Here is the current text from the Chair's Guidelines:
The following should be considered for inclusion on the consent agenda upon request:
1) First renewal of a Study Group (either ECSG or WGSG)
2) Public statements (e.g., press releases, responses to regulatory bodies, liaison statements, etc.) that have been announced to the EC email reflector made available to the EC members 24 hours in advance of the start of the meeting.
3) Presentation of the Tutorial schedule at the opening meeting, only if all presentations have been given to the Recording Secretary according to the guidelines.
4) Other pro-forma information items
5) Meeting minutes from previous meetings if they have been announced to the EC email reflector and distributed 1 week in advance.
As currently written it has deadlines for some items but not all. And each item with a deadline has a different deadline.
Since meeting minutes are often lengthy and should be available well before the meeting, it makes sense for them to have a deadline well before the meeting. "1 week in advance" is a bit vague. I assume 1 week before the opening plenary was intended, not 1 week before the time the consent agenda is to be approved.
The deadline of 24 hours in advance that was mentioned on the call appears in 2) which applies to public statements.
Items regarding progression of drafts aren't covered by any of the categories. We approved such items on the consent agenda for the call. Since the language above only says "should be considered" and doesn't prohibit other items.
Looking back at minutes from 2015 through now, I can't find any other cases where we had draft progression motions on the consent agenda.
So, the first question is, are draft progression motions appropriate for the consent agenda?
I tend to think they are. These motions are often approved with little or no discussion/debate. Where there is a question or controversy, they can always be pulled off the agenda.
Comments?