EN Official Journal of the European Union L 144/20

COUNCIL DECISION

of 4 November 2008

on the signing, on behalf of the Community and its Member States, of the Protocol amending the Agreement on maritime transport between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Government of the People’s Republic of China, of the other part

(2009/432/EC)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 80(2) in conjunction with the first sentence of the first subparagraph of Article 300(2) and the first subparagraph of Article 300(3) thereof,

Having regard to the 2005 Act of Accession, and in particular Article 6(2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Whereas:

(1) The Agreement on Maritime Transport between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Government of the People’s Republic of China, of the other part, hereinafter referred to as the ‘Agreement’, was signed in Brussels on 6 December 2002 and entered into force on 1 March 2008 (1).

(2) The Commission was authorised by the Council on 23 October 2006 to negotiate a Protocol with China amending the Agreement in order to take account of the accession of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union.

(3) The Protocol was initialled by both sides on 28 February 2008.

(4) The Protocol should therefore be signed, subject to its conclusion after completion of the necessary constitutional and institutional procedures,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

The signing of the Protocol amending the Agreement on maritime transport between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Government of the People’s Republic of China, of the other part, is hereby approved on behalf of the European Community and its Member States, subject to the Council Decision concerning 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 or persons empowered to sign the Protocol, on behalf of the European Community and its Member States, subject to its conclusion.

Done at Brussels, 4 November 2008. For the Council The President C. LAGARDE

(1) OJ L 46, 21.2.2008, p. 25.

EN Official Journal of the European Union L 144/21

PROTOCOL

amending the Agreement on maritime transport between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Government of the People’s Republic of China, of the other part

THE KINGDOM OF BELGIUM,

THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA,

THE CZECH REPUBLIC,

THE KINGDOM OF DENMARK,

THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY,

THE REPUBLIC OF ESTONIA,

IRELAND,

THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC,

THE KINGDOM OF SPAIN,

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC,

THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC,

THE REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS,

THE REPUBLIC OF LATVIA,

THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA,

THE GRAND DUCHY OF LUXEMBOURG,

THE REPUBLIC OF HUNGARY,

MALTA,

THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS,

THE REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA,

THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND,

THE PORTUGUESE REPUBLIC,

ROMANIA,

THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA,

THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC,

THE REPUBLIC OF FINLAND,

THE KINGDOM OF SWEDEN,

THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND,

hereinafter referred to as the ‘Member States’, represented by the Council of the European Union, and

THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Community’, represented by the Council of the European Union,

of the one part, and

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA,

of the other part,

HAVING REGARD TO the accession of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union and thereby to the Community on 1 January 2007,

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

The Republic of Bulgaria and Romania shall be Parties to the Agreement on Maritime Transport between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Government of the People’s Republic of China, of the other part, signed in Brussels on 6 December 2002 and entered into force on 1 March 2008 (hereinafter called ‘the Agreement’).

Article 2

The texts of the Agreement in the Bulgarian and Romanian languages, which are attached to this Protocol, shall become authentic under the same conditions as the other language versions drawn up in accordance with Article 14 of the Agreement.

Article 3

The Contracting Parties shall notify each other on the accomplishment of the internal legal procedures for the entry into force of this Protocol. This Protocol shall enter into force on the date of receipt of the last written notification.

Article 4

This Protocol is drawn up at Brussels, on the thirty-first day of March in the year two thousand and nine, in duplicate, in the Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish and Chinese languages, each of these texts being equally authentic.