COUNCIL DECISION (EU) 2022/2562

of 24 October 2022

on the signing, on behalf of the Union, and provisional application of the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Kingdom of Thailand, of the other part

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) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:

(1) On 25 November 2004, the Council authorised the Commission to open negotiations with Thailand on a Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Kingdom of Thailand, of the other part (the ‘Agreement’).

(2) The negotiations on the Agreement were successfully concluded by the initialling of the Agreement on 2 September 2022 in Brussels.

(3) The aim of the Agreement is to strengthen the cooperation across a wide spectrum of policy fields, including human rights, non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, counter-terrorism, the fight against corruption and organised crime, trade, migration, the environment, energy, climate change, transport, science and technology, employment and social affairs, education and agriculture.

(4) The Agreement should be signed on behalf of the Union, subject to its conclusion at a later date.

(5) In view of the need to apply the Agreement ahead of its entry into force following ratifications by the Member States, certain provisions of the Agreement should be 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 Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Kingdom of Thailand, of the other part (the ‘Agreement’), is hereby authorised, subject to the conclusion of the Agreement (1).

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

Article 3 Pending the completion of the procedures necessary for its entry into force, in accordance with Article 59 of the Agreement and subject to the notifications provided for therein, the following parts of the Agreement shall be applied on a provisional basis (2) between the European Union and the Kingdom of Thailand, only to the extent that they cover matters falling within the Union’s competence, including matters falling within the Union’s competence to define and implement a Common Foreign and Security Policy: — Title I — Title II — Title III — Title IV: Articles 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 — Title V: Articles 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49 — Title VI — Title VII — Title VIII — Joint declaration on Article 5 — Joint declaration on Article 23.

Article 4 This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

Done at Luxembourg, 24 October 2022. For the Council The President A. HUBÁČKOVÁ

(1) See page 72 of this Official Journal.

(2) The date from which the parts of the Agreement are to be provisionally applied shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union by the General Secretariat of the Council.