Oprettelse af ICPEN Europe

PROTOCOL CONCERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF "ICPEN-Europe"

1. The operation of "ICPEN-Europe" Was decided upon at the meeting of the European members of ICPEN held in Bruges on 25 March 1999, on the occasion of the ICPEN annual conference.
2. This protocol was agreed upon at a meeting held in Oslo on 13 September 1999.
   A list of participants and organisations represented at its meeting is attached.
   This protocol is based on the conclusions adopted at the meeting held in Bruges on 25 March 1999 and the work done by the working party formed at the same time, involving the representatives of Belgium, Norway, the United Kingdom and the European Commission. This working party met in Brussels on 7 May 1999.
3. It was agreed that the name "ICPEN-Europe" shall apply to the group/network established between the members of the International Marketing Supervision Network ("ICPEN") representing those countries signatory to the EEA Agreement (hereinafter referred to as: "the European members of ICPEN").
   The representatives within the ICPEN shall also provide the representation within ICPEN-Europe.
   The European Commission will participate in the work of ICPEN-Europe and will be represented by the Directorate-General responsible for Consumer Policy.

The aims of ICPEN-Europe

1. Bearing in mind the existence of a largely harmonised European legal framework for the protection of consumer rights, the members of ICPEN-Europe recognise the need to strengthen and improve cooperation and the systematic exchange of information between them in order to achieve more effective enforcement of European consumer legislation (with the exception of legislation dealing with health and safety matters). The aim of ICPEN-Europe shall be to respond to this need.
2. ICPEN-Europe shall become a European forum in which the national bodies responsible for enforcing consumer legislation may discuss, exchange views and experiences concerning and seek common solutions to problems linked to the enforcement of European consumer legislation (with the exception of legislation dealing with health and safety matters).
3. The activities of ICPEN-Europe shall be restricted to questions characterised by a specifically European dimension.
   The activities of ICPEN-Europe shall under no circumstances adversely affect the proper operation of ICPEN nor cooperation between all its members.
4. The group will work in the same informal way, as in the framework of the ICPEN.

The operation of ICPEN-Europe

1. The members of ICPEN-Europe shall undertake to do all in their power to ensure optimum use of the network and the instruments for cooperation it provides (six-monthly meetings, information exchange system, database).
2. As much as possible, they shall endeavour to cooperate with the bodies responsible at regional or local level in their country with a view to collecting and forwarding relevant information of interest to ICPEN-Europe.

Chair

ICPEN-Europe shall be chaired by the member chairing the ICPEN.
Where the ICPEN is chaired by a non-European member, the chair of ICPEN- Europe shall be the member who was most recently chair of the ICPEN.

Meetings

1. ICPEN-Europe shall meet twice annually.
   When the ICPEN is chaired by a European member, the ICPEN-Europe meetings shall be held alongside the ICPEN meeting. The host country shall provide secretarial services and cover the costs of meetings.
   When the ICPEN is chaired by a non-European member, meetings of ICPEN- Europe shall be held in Brussels. In this case, the meeting and secretariat shall be organised by the European Commission.
2. The agenda and the meeting dates shall be decided by the chair. Where the European Commission is responsible for providing the secretariat for meetings (see above), the chair shall ensure its involvement.

The information exchange system

1. In order to ensure a permanent and systematic exchange of information between the members of ICPEN-Europe, the European Commission shall provide the latter with computer tools to be placed on a web site with partially restricted access, consisting of (1) an information exchange system and (2) a database for storing the exchanged information.
   A section of the web site, open to the public, shall provide information on the nature of the group, its activities, the addresses of its constituent bodies and other information of general interest to consumers.
2. The members of the ICPEN-Europe shall undertake to use the information exchange system referred to in 13 in such a way as to ensure that other members are notified as soon as possible of bilateral contacts made via the usual means, and of other relevant information.
3. The members of the ICPEN-Europe shall undertake to comply with the security instructions adopted.
4. The European Commission shall maintain the tools referred to in 13 and shall update the content of the pages on the ICPEN-Europe site in accordance with indications from the chair of the group.
   The costs of establishing and operating the web site and computer tools referred to in 13 shall be met by the European Commission.
5. A special link shall be established between the ICPEN-Europe web site and that of the ICPEN.
6. ICPEN members who so wish may consult the ICPEN-Europe database.
7. The members of ICPEN-Europe recognise that it is desirable for the information exchanged via the network to be standardised and retained so that it can be analysed and evaluated.
   The members of ICPEN and the European Commission may use the information collected in the database referred to in 13 for study and comparative analysis.

Working languages

1. The working languages of ICPEN-Europe shall be English and French.