Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community

TITLE II INSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS

Article 164Joint Committee

1.A Joint Committee, comprising representatives of the Union and of the United Kingdom, is hereby established. The Joint Committee shall be co-chaired by the Union and the United Kingdom.

2.The Joint Committee shall meet at the request of the Union or the United Kingdom, and in any event shall meet at least once a year. The Joint Committee shall set its meeting schedule and its agenda by mutual consent. The work of the Joint Committee shall be governed by the rules of procedure set out in Annex VIII to this Agreement.

3.The Joint Committee shall be responsible for the implementation and application of this Agreement. The Union and the United Kingdom may each refer to the Joint Committee any issue relating to the implementation, application and interpretation of this Agreement.

4.The Joint Committee shall:

(a)supervise and facilitate the implementation and application of this Agreement;

(b)decide on the tasks of the specialised committees and supervise their work;

(c)seek appropriate ways and methods of preventing problems that might arise in areas covered by this Agreement or of resolving disputes that may arise regarding the interpretation and application of this Agreement;

(d)consider any matter of interest relating to an area covered by this Agreement;

(e)adopt decisions and make recommendations as set out in Article 166; and

(f)adopt amendments to this Agreement in the cases provided for in this Agreement.

5.The Joint Committee may:

(a)delegate responsibilities to specialised committees, except those responsibilities referred to in points (b), (e) and (f) of paragraph 4;

(b)establish specialised committees other than those established by Article 165, in order to assist the Joint Committee in the performance of its tasks;

(c)change the tasks assigned to specialised committees and dissolve any of those committees;

(d)except in relation to Parts One, Four and Six, until the end of the fourth year following the end of the transition period, adopt decisions amending this Agreement, provided that such amendments are necessary to correct errors, to address omissions or other deficiencies, or to address situations unforeseen when this Agreement was signed, and provided that such decisions may not amend the essential elements of this Agreement;

(e)adopt amendments to the rules of procedure set out in Annex VIII; and

(f)take such other actions in the exercise of its functions as decided by the Union and the United Kingdom.

6.The Joint Committee shall issue an annual report on the functioning of this Agreement.

Article 165Specialised committees

1.The following specialised committees are hereby established:

(a)the Committee on citizens' rights;

(b)the Committee on the other separation provisions;

(c)the Committee on issues related to the implementation of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland;

(d)the Committee on issues related to the implementation of the Protocol relating to the Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus;

(e)the Committee on issues related to the implementation of the Protocol on Gibraltar; and

(f)the Committee on the financial provisions.

Those specialised committees shall comprise representatives of the Union and representatives of the United Kingdom.

2.The work of the specialised committees shall be governed by the rules of procedure set out in Annex VIII to this Agreement.

Unless otherwise provided in this Agreement, or unless the co-chairs decide otherwise, the specialised committees shall meet at least once a year. Additional meetings may be held at the request of the Union, the United Kingdom, or of the Joint Committee. They shall be co-chaired by representatives of the Union and of the United Kingdom. The specialised committees shall set their meeting schedule and agenda by mutual consent. The specialised committees may draw up draft decisions and recommendations and refer them for adoption by the Joint Committee.

3.The Union and the United Kingdom shall ensure that their respective representatives on the specialised committees have the appropriate expertise with respect to the issues under discussion.

4.The specialised committees shall inform the Joint Committee of their meeting schedules and agenda sufficiently in advance of their meetings, and shall report to the Joint Committee on the results and conclusions of each of their meetings. The creation or existence of a specialised committee shall not prevent the Union or the United Kingdom from bringing any matter directly to the Joint Committee.

Article 166Decisions and recommendations

1.The Joint Committee shall, for the purposes of this Agreement, have the power to adopt decisions in respect of all matters for which this Agreement so provides and to make appropriate recommendations to the Union and the United Kingdom.

2.The decisions adopted by the Joint Committee shall be binding on the Union and the United Kingdom, and the Union and the United Kingdom shall implement those decisions. They shall have the same legal effect as this Agreement.

3.The Joint Committee shall adopt its decisions and make its recommendations by mutual consent.