ANNEX

Information and consultation procedure for the adoption of certain decisions and other measures to be taken during the period preceding accession

I.

1. In order to ensure that 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 "acceding States", are kept adequately informed, any proposal, communication, recommendation or initiative which might lead to decisions by the institutions or bodies of the European Union shall be brought to the knowledge of the acceding States after being transmitted to the Council.

2. Consultations shall take place pursuant to a reasoned request by an acceding State, which shall set out expressly therein its interests as a future member of the Union and its observations.

3. Administrative decisions shall not, as a general rule, give rise to consultations.

4. Consultations shall take place within an Interim Committee composed of representatives of the Union and of the acceding States.

5. On the Union side, the members of the Interim Committee shall be the members of the Permanent Representatives Committee or persons designated by them for this purpose. The Commission shall be invited to be represented in this work.

6. The Interim Committee shall be assisted by a Secretariat, which shall be that of the Conference, continued for this purpose.

7. Consultations shall normally take place as soon as the preparatory work carried out at Union level with a view to the adoption of decisions by the Council has produced common guidelines enabling such consultations to be usefully arranged.

8. If serious difficulties remain after consultations, the matter may be raised at ministerial level at the request of an acceding State.

9. The above provisions shall apply mutatis mutandis to the decisions of the Board of Governors of the European Investment Bank.

10. The procedure laid down in the above paragraphs shall also apply to any decision to be taken by the acceding States which might affect the commitments resulting from their position as future members of the Union.

II.

1. The procedure provided for under I shall apply mutatis mutandis to draft Council common strategies within the meaning of Article 13 of the TEU, draft Council joint actions within the meaning of Article 14 of the TEU and draft Council common positions within the meaning of Article 15 of the TEU, subject to the following provisions.

2. It is for the Presidency to bring these drafts to the attention of the acceding States when the proposal or communication is issued by a Member State.

3. Save for a reasoned objection from an acceding State, consultations may take place in the form of the exchange of messages by electronic means.

4. Should consultations take place within the Interim Committee, the Members of that Committee belonging to the Union may, where appropriate, be the Members of the Political and Security Committee.

III.

1. The procedure provided for under I shall apply mutatis mutandis to draft Council common positions, framework decisions and decisions within the meaning of Article 34 of the TEU and also to the drawing up of conventions as provided for under that Article, subject to the following provisions.

2. It is for the Presidency to bring these drafts to the attention of the acceding States when the proposal or communication is issued by a Member State.

3. Should consultations take place within the Interim Committee, the Members of that Committee belonging to the Union may, where appropriate, be the Members of the Committee referred to in Article 36 of the TEU.

IV.

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 shall take the necessary measures to ensure that their accession to the agreements or conventions referred to in Article 3(4), the second sentence of Article 5(1), Article 5(2), the first subparagraph of Article 6(2) and Article 6(5) of the Act concerning the conditions of accession and the adjustments to the Treaties coincides so far as possible, and under the conditions laid down in that Act, with the entry into force of the Treaty of Accession.

Insofar as the agreements or conventions referred to in Article 3(4), the second sentence of Article 5(1) and in Article 5(2) exist only in draft, have not yet been signed and probably can no longer be signed in the period before accession, the acceding States will be invited to be associated, after the signature of the Treaty of Accession and in accordance with appropriate procedures, with the preparation of those drafts in a positive spirit and in such manner as to facilitate their conclusion.

V.

With regard to the negotiation of the Protocols of transition and of adjustment with the co-contracting countries referred to in Articles 6(2) and 6(6) of the Act concerning the conditions of accession, the representatives of the acceding States shall be associated with the work as observers, side by side with the representatives of the present Member States.

Certain non-preferential agreements concluded by the Community, which remain in force after the date of accession, may be the subject of adaptations or adjustments in order to take account of the enlargement of the Union. These adaptations or adjustments will be negotiated by the Community in association with the representatives of the acceding States in accordance with the procedure referred to in the preceding paragraph.

VI.

The institutions shall, in due course, draw up the texts referred to in Articles 58 and 61 of the Act concerning the conditions of accession and the adjustments to the Treaties.

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