Ministers' Deputies
Notes on the Agenda



677bis Meeting, 27-28 July 1999
9 Environment and Local authorities

9.1 Open Partial Agreement on the prevention of, protection against and organisation of relief in major natural and technological disasters
Replacement of the members of the European Advisory Evaluation Committee for Earthquake Prediction

Notes(99)562 20 July 1999

Reference documents
- CM/Del/Dec/Act(93)490/29b
- CM/Del/Dec(99)660/9.2)

Action

The Committee of Ministers, restricted to representatives of States parties to the Open Partial Agreement on the prevention of, protection against and organisation of relief in major natural and technological disasters ^footnote1 , is invited to appoint six distinguished scientific figures as members of the European Advisory Evaluation Committee for Earthquake prediction and approve a reserve list.

1. At their 490^th meeting, on 22 March 1993, the representatives on the Committee of Ministers of member States of the Open Partial Agreement on the Prevention of, Protection against and Organisation of Relief in Major Natural and Technological Disasters adopted Resolution (93)7 (set out in Appendix 1 to these Notes), supplementary to Resolution (87)2 setting up a European advisory evaluation committee for earthquake prediction (see Cm/Del/Act(93)490, item 29 b and Appendix 11).

2. Section II of the Appendix to Resolution (93)7 provides: "The Committee is composed of a maximum of fifteen scientific personalities appointed by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in its composition limited to the States members of the Partial Agreement, on the proposal of the European Seismological Commission (ESC) … The members of the Committee may be nationals of any country." 13 members of this Committee were appointed at the 500^th meeting of the Deputies (18, 20 and 21 October 1993, item 43) (see Appendix 2 to these Notes).

3. Section III of the Appendix to Resolution (93)7 provides: "The duration of the non-renewable mandate of the members of the Committee is six years maximum. However the mandate of half of the members designated during the first appointment, chosen by lot, shall be three years."

4. The present document contains the names of six distinguished scientific figures proposed by the ESC (see Appendix 3 to these Notes).

5. The Committee of Ministers, restricted to representatives of States parties to the Open Partial Agreement on the Prevention of, Protection against and Organisation of Relief in Major Natural and Technological Disasters, is asked to appoint the six candidates to the advisory committee referred to in paragraph 1 above for the next three years.

In this respect, it should be noted that the policy of the Committee of Permanent Correspondents of the EUR-OPA Major Hazards Agreement was to avoid holding meetings of the European Advisory Evaluation Committee for Earthquake Prediction except by formal request of a government to obtain an opinion on information concerning the forecast of earthquakes in order to make maximum use of the travelling expenses of experts borne by the Agreement's budget.

It is for these policy and budgetary reasons that no meeting of the European Advisory Evaluation Committee for Earthquake Prediction was called in time to renew half of its members.

6. The Deputies considered this item at their 660^th meeting (23 February 1999, B level, item 9.2) and agreed to resume consideration of this item at one of their forthcoming meetings in the light of the opinion given on the question by the Committee of Permanent Correspondents.

This Committee met in Paris on 21 and 22 June 1999 and decided:

- to adopt the list of members proposed by the European Seismological Commission (see Appendix 3) with a view to renewal of half the members of the European Advisory Evaluation Committee for Earthquake Prediction, whilst underlining that it did not have at its disposal all of the curricula vitae of the proposed members;

to consider the revision of the appointment procedure of the Committee members at the next meeting of the Committee of Permanent Correspondents.

It should be noted that among 13 members of The Evaluation Committee for Earthquake Prediction, the following scientific personalities are to be replaced :

Prof. Hans Berckhemer ;

Prof. Enzo Boschi ;

Prof. Raoul Madariaga ;

Prof. Vladimir Keilis-Borok ;

Prof. Giuliano Panza ;

Prof. Jiri Vanek ;

By (see Appendix 3 to these Notes) :

Prof. Francesco Mulargia ;

Prof. Roman Teisseyre ;

Prof. K. Makropoulos ;

Prof. Max Wyss ;

Dr. Vladimir Kossobokov ;

Prof. Sergey Balassanian.

The following scientists will continue to be members of the Committee :

Dr. Stephen Boyanov Chanov,

Prof. Dr. Mete Isikara,

Prof. Luis Mendes Victor,

Prof. Gerassinos Papadopoulos,

Prof. Guennadi Sobolev,

Dr Ragnar Stefansson,

Prof. Jochen Zschau.

This is the first time that a reserve list has been elaborated and submitted to the Deputies.

1. Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Russian Federation, San Marino, Spain, "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", Turkey, Ukraine.

Item 9.1

(CM/Del/Dec/Act(93)490/29b, CM/Del/Dec(99)660/9.2)

The Committee of Ministers, restricted to representatives of States Parties to the Open Partial Agreement on the Prevention of, Protection against and Organisation of Relief in Major Natural and Technological Disasters ^footnote1,

1. agreed, in accordance with Resolution (93)7 and the Appendix to it laying down the Rules relating to the Functioning of the European Advisory Evaluation Committee for Earthquake Prediction, and on the basis of the list adopted by the Committee of Permanent Correspondents, to appoint the following six distinguished scientific figures, for the period August 1999 to July 2002, to the European Advisory Evaluation Committee for Earthquake Prediction:

Prof. Francesco Mulargia;

Prof. Roman Teisseyre;

Prof. K. Makropoulos;

Prof. Max Wyss;

Dr. Vladimir Kossobokov;

Prof. Sergey Balassanian;

2. approved the following reserve list in case one of the aforementioned scientists declines an invitation to join the Committee:

Dr. George Purcaru;

Dr. Valerjy Gitis;

Prof. T. Chelidze;

3. noted that the following six scientific personalities would no longer sit on the Committee:

Prof. Hans Berckhemer ;

Prof. Enzo Boschi ;

Prof. Raoul Madariaga ;

Prof. Vladimir Keilis-Borok ;

Prof. Giuliano Panza ;

Prof. Jiri Vanek .

1. Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Russian Federation, San Marino, Spain, "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", Turkey, Ukraine.