The decision to hold an Extraordinary Session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) was made by the twenty-eighth session of the Commission (October 2003). The mandate of this session was: to review the implications of the entry into force of the 1997 amendments to the GFCM Agreement and to adopt Financial Regulations for the autonomous budget; to assess the GFCM programme of work and the autonomous budget for 2005; to agree upon a selection procedure for the Executive Secretary; and to adopt criteria for new headquarters, as well as to review issues connected to the functioning of the Commission. The Commission adopted its Financial Regulations and debated on the official currency to be used for the autonomous budget. It decided to freeze the proposed posts of aquaculture expert and of statistician in the Secretariat and agreed that the post of Executive Secretary would be covered by the autonomous budget. The Commission further adopted by consensus the autonomous budget for 2005, as well as a procedure for the selection of the Executive Secretary and criteria for the selection of GFCM new headquarters. The Commission agreed to postpone the review of several practical, institutional and legal issues regarding its functioning to the next GFCM ordinary session, early December 2004.