**Avis juridique important**

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# 52004PC0554

**Proposal for a Council Decision concluding an additional protocol to the Agreement on Trade, Development and Cooperation between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of South Africa, of the other part, to take account of the accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia, and the Slovak Republic to the European Union  /* COM/2004/0554 final */****

Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION concluding an additional protocol to the Agreement on Trade, Development and Cooperation between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of South Africa, of the other part, to take account of the accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia, and the Slovak Republic to the European Union

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

Ten new Member States acceded to the European Union on 1 May 2004. Under Article 6(2) of the Act concerning the Accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic and the adjustment of the Treaties on which the European Union is founded (hereinafter the 'Act of Accession'), the accession of the new Member States to the Agreement on Trade, Development and Cooperation (TDCA) with the Republic of South Africa has to be approved by the conclusion of a protocol to that Agreement. Article 6(2) provides for a simplified procedure, as these protocols are to be concluded by the Council of the European Union, acting unanimously on behalf of the Member States, and the third country concerned. This procedure is without prejudice to the Community's own competences.

Consequently, the Commission has negotiated this Additional Protocol for the EC part on behalf of the European Community and for the national competence part on behalf of the Member States on the basis of the negotiating directives adopted by the Council on 26 April 2004, and in consultation with a committee of the representatives of the Member States.

The Additional Protocol provides for the necessary technical adaptations of the TDCA that ensue from the accession of the new contracting parties, in particular regarding:

- Institutional provisions: the protocol includes a number of adjustments brought about by the accession of the new Member States to this mixed agreement and an increase in the number of official languages.

- Trade provisions: the TDCA provides for substantial trade liberalisation between the European Union and the Republic of South Africa, which in some cases is limited to tariff quotas. These tariff quotas have been reviewed on the basis of traditional trade between the new Member States, on the one hand, and the Republic of South Africa, on the other. The Additional Protocol makes adjustments to these where required.

- Rules of origin: the multilingual provisions in Protocol 1 to the TDCA concerning the definition of the concept of "originating products" and methods of administrative cooperation have been completed with the languages of the new Member States.

The Protocol as set out above has been negotiated and agreed with the Republic of South Africa.

Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION concluding an additional protocol to the Agreement on Trade, Development and Cooperation between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of South Africa, of the other part, to take account of the accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia, and the Slovak Republic to the European Union

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 310 thereof,

Having regard to the Treaty concerning the accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic to the European Union, and in particular article 6(2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Whereas:

(1) The Agreement on Trade, Development and Cooperation between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of South Africa, of the other part, (hereinafter referred to as the "TDCA"), was signed in Pretoria on 11 October 1999.

(2) The Treaty concerning the accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic to the European Union (hereinafter referred to as "Treaty of Accession") was signed in Athens on 16 April 2003.

(3) An Additional Protocol to the TDCA is necessary to take account of the accession of the ten new Member States.

(4) The Additional Protocol should therefore be approved,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

The Additional Protocol to the Agreement on Trade, Development and Cooperation between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of South Africa, of the other part, to take account of the accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia, and the Slovak Republic to the European Union, is hereby approved on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The text of the Additional Protocol is attached to this Decision.

Article 2

The President of the Council is hereby authorised to designate the person empowered to sign the Agreement in order to express the consent of the Community to be bound thereby.

Done at Brussels,

For the Council

The President

Additional protocol

to the Agreement on Trade, Development and Cooperation between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of South Africa, of the other part, to take account of the accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia, and the Slovak Republic to the European Union

the Kingdom of Belgium,

the Czech Republic,

the Kingdom of DENMARK,

the Federal Republic OF Germany,

the Republic of ESTONIA,

the Hellenic REPUBLIC,

the Kingdom of SPAIN,

the French REPUBLIC,

Ireland,

the ITALIAN Republic,

the REPUBLIC of Cyprus,

the REPUBLIC of Latvia,

the REPUBLIC of Lithuania,

the Grand DUCHY of Luxembourg,

the Republic of Hungary,

the Republic of Malta,

the KINGDOM of the Netherlands,

the Republic of Austria,

the Republic of Poland,

the PORTUGUESE Republic,

the Republic of Slovenia,

the Slovak REPUBLIC,

the Republic of FINLAND,

the Kingdom of Sweden,

the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,

hereinafter referred to as the 'Member States', represented by the Council of the European Union, and

the European Community,

(hereinafter referred to as "the Community"),

and

the Republic of South Africa,

(together hereinafter referred to as "Present Contracting Parties")

HAVING REGARD TO the Agreement on Trade, Development and Cooperation between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of South Africa, of the other part, (hereinafter referred to as the "TDCA"), which was signed in Pretoria on 11 October 1999 and has entered into force on 1 May 2004;

HAVING REGARD TO the Treaty concerning the accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic to the European Union (hereinafter referred to as "Treaty of Accession"), signed in Athens on 16 April 2003;

CONSIDERING the accession of the ten new Member States to the European Union and thereby to the Community on 1 May 2004;

CONSIDERING that, pursuant to Article 6(2) of the Treaty of Accession, the accession of the new Contracting Parties to the TDCA has been agreed by the conclusion of a protocol to the TDCA;

HAVE Agreed as follows:

Section 1

Adjustments to the text of the TDCA including its Annexes and Protocols

Article 1

The Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia, and the Slovak Republic (hereinafter referred to as 'the new Member States') shall be Parties to the Agreement on Trade, Development and Cooperation between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of South Africa, of the other part, signed in Pretoria on 11 October 1999, and shall respectively adopt and take note, in the same manner as the other Member States of the Community, of the texts of the Agreement, as well as of the Annexes, Protocols and Declarations attached thereto.

Article 2

Languages and number of originals

Article 108 of the TDCA is replaced by the following:

This Agreement is drawn up in duplicate in the Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Slovenian, Slovak, Spanish and Swedish languages and the official languages of South Africa, other than English, namely Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Afrikaans, isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu, each of these texts being equally authentic.

Article 3

Tariff Quota

In List 6 of Annex IV to the TDCA, the tariff quotas for global prepared fruit and for global mixed prepared fruit shall be increased by 1 225 tonnes and 340 tonnes, respectively.

Article 4

Rules of origin

Protocol 1 of the Agreement on Trade, Development and Cooperation shall be amended as follows:

1. Article 16(4) shall be replaced by the following:

Movement certificates EUR.1 issued retrospectively must be endorsed with one of the following phrases:

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2. Article 17(2) shall be replaced by the following:

The duplicate issued in this way must be endorsed with one of the following words:

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3. Annex IV shall be replaced by the following:

INVOICE DECLARATION

The invoice declaration, the text of which is given below, must be made out in accordance with the footnotes. However, the footnotes do not have to be reproduced.

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Section 2

Transitional provisions

Article 5

Consultations

The Republic of South Africa undertakes that it shall not make any claim, request or referral nor modify or withdraw any concession pursuant to GATT 1994 Articles XXIV.6 and XXVIII in relation to this enlargement of the Community. Until the end of July 2004, the Community would, however, be willing to consider holding further consultations under Article 22.2 of the TDCA.

Article 6

Goods en route or in temporary storage

1. The provisions of the Agreement shall be applied to goods exported from either South Africa to one of the new Member States or from one of the new Member States to South Africa, which comply with the provisions of Protocol 1 to the TDCA and which on the date of accession are either en route or in temporary storage, in a customs warehouse or in a free zone in South Africa or in that new Member State.

2. Preferential treatment shall be granted in such cases, subject to the submission to the customs authorities of the importing country, within four months of the date of accession, of proof of origin issued retrospectively by the customs authorities of the exporting country.

Article 7

Quotas in 2004

For the year 2004, the increases in the volumes of existing tariff quotas shall be calculated as a pro rata of the basic volumes, taking into account the part of the period elapsed before 1 May 2004.

Section 3

General and final provisions

Article 8

This Protocol shall form an integral part of the Agreement on Trade, Development and Cooperation between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of South Africa, of the other part.

Article 9

1. This Protocol shall be approved by the Community, by the Council of the European Union on behalf of the Member States, and by the Republic of South Africa in accordance with their own procedures.

2. The Parties shall notify each other of the accomplishment of the corresponding procedures referred to in the preceding paragraph. The instruments of approval shall be deposited with the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union.

Article 10

1. This Protocol shall enter into force on the first day of the first month following the date of deposit of the last instrument of approval.

2. It shall apply with effect from 1 May 2004.

Article 11

This Protocol is drawn up in duplicate in each of the official languages of the Contracting Parties as listed in Article 2, each of these texts being equally authentic.

Done at Brussels on

For the European Community

For the Republic of South Africa

LEGISLATIVE FINANCIAL STATEMENT

Policy area(s): 21 DEV

Activity: 21 03 Geographical Cooperation

Title of action:

1. BUDGET LINE(S) + HEADING(S)

None

2. OVERALL FIGURES

2.1. Total allocation for action (Part B): N/A

2.2. Period of application:

From 1 May 2004

2.3. Overall multi-annual estimate of expenditure:

(a) Schedule of commitment appropriations/payment appropriations (financial intervention) (see point 6.1.1)

EUR million (to three decimal places)

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(b) Technical and administrative assistance and support expenditure(see point 6.1.2)

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(c) Overall financial impact of human resources and other administrative expenditure

(see points 7.2 and 7.3)

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2.4. Compatibility with financial programming and financial perspective

[X] Proposal is compatible with existing financial programming.

Proposal will entail reprogramming of the relevant heading in the financial perspective.

Proposal may require application of the provisions of the Interinstitutional Agreement.

2.5. Financial impact on revenue: [3]

[3]  For further information, see separate explanatory note.

[X] Proposal has no financial implications (involves technical aspects regarding implementation of a measure)

OR

Proposal has financial impact - the effect on revenue is as follows:

(NB All details and observations relating to the method of calculating the effect on revenue should be shown in a separate annex.)

(EUR million to one decimal place)

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(Please specify each budget line involved, adding the appropriate number of rows to the table if there is an effect on more than one budget line.)

3. BUDGET CHARACTERISTICS

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4. LEGAL BASIS

Agreement on Trade, Development and Cooperation between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of South Africa, of the other part,

Treaty of Accession of the ten New Member States to the Community.

5. DESCRIPTION AND GROUNDS

5.1. Need for Community intervention [4]

[4]  For further information, see separate explanatory note.

5.1.1. Objectives pursued

Accession of the new Member States to the Agreement on Trade, Development and Cooperation (TDCA) with the Republic of South Africa by the conclusion of a protocol to this Agreement.

5.1.2. Measures taken in connection with ex ante evaluation

No specific ex ante evaluation has been conducted.

5.1.3. Measures taken following ex post evaluation

No specific ex post evaluation has been conducted.

5.2. Action envisaged and budget intervention arrangements

5.3. Methods of implementation

Implementation methods will be consistent with the general implementation rules of the TDCA.

6. FINANCIAL IMPACT

6.1. Total financial impact on Part B - (over the entire programming period)

(The method of calculating the total amounts set out in the table below must be explained by the breakdown in Table 6.2. )

6.1.1. Financial intervention

No financial interventions foreseen.

Commitments (in EUR million to three decimal places)

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6.1.2. Technical and administrative assistance, support expenditure and IT expenditure

(commitment appropriations)

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6.2. Calculation of costs by measure envisaged in Part B (over the entire programming period) [5]

[5]  For further information, see separate explanatory note.

The actions and measures to be funded will be defined by the feasibility study.

Commitments (in EUR million to three decimal places)

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If necessary explain the method of calculation

7. IMPACT ON STAFF AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENDITURE

No impact on staff or administrative expenditure is anticipated.

7.1. Impact on human resources

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7.2. Overall financial impact of human resources

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The amounts are total expenditure for twelve months.

7.3. Other administrative expenditure deriving from the action

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The amounts are total expenditure for twelve months.

1 Specify the type of committee and the group to which it belongs.

I. Annual total (7.2 + 7.3)  //  EUR

II. Duration of action  //  years

III. Total cost of action (I x II)  //  EUR

(In the estimate of human and administrative resources required for the action, DGs/Services must take into account the decisions taken by the Commission in its orientation/APS debate and when adopting the preliminary draft budget (PDB). This means that DGs must show that human resources can be covered by the indicative pre-allocation made when the PDB was adopted.

Exceptional cases (i.e. those where the action concerned could not be envisaged when the PDB was being prepared) will have to be referred to the Commission for a decision on whether and how (by means of an amendment of the indicative pre-allocation, an ad hoc redeployment exercise, a supplementary/amending budget or a letter of amendment to the draft budget) implementation of the proposed action can be accommodated.)

8. FOLLOW-UP AND EVALUATION

8.1. Follow-up arrangements

Follow-up arrangements will be no different from those already planned in the TDCA.

8.2. Arrangements and schedule for the planned evaluation

Arrangements for evaluation will be no different from those already planned in the TDCA.

9 ANTI-FRAUD MEASURES

Fraud prevention and protection measures will be no different from those already planned in the TDCA.