EN Official Journal of the European Union L 57/30

COUNCIL DECISION 2008/178/CFSP

of 28 January 2008

concerning the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Cameroon on the status of the European Union-led forces in transit within the territory of the Republic of Cameroon

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular Article 24 thereof,

Having regard to the recommendation from the Presidency,

Whereas:

(1) On 25 September 2007, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1778 (2007) authorising, in particular, the European Union to deploy in Chad and the Central African Republic, for a period of one year from the date on which its initial operating capability is declared, an operation aimed at fulfilling the mandate laid down in that Resolution.

(2) Resolution 1778 (2007) also urges all the Member States of the United Nations, particularly the States bordering Chad and the Central African Republic, to facilitate the delivery to Chad and the Central African Republic freely, without obstacles or delay of all personnel, equipment, provisions, supplies and other goods, intended for the European Union operation.

(3) On 15 October 2007, the Council adopted Joint Action 2007/677/CFSP on the European Union military operation in the Republic of Chad and in the Central African Republic (1) (EUFOR Tchad/RCA).

(4) A significant part of EUFOR Tchad/RCA will transit the territory of the Republic of Cameroon.

(5) Following authorisation by the Council on 18 September 2007, in accordance with Article 24 of the Treaty, the Presidency, assisted by the Secretary-General/High Representative (SG/HR), negotiated an Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Cameroon on the status of the European Union-led forces in transit within the territory of the Republic of Cameroon.

(6) The Agreement should be approved,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

The Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Cameroon on the status of the European Union-led forces in transit within the territory of the Republic of Cameroon is hereby approved on behalf of the European Union.

The text of the Agreement 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 bind the European Union.

Article 3

This Decision shall take effect on the day of its adoption.

Article 4

This Decision shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Done at Brussels, 28 January 2008. For the Council The President D. RUPEL

(1) OJ L 279, 23.10.2007, p. 21.

EN Official Journal of the European Union L 57/31

AGREEMENT

between the European Union and the Republic of Cameroon on the status of the European Union-led Forces in transit within the territory of the Republic of Cameroon

THE EUROPEAN UNION, hereinafter referred to as ‘the EU’,

of the one part, and

THE REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Transit State’,

of the other part,

hereinafter referred to as ‘the Parties’,

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT:

— United Nations Security Council Resolution 1778 (2007) of 25 September 2007,

— Council Joint Action 2007/677/CFSP of 15 October 2007 on the European Union military operation in the Republic of Chad and in the Central African Republic (EUFOR Tchad/RCA),

— the fact that this Agreement will not affect the Parties' rights and obligations under international agreements and other instruments establishing international courts and tribunals, including the Statute of the International Criminal Court,

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Scope and definitions

1. The aim of this Agreement is to define the arrangements for the transit through the territory of the Republic of Cameroon of EUFOR personnel and material intended for Chad and the CAR.

2. This Agreement shall apply to the European Union-led Forces and to their personnel.

3. This Agreement shall apply only within the territory of the Transit State.

4. For the purpose of this Agreement:

(a) ‘European Union-led Forces’ (EUFOR) shall mean EU military headquarters and national contingents contributing to the operation, their equipment and their means of transport;

(b) ‘operation’ shall mean the preparation, establishment, execution and support of the military mission further to the mandate arising out of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1778 (2007) of 25 September 2007;

(c) ‘EU Force Commander’ shall mean the Commander in the theatre of operations;

(d) ‘EU military headquarters’ shall mean the military headquarters and elements thereof, whatever their location, under the authority of EU military commanders exercising the military command or control of the operation;

(e) ‘national contingents’ shall mean units and elements belonging to the Member States of the EU and to other States participating in the operation;

(f) ‘EUFOR personnel’ shall mean the civilian and military personnel assigned to EUFOR as well as personnel deployed for the preparation of the operation and personnel on mission for a Sending State or an EU institution in the framework of the operation, present, except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, within the territory of the Transit State, with the exception of personnel employed locally and personnel employed by international commercial contractors;

(g) ‘personnel employed locally’ shall mean personnel who are nationals of or permanently resident in the Transit State;

(h) ‘facilities’ shall mean all premises, accommodation and land required for EUFOR and EUFOR personnel;

(i) ‘Sending State’ shall mean a State providing a national contingent for EUFOR.

Article 2

General provisions

1. EUFOR and EUFOR personnel shall respect the laws and regulations of the Transit State and shall refrain from any action or activity incompatible with the objectives of this Agreement.

2. EUFOR must regularly inform the Government of the Transit State of the number and identity of EUFOR personnel located within the Transit State's territory.

Article 3

Identification

1. EUFOR personnel must carry passports or military identity cards with them at all times.

2. EUFOR vehicles, aircraft, vessels and other means of transport shall carry distinctive EUFOR identification markings and/or registration plates, of which the relevant Transit State authorities shall be notified.

3. EUFOR shall have the right to display the flag of the EU and markings, such as military insignia, titles and official symbols, on its facilities, vehicles and other means of transport. The uniforms of EUFOR personnel shall carry a distinctive EUFOR emblem. National flags or insignia of the constituent national contingents taking part in the operation may be displayed on EUFOR facilities, vehicles and other means of transport and uniforms, as decided by the EU Force Commander.

Article 4

Border crossing and movement within the Transit State's territory

1. EUFOR personnel shall enter the Transit State's territory only on presentation of the documents provided for in Article 3(1) and, in the case of first entry, of an individual or collective movement order issued by EUFOR. They shall not be subject to visa regulations. They shall be exempt from emigration and immigration inspections and customs control on entering or leaving or when within the Transit State's territory.

2. EUFOR personnel shall be exempt from the Transit State's regulations on the registration and control of aliens, but shall not acquire any right to permanent residence or domicile within the Transit State's territory.

3. The list of EUFOR assets and means of transport entering the Transit State's territory in support of the operation shall be communicated to the Transit State by way of information. Such assets and means of transport shall bear the distinctive EUFOR emblem to enable their rapid identification. The Transit State shall facilitate administrative and customs formalities for EUFOR. EUFOR shall be exempt from producing any other customs document and from undergoing any kind of inspection.

4. EUFOR personnel may drive motor vehicles, navigate vessels and operate aircraft within the Transit State's territory provided they have valid national, international or military driving licences, ship master's certificates or pilot's licences, as appropriate.

5. For the purpose of the operation, the Transit State shall grant EUFOR and EUFOR personnel freedom of movement and freedom to travel within its territory via the transit corridors defined in the arrangements laid down in Article 18, including its territorial sea and its air space. Freedom of movement within the territorial sea of the Transit State shall include stopping and anchoring under any circumstances.

6. For the purpose of the operation, EUFOR may use roads, bridges, ferries, airports and ports without the payment of duties, fees, taxes and similar charges. EUFOR shall not be exempt from weighing fees, road tolls or port data processing fees, the terms of payment for which shall be defined in the arrangements laid down in Article 18.

Article 5

Privileges and immunities of EUFOR granted by the Transit State

1. EUFOR's facilities shall be inviolable. The Transit State's agents shall not enter them without the consent of the EU Force Commander.

2. EUFOR's facilities, their furnishings and other assets therein as well as its means of transport shall be immune from search, requisition, attachment or execution.

3. EUFOR shall not harbour any persons sought by the Transit State's judicial authorities.

4. EUFOR, its property and its assets shall enjoy immunity from every form of legal process.

5. EUFOR's archives and documents shall be inviolable.

6. EUFOR's official correspondence shall be inviolable. ‘Official correspondence’ shall mean all correspondence relating to the operation and its functions.

7. In respect of purchased and imported goods, services provided and facilities used by EUFOR for the purposes of the operation, EUFOR, as well as its providers or contractors, insofar as the latter are not nationals of the Transit State, shall be exempt from all national, regional and communal dues, taxes and other charges of a similar nature.

8. The Transit State shall permit the entry of articles for the operation and grant them exemption from all custom duties, fees, taxes, except for the port data processing fees referred to in Article 4(6), and similar charges other than charges for storage, cartage and other services rendered.

Article 6

Privileges and immunities of EUFOR personnel granted by the Transit State

1. EUFOR personnel shall not be liable to any form of arrest or detention.

2. Papers, correspondence and property of EUFOR personnel shall enjoy inviolability, except in the event of measures of execution which are permitted pursuant to paragraph 6.

3. EUFOR personnel shall enjoy immunity from the criminal jurisdiction of the Transit State.

The immunity from criminal jurisdiction of EUFOR personnel may be waived by the Sending State or EU institution concerned, as the case may be. Such waiver must always be express.

4. EUFOR personnel shall enjoy immunity from the civil and administrative jurisdiction of the Transit State in respect of acts performed by them in the exercise of their official functions. If any civil proceeding is instituted against EUFOR personnel before any Transit State court, the EU Force Commander and the competent authority of the Sending State or EU institution shall be notified immediately. Prior to initiation of the proceeding before the court, the EU Force Commander and the competent authority of the Sending State or EU institution shall certify, after receiving the formal advisory opinion of the Transit State's competent authorities, whether the act in question was committed by EUFOR personnel in the exercise of their official functions.

If the act was committed in the exercise of their official functions, the proceeding shall not be initiated and the provisions of Article 15 shall apply. If the act was not committed in the exercise of official functions, the proceeding may continue. The certification by the EU Force Commander and the competent authority of the Sending State or EU institution shall be binding upon the jurisdiction of the Transit State, which may not contest it.

The initiation of proceedings by EUFOR personnel shall preclude them from invoking immunity from jurisdiction in respect of any counter-claim directly connected with the principal claim.

5. EUFOR personnel shall not be obliged to give evidence as witnesses.

6. No measures of execution may be taken in respect of EUFOR personnel, except where a civil proceeding not related to their official functions is instituted against them. Property of EUFOR personnel, which is certified by the EU Force Commander to be necessary for the fulfilment of their official functions, shall be free from seizure for the satisfaction of a judgment, decision or order. In civil proceedings EUFOR personnel shall not be subject to any restrictions on their personal liberty or to any other measures of constraint.

7. The immunity of EUFOR personnel from the jurisdiction in the Transit State shall not exempt them from the jurisdictions of the respective Sending States.

8. EUFOR personnel shall with respect to services rendered for EUFOR be exempt from social security provisions which may be in force in the Transit State.

9. EUFOR personnel shall be exempt from any form of taxation in the Transit State on the salary and emoluments paid to them by EUFOR or the Sending States, as well as on any income received from outside the Transit State.

10. The Transit State shall, in accordance with such laws and regulations as it may adopt, permit entry of and grant exemption from all customs duties, taxes, and related charges other than charges for storage, cartage and similar services, on articles for the personal use of EUFOR personnel.

The personal baggage of EUFOR personnel shall be exempt from inspection, unless there are serious grounds for presuming that it contains articles that are not for the personal use of EUFOR personnel, or articles the import or export of which is prohibited by the law or controlled by the quarantine regulations of the Transit State. Such inspection shall be conducted only in the presence of the concerned EUFOR personnel or of an authorised representative of EUFOR.

Article 7

Personnel employed locally

Personnel recruited locally shall not enjoy any privileges or immunities. However, the Transit State shall exercise its jurisdiction in such a manner as not to interfere unduly with the performance of the functions of the operation.

Article 8

Criminal jurisdiction

The competent authorities of a Sending State shall have the right to exercise on the territory of the Transit State, in cooperation with the competent authorities of the latter, all the criminal jurisdiction and disciplinary powers conferred on them by the law of the Sending State with regard to all EUFOR personnel subject to the relevant law of the Sending State.

Article 9

Uniform and arms

1. The wearing of uniform shall be subject to rules adopted by the EU Force Commander.

2. EUFOR military personnel may carry individual small-calibre arms and corresponding ammunition on condition that they are authorised to do so by their orders. The list of such arms and their holders shall be communicated to the Transit State's competent authorities.

Article 10

Transit State support and contracting

1. The Transit State agrees, if requested, to assist EUFOR in finding suitable facilities.

2. The Transit State shall provide, free of charge, any facilities of which it is the owner, insofar as such facilities are required for the conduct of EUFOR'S administrative and operational activities.

3. Within its means and capabilities, the Transit State shall assist in the preparation, establishment, and execution of and support for the operation. The security measures taken by the Transit State pursuant to the provisions of Article 13(1) shall be free of charge.

4. The law applicable to contracts concluded by EUFOR in the Transit State shall be the lex fori. The dispute settlement procedure referred to in Article 15(3), (4) and (5) shall be applicable to disputes arising from the application of such contracts.

5. The Transit State shall facilitate the implementation of contracts concluded by EUFOR with commercial entities for the purposes of the operation.

Article 11

Change to facilities

1. EUFOR shall be authorised to construct, alter or otherwise modify facilities as needed for its transit requirements and for the duration of the operation, in accordance with the procedures specified in the arrangements laid down in Article 18.

2. No compensation shall be requested from EUFOR by the Transit State for those constructions, alterations or modifications, except in the case of significant damage to the initial facilities.

Article 12

Deceased EUFOR personnel

1. The EU Force Commander shall have the right to take charge of and make suitable arrangements for the repatriation of any deceased EUFOR personnel, as well as that of their personal property.

2. No autopsy shall be performed on any deceased member of EUFOR without the agreement of the State concerned and the presence of a representative of EUFOR and/or the State concerned.

3. The Transit State and EUFOR shall cooperate to the fullest extent possible with a view to the early repatriation of deceased EUFOR personnel.

Article 13

Security of EUFOR and military police

1. The Transit State shall take all appropriate measures to ensure the safety and security of EUFOR and its personnel.

2. EUFOR shall be authorised to take the measures necessary to protect its facilities and convoys in close cooperation with the competent authorities of the Transit State.

3. National contingents may use criminal police personnel in order to conduct the investigations necessary for the exercise of the criminal jurisdiction powers referred to in Article 8.

Article 14

Communications

1. EUFOR may instal and operate radio sending and receiving stations, as well as satellite systems. It shall cooperate with the competent authorities of the Transit State with a view to avoiding conflicts in the use of appropriate frequencies. Access to the frequency spectrum shall be granted in accordance with the legislation in force in the Transit State.

2. EUFOR shall enjoy the right to unrestricted communication by radio (including satellite, mobile and hand-held radio), telephone, telegraph, facsimile and other means, as well as the right to instal the equipment necessary for the maintenance of such communications within and between EUFOR facilities.

3. Within its own facilities EUFOR may make the arrangements necessary for the conveyance of mail addressed to and from EUFOR and/or EUFOR personnel.

Article 15

Claims for death, injury, damage and loss

1. Claims for damage to or loss of civilian or government property, as well as claims for death of or injury to persons and for damage to or loss of EUFOR property which is related to EUFOR's transit necessities, shall be settled amicably.

2. Such claims shall be forwarded to EUFOR via the competent authorities of the Transit State, as far as claims brought by legal or natural persons from the Transit State are concerned, or to the competent authorities of the Transit State, as far as claims brought by EUFOR are concerned.

3. Where no amicable settlement can be found, the claim shall be submitted to a claims commission composed on an equal basis of representatives of EUFOR and representatives of the Transit State. Settlement of claims shall be reached by common agreement.

4. Where no settlement can be reached within the claims commission, the dispute shall be submitted to an arbitration tribunal, the decisions of which shall be binding.

5. The arbitration tribunal shall be composed of three arbitrators, one arbitrator being appointed by the Transit State, one by EUFOR and the third jointly by the Transit State and EUFOR. Where one of the parties fails to appoint an arbitrator within two months or where no agreement can be found between the Transit State and EUFOR on the appointment of the third arbitrator, the arbitrator in question shall be appointed by the President of the Court of Justice of the European Communities.

6. An administrative arrangement shall be concluded between EUFOR and the administrative authorities of the Transit State in order to determine the terms of reference of the claims commission and the tribunal, the procedure applicable within these bodies and the conditions under which claims are to be lodged.

Article 16

Liaison and disputes

1. All issues arising in connection with the application of this Agreement shall be examined jointly by representatives of EUFOR and the Transit State's competent authorities.

2. Failing any prior settlement, disputes concerning the interpretation or application of this Agreement shall be settled exclusively by diplomatic means between the Transit State and EU representatives.

Article 17

Other provisions

1. Whenever this Agreement refers to the privileges, immunities and rights of EUFOR and of EUFOR personnel, the Government of the Transit State shall be responsible for their implementation and for compliance with them on the part of the appropriate Transit State local authorities.

2. Nothing in this Agreement is intended or may be construed to derogate from any rights that may attach to an EU Member State or to any other State contributing to EUFOR under other agreements.

Article 18

Implementing arrangements

For purposes of the application of this Agreement, operational, administrative and technical matters may be the subject of separate arrangements to be concluded between the EU Force Commander and the Transit State's administrative authorities.

Article 19

Entry into force and termination

1. This Agreement shall enter into force on the day on which it is signed and shall remain in force until the date of departure of the last EUFOR personnel, as notified to the Transit State's authorities by EUFOR.

2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, the provisions laid down in Article 4(6), Article 5(1), (2), (4), (7) and (8), Article 6(1), (3), (4), (6), and (8) to (10), Article 10(2), Article 11, Article 13(1), (2) and (3) and Article 15 shall be deemed to have applied from the date on which the first EUFOR personnel were deployed if that date was earlier than the date of entry into force of this Agreement.

3. This Agreement may be amended by written agreement between the Parties.

4. Termination of this Agreement shall not affect any rights or obligations arising out of the execution of this Agreement before such termination.