Article 17

Regulation (EC) No 1906/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 laying down the rules for the participation of undertakings, research centres and universities in actions under the Seventh Framework Programme and for the dissemination of research results (2007-2013) (Text with EEA relevance) · European Union

The Commission shall appoint independent experts to assist with evaluations of proposals. For coordination and support actions, referred to in Article 14, independent experts shall be appointed only if the Commission deems it appropriate. Independent experts shall be chosen on the basis of skills and knowledge appropriate to the tasks assigned to them. In cases where independent experts will have to deal with classified information, the appropriate security clearance shall be required before appointment. Independent experts shall be identified and selected on the basis of calls for applications from individuals and calls addressed to relevant organisations such as national research agencies, research institutions or enterprises with a view to establishing lists of suitable candidates. The Commission may, if deemed appropriate, select any individual with the appropriate skills from outside the lists. Appropriate measures shall be taken to ensure reasonable gender balance when appointing groups of independent experts. For ‘frontier’ research projects, experts shall be appointed by the Commission on the basis of a proposal from the Scientific Council of the European Research Council. When appointing an independent expert, the Commission shall take all necessary steps to ensure that the expert is not faced with a conflict of interests in relation to the matter on which the expert is required to provide an opinion. The Commission shall adopt a model appointment letter, hereinafter ‘the appointment letter’, which shall include a declaration that the independent expert has no conflict of interest at the time of appointment and that he undertakes to inform the Commission if any conflict of interest should arise in the course of providing his opinion or carrying out his duties. The Commission shall conclude an appointment letter between the Community and each independent expert. The Commission shall publish once a year in any appropriate medium the list of the independent experts that have assisted it for the Seventh Framework Programme and each specific programme.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-07 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.