COUNCIL DECISION (EU) 2021/570

of 24 October 2019

on the signing, on behalf of the Union, and provisional application of the Protocol to the Euro-Mediterranean Interim Association Agreement on trade and cooperation between the European Community, of the one part, and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) for the benefit of the Palestinian Authority of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, of the other part, on a Framework Agreement between the European Union and the Palestinian Authority of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip on the general principles for its participation in Union programmes

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 209 in conjunction with Article 218(5) and (7) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:

(1) On 18 June 2007 the Council authorised the Commission to negotiate a Protocol to the Euro-Mediterranean Interim Association Agreement on trade and cooperation between the European Community, of the one part, and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) for the benefit of the Palestinian Authority of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, of the other part, on a Framework Agreement between the European Union and the Palestinian Authority of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip on the general principles for its participation in Union programmes (‘the Protocol’).

(2) The negotiations have been concluded.

(3) The objective of the Protocol is to lay down the financial and technical rules enabling the Palestinian Authority of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (‘the Palestinian Authority’) to participate in certain Union programmes. The horizontal framework established by the Protocol sets out principles for economic, financial and technical cooperation measures and allows the Palestinian Authority to receive technical assistance, in particular financial assistance, from the Union under those programmes. The framework applies only to those Union programmes for which the relevant constitutive legal acts provide for the possibility of the participation of the Palestinian Authority. The signing and provisional application of the Protocol therefore does not entail the exercise of powers, under the various sectoral policies pursued by the programmes, which are exercised when establishing the programmes.

(4) The Protocol should be signed and applied on a provisional basis, pending the completion of the procedures necessary for its entry into force,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1 The signing, on behalf of the Union, of the Protocol to the Euro-Mediterranean Interim Association Agreement on trade and cooperation between the European Community, of the one part, and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) for the benefit of the Palestinian Authority of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, of the other part, on a Framework Agreement between the European Union and the Palestinian Authority of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip on the general principles for its participation in Union programmes is hereby authorised, subject to the conclusion of the said Protocol. The text of the Protocol is attached to this Decision.

Article 2 The President of the Council is hereby authorised to designate the person(s) empowered to sign the Protocol on behalf of the Union.

Article 3 The Protocol shall be applied on a provisional basis, in accordance with Article 10 of the Protocol, as from the date of its signature, pending the procedures necessary for its entry into force (1).

Article 4 The Commission is authorised to determine, on behalf of the Union, the specific terms and conditions applicable to the participation of the Palestinian Authority in any given Union programme, including the financial contribution to be paid. The Commission shall keep the relevant working party of the Council informed.

Article 5 This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

Done at Brussels, 24 October 2019. For the Council The President A.-K. PEKONEN

(1) The date of signature of the Protocol will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union by the General Secretariat of the Council.