Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/1956 of 10 November 2021 on the establishment and organisation of the Union Civil Protection Knowledge Network (notified under document C(2021) 7939)Text with EEA relevance.

Article 8 shall apply to the travel and accommodation expenses incurred by members of the pillars’ working groups.

Article 13

Observers

1. Participating States to the Union Mechanism shall have observer status in the Board. Each of the Participating States shall nominate a representative and a deputy representative to the Board as an observer. Gender-balanced participation shall be promoted.

1. Observers shall take part in the discussions and provide expertise. However, they shall not have voting rights.

1. Observers shall be considered as Type E members within the meaning of point (e) of Article 7(2) of Commission Decision C(2016) 3301 final of 30.5.2016 establishing horizontal rules on the creation and operation of Commission expert groups.

Article 14

Secretariat

1. The secretariat shall support the work of the bodies of the Knowledge Network to ensure their coordination, coherence and information sharing.

1. The secretariat shall be provided by the Commission.

1. The tasks of the secretariat shall be:

(a) preparing and ensuring the implementation of the strategic plans, as well as activities adopted in the annual or multi-annual work programme of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism;

(b) managing, administering, and coordinating the activities of the Knowledge Network;

(c) undertaking the reporting of the activities of the Knowledge Network.

1. The secretariat shall assist, where necessary, in the meetings of the advisory bodies of the Knowledge Network.

Article 15

Confidentiality

Members of the Board, the secretariat and the pillars’ working groups shall comply with the obligations of professional secrecy laid down in the Treaties and their implementing rules, as well as with the Commission’s rules on security regarding the protection of Union classified information, laid down in the Annex to Commission Decision (EU, Euratom) 2015/444

Commission Decision (EU, Euratom) 2015/444 of 13 March 2015 on the security rules for protecting EU classified information (OJ L 72, 17.3.2015, p. 53).

. Should they fail to respect these obligations, the Commission shall take appropriate measures.

Article 16

Transparency

1. As concerns the Knowledge Network composition, the following data shall be published on the Commission Register of expert groups and other similar entities and on the online platform that shall support and facilitate the implementation of the different tasks referred to in Article 13(1), point (d) of Decision No 1313/2013/EU:

(a) the names of the Member States represented by the authorities that are members of the Board and the pillars’ working groups;

(b) the names of the authorities representing the Participating States to the Union Mechanism in the pillars’ working groups;

(c) the names of the authorities representing the Participating States to the Union Mechanism to which observer status to the Board is granted.

1. All documents of the meetings of the Knowledge Network’s bodies, including agendas, minutes, participants’ submissions shall be made available in the Commission Register of expert groups and published on the same online platform referred to in Article 13(1), point (d) of Decision No 1313/2013/EU. In particular, the agenda and other relevant background documents shall be published in due time ahead of the meeting, followed by the timely publication of minutes. Exceptions to publication shall be restricted to cases where the disclosure of a document would undermine the protection of a public or private interest as defined in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001