2025/1315

2.7.2025

COUNCIL DECISION (EU) 2025/1315

of 17 June 2025

on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union concerning the nomination of a Union representative to the Board of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 209, in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:

(1) Participation of the Union, as appropriate, in international organisations or boards thereof need to be decided on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the rules governing the composition of such organisations or boards as well as the specific Union competences at stake.

(2) The Union is a Party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and to the Paris Agreement (1) adopted under the UNFCCC and has participated in the decisions approving the establishment of a Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (the ‘Fund’) and a governing instrument for that Fund (the ‘Governing Instrument’) taken by the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC and the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement on 30 November 2023.

(3) Pursuant to paragraph 17 of the Governing Instrument, the Board of the Fund (the ‘Board’) will comprise, inter alia, ‘12 members from developed countries’. In accordance with paragraph 8 of the Governing Instrument, the Parties to the UNFCCC and to the Paris Agreement were invited, through their regional groups and constituencies, to submit to the UNFCCC secretariat as soon as possible nominations for membership of the Board.

(4) Arrangements for convening the first meeting of the Board are to be initiated as soon as possible after all voting member nominations have been submitted.

(5) On the basis of a Union position agreed by the Council and a common position of the Member States, as agreed by their representatives in February 2024, the Union has agreed with other developed-country Parties that the EU and its Member States will nominate as representatives seven members and seven alternate members to sit on the Board.

(6) It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf concerning the nomination of a Union representative on the Board and on the sharing of seats between Union and Member State representatives in parallel with the common position reached by the representatives of the Member States in May 2025, as the nomination of a Union representative to the Board will have legal effects. This Decision concerns only the initial nomination of members of the Board and is without prejudice to the positions of the Union and the Member States on the allocation of seats in groups, panels or boards of multilateral funds or other initiatives, or to the renewal of the terms of office of Union and Member State representatives on the Board and in other groups, panels or boards, which will be established in line with the applicable procedures. The allocation of seats among developed-country representatives in the composition of the Board does not constitute a precedent for other decisions to be taken when renewing the terms of office of members of the Board or within other international fora.

(7) The Union seat on the Board, held by a representative of the Commission, does not affect whether or to what extent a Union position on matters discussed by the Board is needed, or the procedures for adopting such a position, and is to respect the principle of sincere cooperation. The Union representative will speak and vote in the name of and on behalf of the Union only while the Member States representatives will speak and vote in the name of and on behalf of the Member State in line with applicable rules. This Decision does not alter the division of competences between the Union and the Member States in relation to matters that are the subject of other decisions taken by the Board. In particular, pursuant to Article 4(4) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, in the area of development cooperation and humanitarian aid, the Union has competence to carry out activities and conduct a common policy; however, the exercise of that competence is not to result in Member States being prevented from exercising theirs. This Decision cannot be interpreted as implying an exercise of Union competence over matters covered by the Fund with regard to which the Union has not yet exercised its shared competences and which therefore remain within the competences of the Member States.

(8) The proposal to include a Union seat on the Board does not affect the ability of Member States represented on the Board to express support for any duly agreed Union position, or their own positions, on matters falling within their competences, while respecting the principle of sincere cooperation.

(9) The Commission is to report periodically to the Council on the Board’s proceedings in line with the principle of sincere cooperation enshrined in the Treaties.

(10) The position to be taken on behalf of the Union on membership of the Board does not alter the representation of the EU and its Member States in the UNFCCC.

(11) Funding pledges by the Union to the Fund are to be prepared in accordance with the applicable procedures under Union law, while respecting the prerogatives of the institutions concerned,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The position to be taken on the Union’s behalf concerning the nomination of a Union representative to the Board of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage and the sharing of seats between the representatives of the Commission and the Member States is attached to this Decision.

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

Done at Luxembourg, 17 June 2025.

For the Council

The President

P. HENNIG-KLOSKA

(1)  

OJ L 282, 19.10.2016, p. 4

.

Position to be taken concerning the nomination of a Union representative to the Board of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage

(1)   

The Union, represented by the Commission, shall seek a seat on the Board of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (the ‘Board’) established by the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and to the Paris Agreement.

(2)   

The agreed sharing of the respresentatives of the Commission and the Member States of the seats on the Board, as seven members and seven alternate members, for the first 3-year term of the Board is expressed in the following scheme:

ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2025/1315/oj

ISSN 1977-0677 (electronic edition)