How to get involved

Special allowances for the time spent on STECF activities are foreseen to the experts attending the meetings. Also, experts are paid daily & accommodation allowances and reimbursed for travel expenses. The special allowances are laid out in the Annex the Commission Decision of 25 February 2016 setting up a Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (2016/C 74/05) 

• How to register for meetings
  Experts who have the relevant scientific knowledge and expertise to contribute to the STECF working groups and wish to participate to the meetings are asked to express their interest by registering themselves.
  A different registration page is available for each STECF meeting and experts should register separately for each one of the meetings they wish to attend.
  The registration application can be reached through the link provided on the meeting's web page following the steps below:
  • On the STECF web-site select the 'Meetings' tab,
  • In the 'Up coming meetings' list, please select the meeting of your choice,
  • In the section 'Registration information' click the 'Register here' link.
  • You will then be transferred to the 'JRC Register for Events Module'.
  The first time you access the site you need to create an account using the link “Create User Account” (top-right of the page). If you already have a user account from the past on this site use this account clicking on “Login”. Once you have entered the system, select the meeting you wish to register for. Please read the Privacy statement and accept it by checking at the bottom of the page “I accept the Events registration statement”. Fill in the information requested. To finalise the registration, click on the “Register” link. Your registration will be accepted (if all data is provided) and you will receive a confirmation email.
  For more details on the travel and the accommodation please read the 'Logistics' item.
  PLEASE NOTE: Registration allows for a list of potential participants to be compiled. It is only after the 'Selection Procedure' that the final list of participants for each meeting is decided and Invitation Letters are sent. Therefore, the experts that have registered are not to make any travel and accommodation arrangements before they receive an Invitation Letter.
• Expert selection procedure
  Meetings of the STECF and its working groups are approved and convened by the Commission.
  Before each meeting the focal point in DG MARE, the STECF Secretariat and the meeting's chair inform relevant organizations of the upcoming meeting and invite their experts to express their interest to participate within a set period of time.
  The aforementioned in charge of each meeting use the list of the experts registered to draw the final list of the meeting's participants. The experts' experience and the relevance of their field of expertise to the Terms of Reference to be dealt with during each meeting are among the criteria applied in the selection procedure.
  An Invitation Letter is sent to all the meeting's participants. Experts who expressed interest but were not selected are informed by the STECF Secretariat after the end of the selection procedure.
• Protocol for STECF meetings participants
  STECF members and external experts, invited to attend either STECF plenary meetings or Expert Working Groups, are appointed or invited in their personal capacity. They shall act independently (Article 5 of Commission Decision 2016/C 74/05). It is a general policy of the Commission to ensure transparency and participation of stakeholders to the decision making process.

• Observer registration and invitation
  It is a general policy of the Commission and the STECF to ensure transparency in the scientific advisory process. Accordingly meetings of the STECF or Expert Working Groups (EWGs) shall be open to observers unless decided otherwise by the Commission.
  If a meeting is open for observers, this is indicated on the meeting's website.
  If there are more requests for attendance than can be accommodated, preference will be given to persons affiliated to the Regional Advisory Councils.
  Especially for EWGs dealing with topics such as the evaluation of multi-annual management plans or the Landing obligations in EU fisheries, the number of observers requesting for attendance was significantly higher in the past than the number of observers which could possibly be accommodated. Consequently, the number of observers representing a certain RAC is limited. The RACs are expected to coordinate a balanced participation through their secretariats before individual observers' registrations are made for EWGs. Note: RAC observers are expected to represent their RAC rather than their individual affiliation (association, entity, NGO, lab, etc.).
  Those interested in participating to a meeting as observers need to individually register their interest through the registration system as described above. When registering observers are requested to indicate the RAC they represent in the comment field. Note that registrations have to be done individually as this is the only way that JRC-STECF secretariat can comply with EU legal provisions for the protection of personal data.
  PLEASE NOTE: Only those receiving an invitation letter to attend a meeting as observers will be granted access to a meeting. Those accepting this invitation are deemed to have agreed to comply with the protocol for observers as described below.
• Protocol for Observers
  (last update: 8 July 2022)
  It is a general policy of the STECF to ensure transparency in the scientific advisory process. Accordingly, meetings of the STECF or EWGs shall be open to observers unless decided otherwise by the Commission. With a view to facilitate the participation of observers without negatively affecting the logistics and performance of STECF and EWG meetings the following rules shall apply:
  • The Commission will determine the maximum number of observers to be admitted to any meeting based on conference room capacity and the need for a balanced participation preserving the scientific nature and integrity of the work. Priority will be given to representatives of the Advisory Councils, Member States and Member States Regional Groups.
  • Observers may attend meetings in person but may not vote.
  • Observers may make oral statements during the meeting upon the invitation of the Chair.
  • Observers may engage in other activities as appropriate and as approved by the Chair.
  • Observers shall have access to the same documentation generally available to meeting participants, except those documents deemed confidential by the Commission (Article 7(1) of Commission Decision (EC) C 74/05/2016.
  • Observers shall not have access to the meetings’ sharepoints, that serve as the experts protected workspace, and corresponding databases.
  • Observers should note that statements and opinions of any persons attending the meeting shall not be attributable. Observers are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed.
  • Observers should note that EWGs are responsible for preparing a report to the STECF. The opinions expressed in EWG reports have no official status and should not be interpreted as the opinions of the STECF. The STECF opinions are formed only after formal review in plenum or by written procedure and subsequently published on the STECF website.
  Those accepting this invitation are deemed to have agreed to comply with these rules. The Chair will ensure that participants are informed of the above rules at the beginning of the meeting. Those not accepting them will be asked to leave. An observer who is found not to have respected the rules in this protocol may be asked to leave a meeting or may be declined admission to subsequent meetings.
  These rules shall be subject to review and revision, as appropriate.
  Meetings open to observers are indicated on the relevant meeting webpages on the STECF website where those wishing to participate as observers should register their interest to attend. Registration should be made at least ten working days before the meeting is scheduled to commence.
  NOTE: the Commission does not reimburse the travel and subsistence costs of observers.

• Procedure
  Every person invited to the meeting has to organise its own trip. The location of the meeting is specified on the on the individual meeting’s website and on the registration page. Anyone from outside the Commission who is invited to give a specific professional opinion in a committee wherever the location of the meeting, is entitled to a reimbursement.
  The expense claims have to be initiated by the invited person not before the start of the meeting and not later than 30 calendar days after the final day of the meeting. For more details on the allowances rights please read the 'Allowances' section and read the 'Expense Claims' section to know the reimbursement procedure.
• Meeting in Ispra
  Please contact the JRC-Focal person for more details.
• Transport details
  Currently no transport is available.
• JRC entrance procedure
  Research on nuclear safeguards is taking place at JRC Ispra and entrance procedures are particularly strict. A JRC/CCR taxi or bus will come and pick you up in the morning (usually 08:30h) of the first day of the meeting outside the entrance of your hotel.
  When you arrive at the main entrance of JRC, the taxi or bus will have to let you out so that you can go to the reception (in the right wing of the building) to get registered and receive your special entrance permit. You must present the same ID document - ID card or passport – that you entered in the JRC Register for Events Module. Reception will keep your ID card/passport until you leave when you will also have to give back the special entrance permit.
  This procedure will be repeated every morning and afternoon during the meeting. In the morning of the first day of the meeting, a JRC representative will come to the main entrance/reception to welcome you and show you the way to the building where the meeting will take place.

• Travel allowance
  All experts shall be entitled to the reimbursement of their travel expenses from the place specified in their invitation to the place of the meeting. This travel must be organised on the basis of the most appropriate means of transport and trying to benefit from the most economical travel rates. The services in charge of reimbursement shall have the right to carry out any checks that might be needed and to request any proof from the expert required for this purpose. They shall also have the right, where it appears to be justified, to restrict reimbursement to the rates normally applied to the usual journey from the expert's place of work or residence to the meeting place. So please do be careful when organising your trip.
  As a general rule, means of transport are:
  • first-class rail travel journey less than 400 km (one way);
  • economy class air travel for distances of more than 400 km. Business class is allowed for a flight of 4 hours or more without stopovers;
  • private car. The travel shall be reimbursed at the same rate as the first-class rail ticket, or by default at the rate of 0,22 € per km.
  For more details please refer to the original document: PMO-info-reimbursement.pdf.
• Daily allowance
  The daily allowance is a flat rate. It covers all meals and local transport (bus, tram, metro, taxi, parking, motorway tolls, etc.), as well as travel and accident insurance. With effect of 1 January 2023, the amounts to 113 € per day of meeting. If the distance between the place of departure cited in the invitation (be it your private or professional address) is 100 km or less from the place where the meeting is held, the daily allowance shall be reduced by 50%. You shall then only receive 56.50 €.
  For more details please refer to the original document: decision AGW experts.pdf.
• Accommodation allowance
  If you have to spend one or more nights at the place where the meeting is held because the times of meetings are incompatible with the times of flights or trains, you shall also be entitled to an accommodation allowance. This allowance shall be 168 € per night. The number of nights may not exceed the number of meeting days + 1.
  For more details please refer to the original document: decision AGW experts.pdf.
• Special allowances
  STECF members and external experts shall be entitled to special allowances further to their participation in the activities of the STECF. For details see: Commission Decision of 25 February 2016 setting up a Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (2016/C 74/05). All languages [here].

Important
Please remember that you must provide the meeting’s secretary with the documents necessary for their reimbursement, as required by the financial rules applicable in the Commission, by letter, fax or e-mail postmarked or dated no later than 30 calendar days after the final day of the meeting. Beyond this deadline, the Commission is absolved from any obligation to reimburse travel expenses or pay any allowances.

Experts are kindly asked to follow the below described procedure in order to receive a reimbursement for expenses occurred.
After the invitation letter you will receive by e-mail an "application for reimbursement" form that you are kindly requested to bring with you to the meeting and to present it together with evidence of your travel costs (ticket and boarding pass). Please read also the reimbursement procedures.

• For those of you who have already attended a STECF meeting:
  Please make sure you bring your identification sticker, in order to attach it on your application for reimbursement.
• For those of you who are attending a STECF meeting for the first time:
  Please download the following documents, fill in, sign and bring them with you to the meeting.
  • The Financial Identification form (available in different languages). The Financial Identification form needs the stamp of your bank OR a bank statement indicating name of the bank, name of the account holder and IBAN code (this can also be a print-out from your home bank).
  • The Legal Entity form (available in different languages).
    (available in different languages). The Legal Entity form has to be presented together with a readable copy of your ID card or passport.

In order to facilitate and speed up your reimbursement and compensation payments we suggest that you bring the forms and the evidence of your travel costs with you to the meeting. You can also send these documents after the meeting takes place by letter or by e-mail postmarked or dated no later than 30 calendar days after the final day of the meeting. Beyond this deadline the Commission is absolved from any obligation to reimburse travel expenses or pay any allowances.

Note: The Commission works very hard to ensure that STECF experts are paid quickly. The tasks of the STECF secretariat relating to these payments is to collect, quality-check and process the expert's forms and then send them to the Commission's services in Brussels who are in charge of the actual payments. Please note that reimbursement of expenses (travel, daily & accommodation allowances) and compensation for participation in the activities are done on separate budget lines meaning that you will receive two different payments.

As outlined in Article 5 of Commission Decision (2016/C 74/05) on STECF, Members of the STECF and external experts are appointed/invited on their personal capacity and shall act independently. Members of the STECF and external experts shall declare at each meeting of the STECF and of Expert Working Groups any specific interest which might be considered prejudicial to their independence in relation to specific items on the agenda (click here to see declaration form).

The declaration of interest (DoI) members of the STECF and external experts are to provide has been set up in compliance with COMMISSION DECISION of 30.5.2016 establishing horizontal rules on the creation and operation of Commission expert groups (C(2016) 3301 final).

When filling out the DoI, members of the STECF and external experts declare on their honour that they have read the guidance note (Annex 7, pages 46-47) of the Commission Decision (C (2016) 3301 final) for completing the DoI (click here to see the guidance note).

In accordance with EU legislation on the protection of personal data declarations are only published on the STECF web site when STECF members and external experts sign an authorisation form to use personal data on JRC websites in the context of STECF (click here to see authorization form). Scan-PDFs of authorized declarations will be placed on the STECF web site with the personal signature of the experts omitted.