Task Force of the OIE Regional Commission for Europe for improving regional participation in the OIE standard setting process Dr. Ulrich Herzog OIE Delegate Austria
What is the task force? Task force was created at the Conference of the OIE Regional Commission Europe in September 2012 in Germany Members Bureau: Estonia, Ukraine, Spain, Turkey Russia, Serbia, Norway Austria, France, EC Technical support European Commission Meetings: 18.12.2012 Brussels 26.04.2013 Tallinn 12.11.2013 Vienna 28.04.2013 Belgrade 04.12.2014 Madrid 28.04.2015 - Oslo
Mechanism of the task force see Annex 1 of the minutes of the 2 nd meeting 26 th April 2013
Participation in the meetings Location / Date 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Brussels 2012 Tallinn 2013 Vienna 2013 Belgrade 2014 Madrid 2014 Estonia Y Y Y Y Y Y Spain Y Y Y Y Y Y Ukraine N N N Y N N Turkey Y N Y N Serbia Y N Y Y Y N Norway Y Y Y Y Y Y Russia Y Y Y Y N N France Y N Y Y Y Y Austria Y Y Y Y N Y EU 4 3 4 4 3 4 NON EU 4 2 4 4 2 1 Oslo 2015
Outcome of TF Meetings 1st meeting - December 2012: Structure of the TF; Financial support of TF; Role of the regional offices, Frist document about the working mechanism 2nd meeting - April 2013: Final version of the working mechanism including the role of a secretariat. Agreement of 6 common positions and 5 topics with no common position 4th meeting - April 2014: 30 common positions / 0 dissent? 6th meeting - April 2015: Proposal for the Reg. Commission and the new bureau to prolong the work of the task force Reduce the number of physical meetings once a year in April 38 common position / 0 dissent
My personal summary Thanks to all participants. Special thank to Moritz without his work the TF would not be able to generate common positions. We focused in our discussions only on the Code, but there are much more items which should be discussed The meetings were an excellent room for discussions between the representatives of OIE Europe Gaining a better understanding of different positions Generating a better understanding of the different needs in the regions of Europe An excellent start but a poor finish
What was the reason? - My analysis Language regime: English the involvement of more delegates in the decisions before the GA was not possible no translations Participation of all TF-Member Financial support for travel and hotel costs was not possible No technical / Administrative support of the Regional office and/or Headquarter: Secretariat was provided by EC Feeling that there is no possibility to influence the decision by NON EU-Members
What do we want to do? Establishing a Regional - Strategy for EUROPE in line with the 6 th Strategic plan Creating a work-program for 24 month Include all activities which are prepared in the headquarter and/or in the regional offices Including the activities of friendly organisations such as EC, EUFMD, FAO, GFTADs.
What do we need? How can we insure the participation of TF Members? Budget for travel and accommodation if there is a need for support Translation: Minutes of the meetings should be in English and Russian language. Possible support by the regional offices in Moscow and/or Astana? Translation of the Draft of Positions and the speaking notes Involvement of the whole Region? The members of the bureau are responsible for coordination of the geographical region and language More input through the members of the task force
New task force Proposal for a geographical distribution Non EU Member: Balkan region Central Europe East part Eurasian Economic Union Caucasus EFTA EU Member: North Eastern region Central Europe Mediterranean Region North Europe Members Bureau: Latvia, Belarus, Serbia, Austria Further Representatives of EU Members:?+? Further Representatives of Non EU Members:? +? +? Council Members: Germany and Russia further observes European Commission Regional offices Brussels and/or Moscow / Astana Support of the task force as a secretariat
Working mechanism One meeting in December To discuss more strategic issues Expert groups; Work plan of OIE or other org like EUFMD, GFTADs, regional meetings etc. Agenda points Follow up of regional action plans First overview of the CODE - Topics One meeting in April To prepare common positions for the CODEs Documents needed in Russian before this meeting Draft Speaking notes should be in Russian and English
Timetable of coordination January February March April May June Code COM GA Council Council Telephone Task Force Reg. COM July August September October November December Code COM Reg. Com (2 nd year) Council Telephone Task Force
Thank you for your attention!!