50 PP-94 PP-98 1. 1) The number of Member States of the Council shall be determined by the Plenipotentiary Conference which is held every four years.

50A PP-94 PP-98 2) This number shall not exceed 25% of the total number of Member States.

51 2. 1) The Council shall hold an ordinary session annually at the seat of the Union.

52 2) During this session it may decide to hold, exceptionally, an additional session.

53 PP-98 3) Between ordinary sessions, it may be convened, as a general rule at the seat of the Union, by the Chairman at the request of a majority of its Member States, or on the initiative of the Chairman under the conditions provided for in No. 18 of this Convention.

54 3. The Council shall take decisions only in session. Exceptionally, the Council in session may agree that any specific issue shall be decided by correspondence.

55 PP-98 4. At the beginning of each ordinary session, the Council shall elect its own Chairman and Vice-Chairman from among the representatives of its Member States, taking into account the principle of rotation between the regions. They shall serve until the opening of the next ordinary session and shall not be eligible for re-election. The Vice-Chairman shall serve as Chairman in the absence of the latter.

56 PP-98 5. The person appointed to serve on the Council by a Member State of the Council shall, so far as possible, be an official serving in, or directly responsible to, or for, their telecommunication administration and qualified in the field of telecommunication services.

57 PP-98 6. Only the travelling, subsistence and insurance expenses incurred by the representative of each Member State of the Council, belonging to the category of developing countries, the list of which is established by the United Nations Development Programme, in that capacity at Council sessions, shall be borne by the Union.

58 PP-98 Vervallen.

59 8. The Secretary-General shall act as Secretary of the Council.

60 PP-98 9. The Secretary-General, the Deputy Secretary-General and the Directors of the Bureaux may participate as of right in the deliberations of the Council, but without taking part in the voting. Nevertheless, the Council may hold meetings confined to the representatives of its Member States.

60A PP-98 9.bis A Member State which is not a Member State of the Council may, with prior notice to the Secretary-General, send one observer at its own expense to meetings of the Council, its committees and its working groups. An observer shall not have the right to vote.

60B PP-02 9 ter) Sector Members may attend, as observers, meetings of the Council, its committees and its working groups, subject to the conditions established by the Council, including conditions relating to the number of such observers and the procedures for appointing them.

61 PP-98 10. The Council shall consider each year the report prepared by the Secretary-General on implementation of the strategic plan adopted by the Plenipotentiary Conference and shall take appropriate action.

61A 10bis While at all times respecting the financial limits as adopted by the Plenipotentiary Conference, the Council may, as necessary, review and update the strategic plan which forms the basis of the corresponding operational plans and inform the Member States and Sector Members accordingly.

61B 10ter The Council shall adopt its own Rules of Procedure.

62 11. The Council shall, in the interval between two Plenipotentiary Conferences, supervise the overall management and administration of the Union; it shall in particular:

62A 1) receive and review the specific data for strategic planning that is provided by the Secretary-General as noted in No. 74A of the Constitution and, in the last but one ordinary session of the Council before the next plenipotentiary conference, initiate the preparation of a draft new strategic plan for the Union, drawing upon input from Member States, Sector Members and from the Sector advisory groups, and produce a coordinated draft new strategic plan at least four months before that plenipotentiary conference;

62B 1bis) establish a calendar for the development of strategic and financial plans for the Union, and of operational plans for each Sector and for the General Secretariat, so as to allow for the development of appropriate linkage among the plans;

63 1ter) approve and revise the Staff Regulations and the Financial Regulations of the Union and any other regulations as it may consider necessary, taking account of current practice of the United Nations and of the specialized agencies applying the common system of pay, allowances and pensions;

64 2) adjust as necessary:

65 a) the basic salary scales for staff in the professional and higher categories, excluding the salaries for posts filled by election, to accord with any changes in the basic salary scales adopted by the United Nations for the corresponding common system categories;

66 b) the basic salary scales for staff in the general services categories to accord with changes in the rates applied by the United Nations and the specialized agencies at the seat of the Union;

67 c) the post adjustment for professional and higher categories, including posts filled by election, in accordance with decisions of the United Nations for application at the seat of the Union;

68 d) the allowances for all staff of the Union, in accordance with any changes adopted in the United Nations common system;

69 PP-98 3) take decisions to ensure equitable geographical distribution and representation of women in the professional and higher categories in the staff of the Union and monitor the implementation of such decisions;

70 4) decide on proposals for major organizational changes within the General Secretariat and the Bureaux of the Sectors of the Union consistent with the Constitution and this Convention, submitted to it by the Secretary-General following their consideration by the Coordination Committee;

71 5) examine and decide on plans concerning Union posts and staff and human resources development programmes covering several years, and give guidelines for the staffing of the Union, including on staffing levels and structures, taking into account the guidelines given by the Plenipotentiary Conference and the relevant provisions of Article 27 of the Constitution;

72 6) adjust, as necessary, the contributions payable by the Union and its staff to the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, in accordance with the Fund's rules and regulations, as well as the cost of living allowances to be granted to beneficiaries of the Union Staff Superannuation and Benevolent Funds on the basis of the practice followed by the Fund;

73 PP-98 PP-02 7) review and approve the biennial budget of the Union, and consider the budget forecast (included in the financial operating report prepared by the Secretary-General under No. 101 of this Convention) for the two-year period following a given budget period, taking account of the decisions of the Plenipotentiary Conference in relation to No. 50 of the Constitution and of the financial limits set by the Plenipotentiary Conference in accordance with No. 51 of the Constitution; it shall ensure the strictest possible economy but be mindful of the obligation upon the Union to achieve satisfactory results as expeditiously as possible. In so doing, the Council shall take into account the priorities established by the Plenipotentiary Conference as expressed in the strategic plan for the Union, the views of the Coordination Committee as contained in the report by the Secretary-General mentioned in No. 86 of this Convention and the financial operating report mentioned in No. 101 of this Convention. The Council shall carry out an annual review of income and expenditure with a view to effecting adjustments, where appropriate, in accordance with resolutions and decisions of the Plenipotentiary Conference;

74 8) arrange for the annual audit of the accounts of the Union prepared by the Secretary-General and approve them, if appropriate, for submission to the next Plenipotentiary Conference;

75 PP-98 9) arrange for the convening of the conferences and assemblies of the Union and provide, with the consent of a majority of the Member States in the case of a world conference or assembly, or of a majority of the Member States belonging to the region concerned in the case of a regional conference, appropriate directives to the General Secretariat and the Sectors of the Union with regard to their technical and other assistance in the preparation for and organization of conferences and assemblies;

76 10) take decisions in relation to No. 28 of this Convention;

77 11) decide upon the implementation of any decisions which have been taken by conferences and which have financial implications;

78 12) to the extent permitted by the Constitution, this Convention and the Administrative Regulations, take any other action deemed necessary for the proper functioning of the Union;

79 PP-98 13) take any necessary steps, with the agreement of a majority of the Member States, provisionally to resolve questions not covered by the Constitution, this Convention and the Administrative Regulations and which cannot await the next competent conference for settlement;

80 PP-94 14) be responsible for effecting the coordination with all international organizations referred to in Articles 49 and 50 of the Constitution and, to this end, conclude, on behalf of the Union, provisional agreements with the international organizations referred to in Article 50 of the Constitution and in Nos. 269B and 269C of this Convention, and with the United Nations in application of the Agreement between the United Nations and the International Telecommunication Union; these provisional agreements shall be submitted to the Plenipotentiary Conference in accordance with the relevant provision of Article 8 of the Constitution;

81 PP-98 15) send to Member States, within 30 days after each of its sessions, summary records on the activities of the Council and other documents deemed useful;

82 16) submit to the Plenipotentiary Conference a report on the activities of the Union since the previous Plenipotentiary Conference and any appropriate recommendations.