Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/996 of 9 June 2017 setting up the European Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Laboratory — European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ECCSEL ERIC) (notified under document C(2017) 3875)

Article 1

Article 2

This Decision is addressed to the French Republic, the Italian Republic, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Norway and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

ANNEX

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF THE STATUTES OF ECCSEL ERIC

The following Articles and paragraphs of the Articles of the Statutes of ECCSEL ERIC provide for the essential elements in accordance with Article 6(3) of Regulation (EC) No 723/2009

1. Tasks and Activities

(Article 2 of the Statutes of ECCSEL ERIC)

• 1.ECCSEL ERIC shall establish and operate a world-class distributed research infrastructure to be set up as a central hub responsible for the coordinated operation of several facilities operating under a joint hallmark, ECCSEL ERIC.

• a) ECCSEL ERIC shall coordinate the use of research facilities in the distributed infrastructure and coordinate plans for their upgrade and new investments. ECCSEL ERIC shall assure international open access to the infrastructure. ECCSEL ERIC shall furthermore, within its means and competence, support owners of the research facilities in their endeavours to enhance the operations of their facilities and their endeavours to upgrade them and to create new facilities.

• b) ECCSEL ERIC shall facilitate superior experimental research on new and improved CO2 Capture, transport, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) and aligned sustainable subsurface energy systems for a net zero carbon society, envisaging commercial uptake by 2020-2030 and beyond.

• c) ECCSEL ERIC does not own and operate research facilities itself. The General Assembly may however in future decide that ECCSEL ERIC shall invest in or run its own facilities. Members and Observers who do not wish to participate in funding such facilities may abstain from their financing in accordance with Article 9(2)(a).

• d) ECCSEL ERIC shall promote the open dissemination of research results and data produced through its activities. ECCSEL ERIC shall foster the definition of related common standards and methods to improve interoperability.

• e) Any other related action necessary to achieve its aim.

• 2.ECCSEL ERIC shall make facilities required for conducting research in priority areas available for the international research community. By doing this ECCSEL ERIC will contribute to pushing the forefront of technological development beyond the current state-of-the-art, thereby accelerating the commercialisation and deployment of CCUS and aligned sustainable subsurface energy systems. In this undertaking, ECCSEL ERIC shall address and nurture top-level research actions among scientists within these fields and according to the priorities of ECCSEL ERIC. ECCSEL ERIC will establish a very advanced inventory of unique research facilities and give the European (primarily), and non-European user communities access to these resources.

• 3.ECCSEL ERIC shall be constructed and operated on a non-economic basis.

• 4.Without prejudice to Article 2(3), ECCSEL ERIC may carry out limited economic activities provided that they are closely related to ECCSEL ERIC main tasks and they do not jeopardize the achievement thereof.

2. Name, seat, location and working language

(Article 1 of the Statutes of ECCSEL ERIC)

• 1.There shall be a distributed European Research Infrastructure Consortium called the ‘European Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Laboratory — European Research Infrastructure Consortium’, hereinafter referred to as ‘ECCSEL ERIC’.

• 2.ECCSEL ERIC shall have its statutory seat in Trondheim, Norway.

3. Duration

( Article 22 of the Statutes of ECCSEL ERIC)

ECCSEL ERIC shall be established for an indefinite period of time.

4. Winding up

( Article 24 of the Statutes of ECCSEL ERIC)

• 1.The General Assembly may with a two-thirds majority vote decide to wind up ECCSEL ERIC.

• 2.Without undue delay and in any event within 10 days after adoption of the decision to wind up ECCSEL ERIC, ECCSEL ERIC shall notify the European Commission about the decision.

• 3.Assets remaining after payment of ECCSEL ERIC debts shall be apportioned among the Members in proportion to their accumulated annual fee to ECCSEL ERIC as specified in Annex II to the Statutes.

• 4.Without undue delay and in any event within 10 days of the closure of the winding up procedure, ECCSEL ERIC shall notify the European Commission thereof.

• 5.ECCSEL ERIC ceases to exist on the day on which the European Commission publishes the appropriate notice in the Official Journal of the European Union.

5. Liability

(Article 13 of the Statutes of ECCSEL ERIC)

• 1.ECCSEL ERIC shall be liable for its debts.

• 2.The Members shall not be jointly liable for the debts of ECCSEL ERIC. The liability of the Members for the debts of ECCSEL ERIC shall be limited to their respective contributions.

• 3.ECCSEL ERIC shall take appropriate insurance to cover the risks specific to the construction and operation of ECCSEL ERIC.

6. Access Policy for Users

(Article 18 of the Statutes of ECCSEL ERIC)

• 1.A substantial part of the available research time for each national facility participating in the ECCSEL infrastructure is to be offered to the international research community. The General Assembly shall reserve a proportion of the access time available to researchers from states that are not Members of ECCSEL ERIC.

• 2.ECCSEL ERIC and the owners of the research facilities shall enter into individual agreements related to how large a proportion of the available research time will be made available for the international research community and the conditions for access.

• 3.The access to ECCSEL ERIC facilities shall be open to researchers, scientists and students. The granting of ECCSEL-supported access is based on competition and peer review of applications after a fair and transparent procedure. The main criteria for the competition shall be scientific excellence and importance in relation to ECCSEL ERIC strategies, as decided by the General Assembly.

• 4.ECCSEL ERIC may establish a system for authentication and authorisation that ensures that only persons that are entitled to access a facility are admitted entry and use. ECCSEL ERIC may decide that Members and Observers must adhere to such a system if their researchers are to be granted access.

• 5.A detailed Access Policy applicable to users, approved by the General Assembly, is to be publicly available.

7. The Research Infrastructure Coordination Committee, the Scientific Advisory Board and the Ethics and Environmental Advisory Board

(Article 11 of the Statutes of ECCSEL ERIC)

• 2.The Scientific Advisory Board and Scientific Evaluation Policy

• a) The General Assembly shall appoint an independent Scientific Advisory Board of up to six eminent, independent and experienced scientists. The appointment of the members of the Scientific Advisory Board shall be based on suggestions from the Director, who shall seek advice from the Scientific Advisory Board and from the Research Infrastructure Coordination Committee. The term of office of the Members of the Scientific Advisory Board is three years. Re-appointment is possible once. Delegates to the General Assembly cannot be appointed to this Board.

• b) The Director shall consult with the Scientific Advisory Board at least once a year on the scientific quality of the services offered by ECCSEL ERIC, the organisation's scientific policies, procedures and future plans.

• c) The Scientific Advisory Board shall annually submit a report to the General Assembly, through the Director, on its activities. The Director shall submit the report to the General Assembly together with the Director's comments and possible recommendations.

8. Dissemination Policy

(Article 19 of the Statutes of ECCSEL ERIC)

• 1.There shall be open access to ECCSEL ERIC research results and data in accordance with dissemination and data policies adopted by the General Assembly. Open research results and data shall be provided to interested parties without payment of other costs than those associated with the dissemination. For the purpose of this provision, ‘ECCSEL ERIC research results and data’ shall mean research results and data in the field of CCUS and aligned sustainable subsurface energy systems generated by the owners of the facilities that participate in the ECCSEL ERIC infrastructure.

• 2.ECCSEL ERIC shall actively disseminate ECCSEL ERIC research results to society so that they can play an active role in policy development and the control of carbon dioxide emissions.

• 3.ECCSEL ERIC shall promote the ECCSEL ERIC cooperation and the cooperation's results, encourage researchers to embark on new and innovative projects and, as appropriate, encourage researchers to use ECCSEL ERIC results in higher education.

• 4.ECCSEL ERIC shall generally encourage users of ECCSEL ERIC research results to make their own research results publicly available and shall request users to make suitable publicity about the access provided to them within ECCSEL ERIC.

• 5.ECCSEL ERIC shall use a range of methods to reach target audiences.

• 6.The dissemination policy shall describe the various target groups, and use a range of methods to reach target audiences. In all publications dealing with results and knowledge generated by or within the ECCSEL cooperation, ECCSEL ERIC shall be duly acknowledged.

9. Intellectual Property Rights Policy

(Article 20 of the Statutes of ECCSEL ERIC)

• 1.In accordance with the objects of the present Statutes, the term ‘Intellectual Property’ is to be understood according to Article 2 of the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) signed on 14 July 1967.

• 2.With respect to questions of Intellectual Property, relations between the Members are to be governed by the national legislation of the Member countries, as well as relevant international rules and regulations.

• 3.Intellectual property that Members provide to ECCSEL ERIC shall remain the property of the original Intellectual Property holder. If such property originates from ECCSEL ERIC funded work (direct contribution or in kind), the intellectual property shall belong to ECCSEL ERIC, unless it has been agreed that the property shall belong to the Member that has created it. The possible economic value of access above the fee paid shall not be regarded as ECCSEL ERIC – funded work for the purposes of Intellectual Property.

• 4.ECCSEL ERIC shall ensure that users agree to the terms and conditions governing access to results and intellectual property rights of results and that suitable security arrangements are in place regarding the storage and handling of rights and results.

• 5.ECCSEL ERIC shall have in place arrangements for investigating allegations of security breaches and confidentiality disclosures regarding research data and information.

• 6.ECCSEL ERIC shall provide guidance to researchers to ensure that research undertaken using material made accessible through ECCSEL ERIC shall be within a framework that recognizes the rights of owners.

• 7.A detailed Intellectual Property Rights Policy, approved by the General Assembly shall be separately agreed by the parties operating the facilities that participate in ECCSEL ERIC activities.

10. Employment

(Article 17 of the Statutes of ECCSEL ERIC)

• 1.ECCSEL ERIC shall be an equal opportunity employer. The procedures for selecting applicants for ECCSEL ERIC staff positions shall be transparent, non-discriminatory and respect equal opportunities.

• 2.Employment contracts shall be subject to applicable laws and regulations of the country in which the staff member is employed or to the laws of the country where the activities of ECCSEL ERIC are conducted. ECCSEL ERIC vacancies shall be published internationally in an appropriate manner.

• 3.Subject to the requirements of national legislation, each Member shall within its jurisdiction facilitate the movement and residence of nationals of Members involved in the tasks of ECCSEL ERIC and of the family members of such nationals.

11. Procurement policy and tax exemption

(Article 16 of the Statutes of ECCSEL ERIC)

• 1.ECCSEL ERIC shall treat procurement candidates and tenderers equally and in a non-discriminatory way, independent of whether or not they are based in the European Union. The ECCSEL ERIC procurement policy shall respect the principles of transparency, non-discrimination and competition.

• 2.The Director shall be responsible for all ECCSEL ERIC procurement. The decision to award procurement shall be published appropriately and include a full justification. The General Assembly shall adopt Implementing Rules defining all necessary details on exact procurement procedures and criteria.

• 3.Procurement by Members and Observers concerning ECCSEL ERIC activities shall be done in such a way that due consideration is given to ECCSEL ERIC needs, technical requirements and specifications issued by the relevant bodies.

• 4.Tax exemptions based on Norwegian Act relating to value added tax of 19. June 2009 No 58, § 10-3, shall be limited to the value added tax for such goods and services which are for official and exclusive use by ECCSEL ERIC and are wholly paid and procured by ECCSEL ERIC or by Members States of ECCSEL ERIC. The tax exemptions shall apply to non-economic activities. They shall not apply to economic activities. No further limits shall apply.

• 5.If a Member State of ECCSEL ERIC is tasked with hosting an ECCSEL ERIC Office which is recognised by that Member State of ECCSEL ERIC as an international body in the sense of Articles 143(1)(g) and 151(1)(b) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC and as an international organisation in the sense of Article 11(1)(b) of Council Directive (EU) 2020/262, that ECCSEL ERIC Office shall in regard to goods and services acquired within the EU for its own needs or to accomplish the tasks it has been attributed by ECCSEL ERIC benefit from tax exemptions based on Articles 143(1)(g) and 151(1)(b) of Directive 2006/112/EC, for purchases that exceed the value of EUR 300, and are wholly paid and procured by ECCSEL ERIC or by Members of ECCSEL ERIC. The tax exemptions shall apply to non-economic activities. They shall not apply to economic activities. No further limits shall apply.