COUNCIL DECISION (EU) 2019/1578

of 20 September 2019

on the position to be adopted on behalf of the European Union within the Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development established 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 Panel of Experts referred to in Article 13.15 of the Agreement

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

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

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:

(1) By Decision 2011/265/EU (1), the Council approved the signing on behalf of the Union 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 (2) (‘the Agreement’). The Agreement was signed on 6 October 2010 and was provisionally applied from 1 July 2011.

(2) The Agreement was concluded by the Union by Council Decision (EU) 2015/2169 (3) and entered into force on 13 December 2015.

(3) By Decision No 2/2012 of 27 June 2012 (4), the EU-Korea Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development (‘the Committee’) established a list of experts who may serve as panellists for the purposes of Article 13.15 of the Agreement.

(4) On 30 July 2019, the Republic of Korea informed the Union that it wished to replace the names of several Korean experts set out in the list of experts set out in the Annex to Decision No 2/2012. In order to take effect, the amended list of experts should be submitted to the approval of the Committee as soon as possible.

(5) It is therefore appropriate to establish the position to be adopted on the Union's behalf in the Committee on the basis of the attached draft decision in order to ensure the effective implementation of the Agreement,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1 The position to be adopted on the Union's behalf within the EU-Korea Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development established 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 list of experts willing and able to serve as panellists in accordance with Article 13.15 of the Agreement, shall be based on the draft decision of the EU-Korea Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development attached to this Decision.

Article 2 This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

Done at Brussels, 20 September 2019. For the Council The President S. MARIN

(1) Council Decision 2011/265/EU of 16 September 2010 on the signing, on behalf of the European Union, and provisional application 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 (OJ L 127, 14.5.2011, p. 1).

(2) OJ L 127, 14.5.2011, p. 6.

(3) Council Decision (EU) 2015/2169 of 1 October 2015 on the conclusion 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 (OJ L 307, 25.11.2015, p. 2).

(4) Decision No 2/2012 of the EU-Korea Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development of 27 June 2012 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 (OJ L 331, 1.12.2012, p. 54).