14 September 2020
Further to prior information of 16 July 2020 on changes in the meeting schedules for WP.30 (13 October 2020 only) and AC.2 (14-15 October 2020), the secretariat would like to inform delegations about some additional changes in the meeting schedule, due to restrictions imposed by the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) on the European Commission for Europe (ECE) as a consequence of the ongoing pandemic and liquidity crisis.
Although the secretariat is still waiting for formal decisions by the competent internal bodies at ECE as well as the Executive Committee (EXCOM), it appears that only parts of our meetings can be organized with interpretation. From now till the end of the year, only 4 hours of hybrid meeting with interpretation per day have been granted to ECE as a whole. In our case, this will mean that, most likely, only 4 hours of hybrid meeting with interpretation can be organized on Thursday 15 October 2020. As a consequence, the meetings planned for Tuesday 13, Wednesday 14 and Friday 16 October can only be organized virtually and without interpretation and English only (Webex). The idea of the secretariat is to use the virtual meetings without interpretation for informal discussions of WP.30 and, mainly, AC.2, whereas the hybrid meeting on 15 October 2020 will be dedicated to taking priority decisions (decisions that are urgent and that cannot be postponed).
As stated before, the above organization of the meetings is still under discussion and not much can be said at this point in time about the logistics (registration, connection etc.). However, for the sake of transparency, the secretariat wanted to share with delegates what seems to be the most likely scenario, to facilitate their preparation and possible participation, in person or virtually.
The secretariat apologizes for the complications that the above tentative changes bring to the already burdened work schedules of WP.30 and AC.2.
The secretariat will address delegations as soon as possible with more details about the conduct of business of the meetings of WP.30 and AC.2.
Further to prior information of 16 July 2020 on changes in the meeting schedules for WP.30 (13 October 2020 only) and AC.2 (14-15 October 2020), the secretariat would like to inform delegations about some additional changes in the meeting schedule, due to restrictions imposed by the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) on the European Commission for Europe (ECE) as a consequence of the ongoing pandemic and liquidity crisis.
Although the secretariat is still waiting for formal decisions by the competent internal bodies at ECE as well as the Executive Committee (EXCOM), it appears that only parts of our meetings can be organized with interpretation. From now till the end of the year, only 4 hours of hybrid meeting with interpretation per day have been granted to ECE as a whole. In our case, this will mean that, most likely, only 4 hours of hybrid meeting with interpretation can be organized on Thursday 15 October 2020. As a consequence, the meetings planned for Tuesday 13, Wednesday 14 and Friday 16 October can only be organized virtually and without interpretation and English only (Webex). The idea of the secretariat is to use the virtual meetings without interpretation for informal discussions of WP.30 and, mainly, AC.2, whereas the hybrid meeting on 15 October 2020 will be dedicated to taking priority decisions (decisions that are urgent and that cannot be postponed).
As stated before, the above organization of the meetings is still under discussion and not much can be said at this point in time about the logistics (registration, connection etc.). However, for the sake of transparency, the secretariat wanted to share with delegates what seems to be the most likely scenario, to facilitate their preparation and possible participation, in person or virtually.
The secretariat apologizes for the complications that the above tentative changes bring to the already burdened work schedules of WP.30 and AC.2.
The secretariat will address delegations as soon as possible with more details about the conduct of business of the meetings of WP.30 and AC.2.