EN Official Journal of the European Union L 121/7

COUNCIL DECISION (EU) 2015/771

of 7 May 2015

on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union within the Joint Committee established under the Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Swiss Confederation, of the other, on the free movement of persons, as regards the amendment of Annex III (Mutual recognition of professional qualifications) to that Agreement

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Articles 46, 53 and 62, in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:

(1) The Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Swiss Confederation, of the other, on the free movement of persons (1) (‘the Agreement’) was signed on 21 June 1999 and entered into force on 1 June 2002.

(2) Pursuant to Article 18 of the Agreement, amendments to Annex III (Mutual recognition of professional qualifications) thereto are to be adopted by decision of the Joint Committee established under Article 14 of the Agreement (‘the Joint Committee’).

(3) In order to maintain the consistent and correct application of legal acts of the Union and to avoid administrative, and possibly legal, difficulties, Annex III (Mutual recognition of professional qualifications) to the Agreement should be amended to take account of new legal acts of the Union to which the Agreement does not currently refer.

(4) It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on behalf of the Union within the Joint Committee as regards the amendment of Annex III (Mutual recognition of professional qualifications) to the Agreement.

(5) The position of the Union within the Joint Committee should therefore be based on the attached draft Decision,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The position to be adopted on behalf of the European Union within the Joint Committee established under Article 14 of the Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Swiss Confederation, of the other, on the free movement of persons (‘the Joint Committee’), as regards the amendment of Annex III (Mutual recognition of professional qualifications) thereto shall be based on the draft Decision of the Joint Committee attached to this Decision.

Minor technical changes to the draft Decision may be agreed by the representatives of the Union within the Joint Committee without the need for a further Council Decision.

Article 2

After its adoption, the Decision of the Joint Committee shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 3

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

Done at Brussels, 7 May 2015. For the Council The President E. RINKĒVIČS

(1) OJ L 114, 30.4.2002, p. 6.

DRAFT DECISION No …/2015 OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE established under Article 14 of the Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Swiss Confederation, of the other, on the free movement of persons of … amending Annex III (Mutual recognition of professional qualifications) to that Agreement THE JOINT COMMITTEE, Having regard to the Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Swiss Confederation, of the other, on the free movement of persons (1) (‘the Agreement’), and in particular Articles 14 and 18 thereof, Whereas: (1) The Agreement was signed on 21 June 1999 and entered into force on 1 June 2002. (2) Annex III (Mutual recognition of professional qualifications) to the Agreement was replaced by Decision No 2/2011 of the EU-Swiss Joint Committee (2) and should be updated to take into account new legal acts of the European Union and Switzerland since that date, HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: Article 1 Annex III (Mutual recognition of professional qualifications) to the Agreement is amended as set out in the Annex to this Decision. Article 2 This Decision is drawn up in Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish languages, the texts in each of these languages being equally authentic. Article 3 This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption by the Joint Committee. Done at …, For the Joint Committee The Chairperson (1) OJ L 114, 30.4.2002, p. 6. (2) OJ L 277, 22.10.2011, p. 20.