COUNCIL DECISION (EU) 2020/1787

of 23 November 2020

on the position to be taken, on behalf of the European Union, within the ACP-EU Committee of Ambassadors, as regards the amendment of Decision No 3/2019 of the ACP-EU Committee of Ambassadors to adopt transitional measures pursuant to Article 95(4) of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 217, in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:

(1) The Partnership Agreement between the members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part (1) (‘the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement’) was signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000 and entered into force on 1 April 2003. In accordance with Decision No 3/2019 of the ACP-EU Committee of Ambassadors (2) (‘decision on transitional measures’), it is to be applied until 31 December 2020.

(2) In accordance with the first subparagraph of Article 95(4) of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, negotiations towards a new ACP-EU Partnership Agreement (the ‘new Agreement’) were launched in September 2018. As the new Agreement will not be ready to be applied by 31 December 2020, the date of expiry of the current legal framework, due, amongst other things, to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is necessary to amend the decision on transitional measures to further extend the application of the provisions of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement until 30 November 2021.

(3) The second subparagraph of Article 95(4) of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement provides for the ACP-EU Council of Ministers to adopt any transitional measures that may be required until the new Agreement comes into force.

(4) Pursuant to Article 15(4) of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, on 23 May 2019, the ACP-EU Council of Ministers delegated the powers to adopt the transitional measures to the ACP-EU Committee of Ambassadors. (3) Therefore it is for the ACP-EU Committee of Ambassadors to amend the transitional measures pursuant to Article 95(4) of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement.

(5) It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf within the ACP- EU Committee of Ambassadors, as the envisaged act is binding on the Union.

(6) The provisions of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement will continue to be applied with the aim of maintaining continuity in relations between the Union and its Member States, on the one hand, and the ACP States, on the other. Accordingly, the amended transitional measures are not intended as amendments to the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement as provided for in Article 95(3) thereof,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1 The position to be taken on the Union’s behalf within the ACP-EU Committee of Ambassadors, pursuant to Article 95(4) of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, shall be to amend Decision No 3/2019 of the ACP-EU Committee of Ambassadors in order to extend the application of the provisions of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement until 30 November 2021, or until the entry into force of the new Agreement or the provisional application between the Union and the ACP States of the new Agreement, whichever comes first. The provisions of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement shall be applied in line with the purpose and objective of Article 95(4) thereof.

Article 2 This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

Done at Brussels, 23 November 2020. For the Council The President M. ROTH

(1) OJ L 317, 15.12.2000, p. 3. The ACP-EU Partnership Agreement was amended by the Agreement signed in Luxembourg on 25 June 2005 (OJ L 209, 11.8.2005, p. 27) and by the Agreement signed in Ouagadougou on 22 June 2010 (OJ L 287, 4.11.2010, p. 3).

(2) Decision No 3/2019 of the ACP-EU Committee of Ambassadors of 17 December 2019 to adopt transitional measures pursuant to Article 95(4) of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement (OJ L 1, 3.1.2020, p. 3).

(3) Decision No 1/2019 of the ACP-EU Council of Ministers of 23 May 2019 on the delegation of powers to the ACP-EU Committee of Ambassadors on the decision to adopt transitional measures pursuant to Article 95(4) of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement (OJ L 146, 5.6.2019, p. 114).