L 310/64 Official Journal of the European Union 7.10.2004 COUNCIL DECISION of 24 September 2004 concerning the Rules applicable to national experts and military staff on secondment to the European Defence Agency (2004/677[EC) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Council Joint Action 2004/551/CFSP of 12 July 2004 on the establishment of the European Defence Agency (1), and in particular Article 11(3)(3.2.) thereof, Whereas: (1) Seconded national experts (hereinafter referred to as SNEs) and seconded national military staff should enable the FEuropean Defence Agency (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Agency) to benefit from the high level of their knowledge and professional experience, in particular in areas where such expertise is not readily available. (2)  SNEs should foster the exchange of professional experience and knowledge in the field of defence capabilities development, research, acquisition and armaments by temporarily assigning to the Agency experts from Member States’ administrations, HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: CHAPTER 1 GENERAL PROVISIONS Atticle 1 Scope 1. These Rules are applicable to SNEs seconded to the Agency by a Member State participating in that Agency. 2. The persons covered by these Rules shall remain in the service of their employer throughout the period of secondment and shall continue to be paid by that employer. 3. The Agency shall recruit SNEs in accordance with requirements and budgetary possibilities. The Chief Executive of the Agency shall establish the arrangements for such recruitment, with the assent of the Steering Board of the Agency. () O] L 245, 17.7.2004, p. 17. 4. SNEs must be nationals of a Member State and shall be recruited on a geographical basis as wide as possible among the nationals of the participating Member States. The Member States and the Agency shall cooperate to ensure, as far as possible, a balance between men and women and observe the principle of equal opportunities. 5. Secondment shall be implemented by an Exchange of Letters between the Chief Executive of the Agency and the Permanent Representation of the Member State concerned. A copy of the Rules applicable to SNEs on secondment to the Agency shall be attached to the Exchange of Letters. 6. SNEs should be drawn from governments, ministries or governmental agencies of Member States. Atrticle 2 Period of secondment 1. The period of secondment may not be less than six months nor exceed three years and may be renewed successively up to a total period not exceeding four years. 2. The intended period of secondment shall be fixed at the outset in the Exchange of Letters provided for in Article 1(5). The same procedure shall apply in the case of a renewal of the period of secondment. 3. A SNE who has already been seconded to the Agency may be seconded again, in accordance with internal rules laying down maximum periods during which such persons may be present in Agency departments and subject to the following conditions: (@) the SNE must continue to meet the conditions for secondment; (b) a period of at least three years must have elapsed between the end of the previous period of secondment and any further secondment; this provision shall not prevent the Agency from accepting the secondment of a SNE whose initial secondment lasted for less than four years, but in that case the new secondment shall not exceed the unexpired part of the four-year period.