662-(24)

II SÉRIE-A — NÚMERO 32

cedure for licensing and declaration, in force between Contracting Parties of this Convention;

2) To undertake studies on the approximation of licensing and declaration procedures and conditions, including studies on behalf of outside bodies, inter alia the European Commission, and to advise ECTRA accordingly;

3) To undertake studies in the field of numbering, including studies on behalf of outside bodies, inter alia the European Commission, and to advise ECTRA on the development of European numbering policies, the management of European numbering schemes where relevant and the co-ordination of national numbering schemes;

4) To undertake, after approval by the Council, any other activities as ECTRA may request.

Article 3 Legal status and privileges

1 — The ETO shall have legal personality. The ETO shall enjoy full capacity necessary for the exercise of its functions and the achievement of its purposes, and may in particular:

1) Enter into contracts;

2) Acquire, lease, hold and dispose of.movable and immovable property;

3) Be a party to legal proceedings;

4) Conclude agreements with States or international organizations.

2 — The director and the staff of the ETO shall have privileges and immunities in Denmark as defined in an agreement concerning the headquarters of the ETO between ECTRA and the Government of Denmark.

3 — Other countries may grant similar privileges and immunities in support of the ETO's activities in such countries, in particular with regard to immunity from legal process in respect of words spoken and written and all acts performed by the director and the staff of the ETO in their official capacity.

Article 4 Organ of the ETO

The ETO shall consist of a council and a director, assisted by a staff.

Article 5

The council

1 — The Council shall consist of representatives of the respective telecommunications regulatory administrations of all the Contracting Parties. It shall be the supreme decision-making body of the ETO.

2 — Representatives of members of ECTRA that do not belong to a Contracting Party to this Convention may attend the meetings of the Council as observers and may speak upon. invitation of the chairman, but may not vote.

3 — Representatives of the European Commission and of the EFTA secretariate may attend the meetings of the Council as observers, with the right to speak but not to vote.

4 — The chairman of ECTRA shall be the chairman of the Council. If the chairman of ECTRA is, however,

from a country that is not a Contracting Party to this Convention, the Council shall elect a chairman from amongst its own members. In this eventuality, the chairman of ECTRA shall attend the Council as an observer. The elected chairman's mandate shall expire at the same time as the mandate of the chairman of ECTRA.

5 — The chairman shall have authority to act on behalf of the Council within the limits of his mandate.

6 — The Council shall establish all necessary rules for the proper functioning of the ETO and its organs.

7 — The Council shall be convened by its chairman at least twice each year. It shall have in particular the following tasks:

1) To appoint the director of the ETO and to determine his or her duties;

2) To determine the numbers of staff and their terms of employment;

3) To supervise the appointment of staff by the director of the ETO;

4) To adopt the annual budget for the ETO and to inform ECTRA;

5) To approve annual accounts of the ETO and to inform ECTRA;

6) To agree the work programme in accordance with article 8 procedure;-

7) To set priorities after discussion with ECTRA in respect of tasks agreed in the work programme;

8) To consider possible cd-operation between ETO and other international organizations such as the European Radiocommunications Office (ERO).

8 — The Council shall report annually on its activities to an ECTRA plenary and shall provide additional reports on request of ECTRA.

Article 6 Voting procedures

1 — Members of the Council shall endeavour to reach consensus on decisions as far as possible. If consensus cannot be reached, a decision will be taken by a two thirds majority of the weighted votes cast. The votes will be weighted in accordance with the scale of contributory units as specified in article 10.

2 — For all decisions of the Council a quorum, present or represented by proxy, must exist at the time at which the decision is made which is equivalent to at least one half of the total weighted votes of all the Contracting Parties.

Article 7 Director and staff

1 — The director shall act as the legal representative of the ETO and shall have the authority, within limits agreed by the Council, to enter into contracts on behalf of the ETO. The director may delegate this authority, in whole or in part, to the deputy director.

2 — The director shall be responsible for the proper execution of all internal and external activities of the ETO in accordance with this Convention, the headquarters agreement, the work programme, the budget and directives and guidelines given by the Council.

3 — A set of staff rules shall be established by the Council.