Regional Scheme Governance

This document defines a federated governance model for managing AEEF regional annexes and conformance profiles across multiple Middle East jurisdictions.

It governs framework evolution and annex publication. It does not, by itself, create a regulator-recognized or accredited certification scheme.

Scope and Legal Nature

This governance model applies to:

• regional profile design and maintenance
• national annex specification and publication
• sector overlay publication
• conformance assessment model evolution
• public issue resolution and change control

This governance model does not:

• supersede national law or regulator-issued controls
• grant certification authority
• imply regulator endorsement of any annex

Governance Principles

1. National authority supremacy -- national laws and regulator controls always take precedence.
2. Subsidiarity -- country-specific obligations should be handled in national annexes, not forced into core controls.
3. Comparability -- annexes use a common schema so requirements and evidence expectations remain auditable.
4. Transparency -- changes, objections, and rationale are documented and published.
5. Conflict-of-interest control -- framework governance, conformance design, and future certification operations must remain structurally separated.
6. Version discipline -- core, annexes, and sector overlays must have explicit versioning and assessment dates.

Governance Bodies

1. Core Secretariat

Primary responsibilities:

• maintain AEEF core governance architecture for regional annexing
• publish annex specification and coverage matrix
• coordinate release trains
• manage public comment and issue triage
• maintain terminology and claim boundaries

2. National Annex Councils

One council per country annex (when active).

Responsibilities:

• review and approve country annex content updates
• validate local source coverage and known gaps
• document regulator interpretation uncertainties
• track annex-specific change requests and objections

3. Sector Working Groups

Examples:

• banking and financial services
• telecom
• healthcare
• government/public sector
• energy / critical infrastructure

Responsibilities:

• publish sector overlays and evidence expectations
• resolve sector-specific control interpretation issues
• identify country annex dependencies

4. Regulator Liaison Forum (Non-Binding)

Purpose:

• structured dialogue channel for feedback from regulators, public-sector entities, and policy bodies

Boundary:

• feedback is advisory unless adopted through documented governance decisions

5. Appeals and Objections Panel

Responsibilities:

• review disputes on annex publication, claim wording, and conformance interpretation
• issue written decisions with rationale

Decision Rights Matrix

Decision Type	Core Secretariat	National Annex Council	Sector WG	Appeals Panel
Core terminology/claim boundary updates	Approve	Consulted	Consulted	Appeal review only
National annex publication	Coordinate	Approve	Consulted	Appeal review
Sector overlay publication	Coordinate	Consulted	Approve	Appeal review
Coverage matrix status/confidence updates	Approve	Consulted	Consulted	Appeal review
Conformance model updates	Approve	Consulted	Consulted	Appeal review
Dispute on wording/claims	Respond	Respond	Respond	Final panel decision (framework-internal)

Change Control and Release Train

Release Types

• Patch -- wording fixes, source updates, clarifications, broken links
• Minor -- new annex controls, new evidence requirements, non-breaking schema expansion
• Major -- annex schema changes, claim boundary changes, conformance model breaking changes

Release Cadence

• Core governance docs: quarterly target cadence
• National annexes: quarterly or ad hoc for regulatory updates
• Coverage matrix: update on each annex/profile release
• Emergency updates: allowed for major legal/regulatory changes

Public Comment Process

1. Publish draft with scope statement and known assumptions.
2. Accept comments for a defined period (recommended 14-30 days for substantive changes).
3. Log comments with disposition (accepted, partially accepted, rejected, deferred).
4. Publish final decision summary and rationale.

Voting and Quorum Rules (Framework Governance)

• Core governance changes require quorum of Core Secretariat + designated reviewers.
• National annex publication requires quorum of the relevant National Annex Council.
• Sector overlay publication requires quorum of the relevant Sector Working Group.
• When quorum cannot be reached, publish draft as Assessment Draft and mark confidence accordingly in the coverage matrix.

Conflict Escalation

Escalation order:

1. Editor/maintainer resolution
2. Relevant council or sector WG review
3. Core Secretariat decision
4. Appeals and Objections Panel review

All escalations must produce a written resolution note.

Publication and Versioning Policy

All regional governance and annex documents SHOULD include:

• version
• assessment date
• status (draft, active, superseded)
• coverage limitations
• source scope

The Regional Coverage Matrix is the canonical inventory of what is currently published and how complete it is.

Relationship to Conformance and Certification

This document supports:

• annex governance
• claim boundaries
• conformance profile comparability

This document does not define:

• certification scheme rules
• assessor competence requirements
• accreditation arrangements

Use the Conformance Assessment Model for assessment terminology and levels.