# EUR-Lex - 52012PC0205 - EN

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# 52012PC0205

**Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION on a position to be taken by the European Union within the Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development set up by the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Korea, of the other part, as regards the operation of the Civil Society Forum and the establishment of the Panel of Experts to examine the matters in the areas falling within the scope of the Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development /* COM/2012/0205 final - 2012/0100 (NLE) */**

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

The Free Trade
Agreement (FTA) between the European Union and its Member States, of the one
part, and the Republic of Korea, of the other part (hereinafter referred to as
"Agreement") was signed on 6 October 2010, and it has been provisionally
applied since 1 July 2011.

Article
13.13(1) of the Agreement stipulates that the parties shall agree by decision
of the Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) on the operation of
the Civil Society Forum no later than one year after the entry into force of
the FTA.

Article 13.15 foresees
the establishment of a list of persons who could be called to serve in a Panel
of Experts to examine matters in the areas of any matter arising under the TSD
chapter that could not be satisfactorily addressed through consultations.

The attached constitutes the proposal for a
legal instrument approving the position that the Union will take in the
Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development on the above mentioned issues.

2012/0100 (NLE)

Proposal for a

COUNCIL DECISION

on a position to be taken by the European
Union within the Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development set up by the
Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the
one part, and the Republic of Korea, of the other part, as regards the
operation of the Civil Society Forum and the establishment of the Panel of
Experts to examine the matters in the areas falling within the scope of the
Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the
Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 207(4), first
subparagraph, in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the
Commission[1],

Whereas:

(1)       On 23 April 2007 the
Council authorised the Commission to negotiate a free trade agreement with the
Republic of Korea on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

(2)       A Free Trade Agreement
between the European Union and its Member States and the Republic of Korea
(hereinafter referred to as the Agreement) was signed on 6 October 2010.

(3)       Pursuant to Article 15.10(5),
the Agreement has been provisionally applied since 1 July 2011 subject to its
conclusion at a later date.

(4)       Article 13.13(1) of the
Agreement provides that the parties shall agree by decision of the Committee on
Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) on the operation of the Civil Society
Forum no later than one year after the entry into force of the Agreement.

(5)       Article 13.15(3) foresees
the establishment of a list of persons who could be called to serve in a Panel
of Experts to examine any matter arising under the TSD chapter that could not be satisfactorily addressed through
consultations.

(6)       The Union should determine
the position to be taken with regard to the operation of the Civil Society
Forum and the list of persons who could be called to serve as experts,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The position to be taken by the Union in
the Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development set up by the Free Trade
Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part,
and the Republic of Korea, of the other part, as regards:

(i)           the operation of the Civil
Society Forum foreseen in Article 13.13(1) of the Agreement and

(ii)          the establishment of a list of
qualified individuals to serve as panellists, in accordance with Article
13.15(3) of the Agreement,

shall be based on the draft decisions of
the Commmittee on Trade and Sustainable Development attached to this Decision.

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on the
date of its adoption.

Once adopted, these Decisions of the
EU-Korea Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development shall be published in
the Official Journal of the European Union.

Done at Brussels, [...]

For
the Council

The
President

ANNEX I

Draft DECISION No [...] OF THE EU-KOREA COMMITTEE ON TRADE
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

of
[date]

on
the adoption of the rules of operation of the Civil Society Forum as required
by Article 13.13 of the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and its
Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Korea, of the other part

THE COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT,

Having regard to the Free Trade Agreement
between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the
Republic of Korea, of the other part, signed in Brussels on 6 October 2010
(hereinafter referred to as the "Agreement"), and in particular
Article 13.13 thereof,

Whereas:

(1)          Article 13.13 of the Agreement
provides that members of the Domestic Advisory Group(s)
from each Party shall meet at a Civil Society Forum.

(2)          The composition of the Civil
Society Forum shall ensure a balanced representation of members of the Domestic
Advisory Group.

(3)          The
Parties shall agree by decision of the Committee on Trade and Sustainable
Development on the operation of the Civil Society Forum no later than one year
after the entry into force of this Agreement,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The rules of operation of the Civil Society
Forum, as set out in the Annex to this Decision, are hereby established.

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on the
day of its adoption

Done at...        on ...

For the Trade and Sustainable Development Committee

Co-chair of the Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development of the Republic of Korea X || Co-chair of the Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development of the European Union X

Annex

RULES
OF OPERATION OF THE CIVIL SOCIETY FORUM

Article 1

The Civil Society Forum will be composed of
12 members of the EU Domestic Advisory Group and 12 members of the Domestic
Advisory Groups of Korea designated by the Domestic Advisory Groups themselves.
Members may be accompanied by expert advisors. Representatives of the Civil
Society Forum from each Party shall include at least 3 representatives of
business organisations, trade unions and environmental non governmental
organisations respectively.

Article 2

The Civil Society Forum shall have an EU
and a Korean co-chair. The co-chairs will be appointed by the EU Domestic
Advisory Group and the Korean Domestic Advisory Group(s), respectively, among
their participants in the Civil Society Forum.

The co-chairs will draw up the agenda of
the Civil Society Forum meetings, based on requests by their respective Domestic
Advisory Groups. In addition, the agenda shall include the following regular
items:

(a)          Information by the Parties on the
implementation of the Chapter on Trade and Sustainable Development;

(b)          Reports of consultations
undertaken under Article 13.14 and about work undertaken by Panel of experts
under Article 13.15.

Article 3

The
Civil Society Forum shall meet at least once a year, alternating between
Brussels and Seoul, unless otherwise agreed by the Parties. An extraordinary
meeting may be held upon request of one of the Domestic Advisory Groups.

ANNEX II

Draft DECISION No [...] OF THE EU-KOREA COMMITTEE ON TRADE
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

of [date]

on
the establishment of a Panel of Experts referred to in Article 13.15 of the
Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the
one part, and the Republic of Korea, of the other part

THE COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT,

Having regard to the Free Trade Agreement
between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the
Republic of Korea, of the other part, signed in Brussels on 6 October 2010
("the Parties" and "the Agreement"), and in particular
Article 13.15 thereof,

Whereas:

(1)          A Party
may request that a Panel of Experts be convened to examine a matter that has
not been satisfactorily addressed through government consultations.

(2)          The
implementation of the recommendations of the Panel of Experts shall be
monitored by the Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development.

(3)          The Parties have developed a list
of 18 names, as specified in Annex 2.

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The list of experts who may serve as
panellists for the purposes of Article 13.15 of the Agreement is set out in the
Annex to this Decision, and is hereby agreed.

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on the
date of its adoption and shall be reported to the Korea-EU Trade Committee.

Done at ...       on ...

For the Committee on Trade and Sustainable
Development

Co-chair of the Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development of the Republic of Korea X || Co-chair of the Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development of the European Union X

Annex

List of experts

Experts
proposed by Korea

Kee-whahn
CHAH

Young
Gil CHO

Weon
Jung KIM

Suh-Yong
CHUNG

Taek-Whan
HAN

Won-Mog
CHOI

Experts
proposed by the EU

Eddy LAURIJSSEN

Jorge CARDONA

Karin LUKAS

Hélène RUIZ FABRI

Laurence BOISSON DE CHAZOURNES

Geert VAN CALSTER

Chairpersons

Thomas P. PINANSKY

Nguyen Van TAI

Le HA THANH

Jill MURRAY

Ricardo MELÉNDEZ-ORTIZ

Nathalie BERNASCONI-OSTERWALDER

LEGISLATIVE FINANCIAL STATEMENT
FOR PROPOSALS HAVING A BUDGETARY IMPACT

1.           NAME OF THE PROPOSAL:

Council Decision on a position to be taken by
the European Union within the Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development
set up by the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member
States, of the one part, and the Republic of Korea, of the other part, as
regards the operation of the Civil Society Forum and the establishment of the
Panel of Experts to examine the matters in the areas falling within the scope
of the Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development.

2.           BUDGET LINES:

Chapter and Article: Administrative resources
of the Commission to cover interpretation and venue costs. Amount budgeted for
the year concerned: In case of unforeseen needs, resources could be drawn from the following budget lines:

20.02.01 – External trade relations, including
access to the markets of non-Community countries

20.01.02.11.00.02.40 – Meetings including
Commission staff only

3.           FINANCIAL IMPACT

 ̈      Proposal has no financial implications

 ̈      Proposal has no financial impact on expenditure but has a
financial impact on revenue – the effect is as follows:

(€ million to one decimal place)

|| ||

Budget line || Revenue[2] || 12 month period, starting dd/mm/yyyy || [Year n]

Article ... || Impact on own resources || ||

Situation following action

|| [n+1] || [n+2] || [n+3] || [n+4] || [n+5]

Article ... || || || || ||

Article ... || || || || ||

4.           ANTI-FRAUD MEASURES

[1]               OJ C [...], [...], p. [...].

[2]               Regarding traditional own resources (agricultural
duties, sugar levies, customs duties) the amounts indicated must be net
amounts, i.e. gross amounts after deduction of 25 % of collection costs.