14.12.2011 Official Journal of the European Union L 330/23 DECISIONS COUNCIL DECISION of 1 December 2011 on the practical and procedural arrangements for the appointment by the Council of four members of the European panel for the European Union action for the European Heritage Label (2011/831/EU) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to Decision No 1194/2011/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 November 2011 estab- lishing a European Union action for the European Heritage Label (1), and in particular Article 8 thereof, Whereas: (1) Article 8 of Decision No 1194/2011/EU provides that a European panel of independent experts (European panel) is to be established and that this panel is to include 13 members appointed by the European institutions and bodies, four of whom are to be appointed for a three- year term by the Council. (2)  Each institution and body should seek to ensure that the competences of the members of the European panel it appoints are as complementary as possible. (3) At the time of submitting candidates to become members of the European panel, Member States which already have one or more experts in that panel who were appointed by an institution or body other than the Council, are encouraged to take into account enhancing geographical and gender balance within the European panel when deciding on their participation in the process. (4) It is appropriate for the Council to decide on the practical and  procedural arrangements for the appointment of its four members of the European panel. (5)  These arrangements should be fair, easy to implement, non-discriminatory, transparent, and should seek to ensure that the members appointed to the European panel duly fulfil their obligations. (6)  These arrangements should be adapted, if necessary, in the light of the results of the evaluations of the action for the European Heritage Label provided for in Article 18 of Decision No 1194/2011EU, () OJ L 303, 22.11.2011, p. 1. HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: Article 1 The Council shall decide on the appointment of four members of the European panel in accordance with the practical and procedural arrangements laid down in Article 2. Article 2 1.  Member States shall be invited to make submissions of candidates to become members of the European panel. The participation of Member States in the process shall be voluntary. Each Member State shall have the right to submit only one candidate. In order to ensure a balanced geographical represen- tation, Member States which have experts appointed by the Council for the previous term shall be excluded from partici- pation. 2. Submissions shall be made in writing and clearly demon- strate that a given candidate is an independent expert with substantial experience and expertise in the fields relevant to the objectives of the action, and is committed to work on the European panel, in line with the requirements laid down in part 1 of the Annex. Those submissions shall also contain a duly signed declaration as set out in part 2 of the Annex. 3. The submissions shall specify, for each candidate, one main category of expertise from among the following: — European history and cultures, — education and youth, — cultural management, including the heritage dimension, — communication and tourism. 4. A draw shall be organised from among the submissions acknowledged by the relevant preparatory body of the Council with a view to selecting one candidate in each of the four categories referred to in paragraph 3. The first name drawn for each category shall be considered as selected. This selection shall subsequently be approved by the Council.