Organisation

According to Regulation (EU) No 2018/1917 the BEREC Office comprises:

• (a) A Management Board;

• (b) A Director.

The Director is in charge of the administrative management of the BEREC Office, which according to its establishment plan has 16 staff members, including the Director.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE MANAGEMENT BOARD

According to the founding Regulation, the Management Board (MB) is composed of the persons appointed as members of the Board of Regulators and of one high level representative of the Commission. Each member of the Management Board has the right to vote. Each appointing NRA may appoint a person other than the member of the Board of Regulators as member of the Management Board. That person shall be the head of the NRA, a member of its collegiate body, or the replacement of either of them.

The MB have the following administrative functions:

• to provide general orientations for the BEREC Office’s activities and adopt, on an annual basis, the BEREC Office’s single programming document by a majority of two thirds of its members, taking into account the opinion of the Commission;
• to adopt, by a majority of two thirds of its members, the annual budget of the BEREC Office and exercise other functions in respect of the BEREC Office’s budget;
• to adopt, make public and proceed with an assessment of the consolidated annual activity report on the BEREC Office’s activities and submit both the report and its assessment, by 1 July each year to the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission and the Court of Auditors;
• to adopt the financial rules applicable to the BEREC Office;
• to adopt an anti-fraud strategy proportionate to fraud risks, taking into account the costs and benefits of the measures to be implemented;
• to ensure adequate follow-up to findings and recommendations stemming from the internal or external audit reports and evaluations, as well as from investigations of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF);
• to adopt rules for the prevention and management of conflicts of interests;
• to adopt and regularly update the communication and dissemination plans, based on an analysis of needs;
• to adopt its rules of procedure;
• to adopt implementing rules for giving effect to the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union;
• to exercise, with respect to the staff of the BEREC Office, the powers conferred by the Staff Regulations on the Appointing Authority and by the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants on the Authority Empowered to Conclude a Contract of Employment (the ‘appointing authority powers’);
• to appoint the Director and, where relevant, extend his or her term of office or remove him or her from office;
• to appoint an Accounting Officer, subject to the Staff Regulations and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, who shall be wholly independent in the performance of his or her duties;
• to take all decisions on the establishment of the BEREC Office’s internal structures and, where necessary, their modification, taking into consideration the BEREC Office’s activity needs as well as having regard to sound budgetary management. 

THE DIRECTOR

The current Director of the BEREC Office is Mr László Ignéczi.

The Director is responsible for heading the BEREC Office. He is accountable to the BEREC Office Management Board who appointed him through an open and transparent selection procedure, on the basis of merit, management, administrative and budgetary skills and the skills and experience relevant to electronic communications networks and services.
 

The Director’s term of office is five years. It can be extended once, for no more than five years.

The Directors’s main tasks are the following:

• To be in charge of the administrative management of the BEREC Office and accountable to the Management Board; 

• To assist the Chair of the Board of Regulators and the Chairperson of the Management Board in preparing the meetings of their respective bodies; 

• Without prejudice to the powers of the Board of Regulators, the Management Board and the Commission, to be independent in the performance of his or her duties and neither seek nor take instructions from any government, institution, person or body;

• To report to the European Parliament and to the Council on the performance of his or her duties when invited to do so; 

• To be the legal representative of the BEREC Office;

• To be responsible for the implementation of the BEREC Office’s tasks and following the guidance provided by the Board of Regulators and the Management Board;

• Under the supervision of the Management Board, to take the necessary measures, in particular with regard to adopting internal administrative instructions and publishing notices, in order to ensure the functioning of the BEREC Office in accordance with the establishing Regulation.

Mr László Ignéczi Before being appointed as Director of the BEREC Office, Mr László Ignéczi was a diplomat at the Permanent Representation of Hungary to the European Union (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) in Brussels for more than 5 years. He was responsible for information society issues, audio-visual matters, space policy and postal services: he represented Hungary in the respective Council Working Groups; liaising with Commission services and European Parliament groups. Particularly, he chaired, among the others, the Telecommunication Working Group during the Hungarian presidency in 2011. Beforehand, he served in the Hungarian national administration. At the Ministry of Economy and Transport he managed the EU affairs of electronic communication, information society and postal services as a deputy Head of Department. In the Ministry for Information and Communications, as Director General for Communications Regulation, he was responsible for the national legislation and for contribution to the EU proceedings. At the beginning of his career, he worked in the private sector in the electronic communication area for a decade. In his different managerial positions he was deeply involved in launching and running a Local Telecom Operator, in preparing the market entry of a nation-wide alternative telecom service provider and in market consolidation through acquisitions and mergers.   Director BEREC Office Z. A. Meierovica Bulv. 14, 2nd Floor Riga LV-1050, LATVIA

 

PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES

In compliance with Article 34 of the BEREC Regulation the BEREC Office and its staff members enjoy all rights accorded to them by the Protocol № 7 on the Privileges and Immunities of the EU).

In the territory of each EU Member State, incl. the host country – the Republic of Latvia, whatever their nationality, the BEREC Office staff enjoy the following rights:

• Immunity from legal proceedings during their tenure of office and afterwards;

• Together with their spouses and dependent members of their families, not be subject to immigration restrictions or to formalities for the registration of aliens;

• In respect of currency or exchange regulations, be accorded the same facilities as are customarily accorded to officials of international organisations;

• Enjoy the right to import free of duty their furniture and effects at the time of first taking up their post in the host country, and the right to re-export free of duty their furniture and effects, on termination of their duties in that country;

• Have the right to import free of duty a motor car for their personal use, etc.

The BEREC Office and its staff members have been accorded additional privileges and immunities by the Seat Agreement with the Republic of Latvia, which entered into force on 5 August 2011.