenda and submit it to the Steering Board.
Article 4
Documentation to be sent to members of the Steering Board
The invitation to the meeting, the draft agenda, and the meeting documents shall be
submitted as early as possible in advance of the meeting, taking into account the urgency of
the matter.
Article 5
Launching negotiations with manufacturers and advice on concluding Advance
Purchasing Agreements
In order to launch negotiations with a specific manufacturer, there needs to be support from
at least four Participating Member States, as expressed in the Steering Board.
Similarly, the Commission will only consider those Advance Purchasing Agreements for
financing where at least four Participating Member States have expressed their agreement in
the Steering Board.
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Article 6
Joint negotiation team and relations with the Steering Board
The co-chairs of the Steering Board propose a team of a limited number of experts with
relevant experience for the ongoing negotiations with vaccines manufacturers from six
Participating Member States with production capacities for vaccines. The proposed team is
approved by the Steering Board by simple majority of its component members. They will
join the European Commission in a negotiation team (“joint negotiation team”), which will
work on a continuous basis as one unit.
The joint negotiation team will report back to the Steering Board on a regular basis on the
progress made in negotiating with individual companies.
Article 7
Opinions of the Steering Board
The Steering Board may adopt written opinions to assist and advise the Commission and the
joint negotiation team on any matter relevant for the negotiations with vaccine
manufacturers. Opinions shall be adopted by simple majority of its component members.
The Commission and the joint negotiation team will make their best effort to take the
advice of the Steering Board into account in the negotiations.
Article 8
Secretarial support
The Steering Board is supported by a secretariat in the European Commission. The
secretariat shall assist in the preparation and execution of the meetings of the Steering
Board, including by providing administrative and logistical support to the Steering Board
under the direction of the co-chairs.
Article 9
Attendance list and minutes of Steering Board meetings
At each meeting, the co-chairs shall draw up an attendance list. The minutes of each
meeting shall be drawn up by the secretariat under the responsibility of the co-chairs. The
co-chairs shall send the minutes to the Steering Board members without delay.
Article 10
Access to documents and confidentiality
Requests for access to the Steering Board documents shall be handled in accordance with
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
The Steering Board’s discussions shall be confidential.
Documents submitted to members of the Steering Board shall be treated as confidential,
unless access is granted to those documents pursuant to the first sentence of this Article or
they are otherwise made public by the Commission.
The members of the Steering Board, as well as its secretariat, and the joint negotiation team
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shall be required to sign strict confidentiality declarations and respect the confidentiality
obligations set out in this Article.
Article 11
Conflicts of interest
Given their access to highly sensitive business information, all members of the Steering
Board and the joint negotiation team will be required to sign no-conflict-of-interest
declarations.
At the beginning of each Steering Board meeting, any person participating in the meeting
shall inform the co-chairs of any conflict of interest with regard to a particular item on the
agenda. In the event of such a conflict of interest, the person concerned shall, at the request
of the co-chairs, withdraw from the meeting whilst the relevant items of the agenda are
being dealt with.
Article 12
Protection of personal data
The Steering Board may process personal data necessary for the purposes of concluding
Advance Purchase Agreements. The Commission shall be regarded as controller in relation
of the personal data processed by the Steering Board.
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