7 DE MAIO DE 1988

1369

EUMETSAT, if the council so decides in conformity with the provisions of article 5, 2, b), the State concerned not taking part in the vote on this issue. The decision shall take effect at the end of the financial year during which it was taken. The provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 of article 18 shall apply.

ARTICLE 14 Disputes

1 — Any dispute between two or more Member States, or between any of them and EUMETSAT, concerning the interpretation or application of this Convention or its annexes, that cannot be settled by or through the council, shall, at the request of any Party to the dispute, be submitted to an arbitration tribunal, unless the Parties agree on another mode of settling the dispute.

2 — The arbitration tribunal shall consist of three members. Each Party to the dispute shall nominate one arbitrator within a period of two months reckoned from the date of receipt of the request referred to in paragraph 1 above. The first two arbitrators shall, within a period of two months reckoned from the nomination of the second arbitrator, nominate the third arbitrator, who shall be the chairman of the arbitration tribunal and who may not be a national of a State that is a Party to the dispute. If one of the two arbitrators has not been nominated within the required period he shall, at the request of cither Party, be nominated by the president of the International Court of Justice or, if there is no agreement between the Parties to call on the latter, by the secretary general of the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The same procedure shall apply if the chairman of the arbitration tribunal has not been nominated within the required period.

3 — The arbitration tribunal shall itself determine its seat and establish its own rules of procedure.

4 — Each Party shall bear the cost relating to the arbitrator for whose nomination it is responsible, as well as the costs of being represented before the tribunal. The expenditure relating to the chairman of the arbitration tribunal shall be shared equally by the Parties to the dispute.

5 — The award of the arbitration tribunal shall be made by a majority of its members, who may not abstain from voting. This award shall be final and binding on all Parties to the dispute and no appeal shall lie against it. The Parties shall comply with the award without delay. In the event of a dispute as to its meaning or scope, the arbitration tribunal shall interpret it at the request of any Parry to the dispute.

ARTICLE 15 Signature, ratification and accession

1 —This Convention shall be open for signature by the States that took part in the Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the setting-up of a European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites.

2 — The said States shall become Parties to this Convention either:

By signature not subject to ratification, acceptance or approval, or;

By the deposit of an instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval with the depositary if the Convention was signed subject to ratification, acceptance or approval.

3 — From the date of entry into force of this Convention, any State that did not lake part in the Conference of Plenipotentiaries referred to in paragraph 1 of this article may accede to it following a council decision taken in conformity with the provisions of article 5, 2, a). A State that wishes to accede to this Convention shall notify the director accordingly and the latter shall inform ihe Member States of the request at least three months before it is submitted to the council for decision. The council shall determine the terms and conditions for the accession of the State in question, in conformity with article 5. 2, a).

4 — The instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval and accession shall be deposited with the Government of the Swiss Confederation, referred to as «the depositary*.

ARTICLE 16 Entry into force

1 — This Convention shall enter into force sixty days after ihe date on which States whose aggregate contributions according to the scale at annex it amount to at least 85 % of ihe total amount of the contributions have become Parlies to the Convention in implementation of article 15, 2.

2 — If the requirements for entry into force of this Convention in accordance with paragraph I of this article have not been met 2 years after Ihe date on which the Convention was opened for signature, the depositary shall, at the earliest lime possible, convene the governments of the States which have signed the Convention without their signature being subject to ratification, acceptance or approval or which have deposited instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval. These governments may then decide that notwithstanding the requirements of paragraph 1 the Convention shall enter into force among them. In taking such a decision ihese governments shall agree upon the date of entry into force and a revision of the scale of contributions referred to in annex n.

3 — Following the entry into force of the Convention pursuant to either paragraph \ or paragraph 2 of this article, and pending the deposit of its instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval, a Stale that has signed the Convention subject to ratification, acceptance or approval may take part in EUMETSAT meetings without the right to vote.

4 — For any State that, subsequent to the dale of entry into force of the Convention, pursuant lo cither paragraph 1 or paragraph 2 of this article, signs the Convention without its signature being subject to ratification, acceptance or approval, or deposits its instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval, and for any State that accedes to it, the Convention shall take effect on the date of signature by the said State or on the date of deposit of its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, as the case may be.

5 — Any Sate referred to in article 15, 1, that becomes a Party to the Convention shall, in as far