COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
COM(91) 387 final 
Brussels, 18 October 1991 
Proposal for a 
COUNCIL DECISION 
on the accession of the European Community 
to the FAO at the 26th session of the FAO Conference 
(presented by the Commission) 

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Explanatory Memorandum 
1. The European Community currently has observer status at the FAO, whose 
work largely relates to fields in which the Community is competent. The 
limitations of this status are such that the Commission has decided to 
initiate a campaign to obtain full membership. A communication to this 
effect, accompanied by a decision, was sent to the Council on 16 February 
1987 (SEC (86) 2201 final). 
2. Discussions in the Council came to a head in April 1989 and the 
Commission was authorized to initiate exploratory talks with the FAO 
Secretariat. On 26 April 1989, the President of the Council wrote to the 
Director-General of the FAO on behalf of the Community and its Member 
States asking him to instruct the competent FAO bodies to examine the 
possibility of the Community obtaining membership status in keeping with 
its competence. 
3. Similarly, on 30 June 1989 the FAO Council authorized the Director-
General to explore the possibility of allowing regional economic 
integration organizations (REIOs), in particular the European Community, to 
accede to the FAO, and the legal and financial implications of such 
accession. 
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4. As a result of the exploratory talks between the Commission and the FAO 
Secretariat, the Council decided unanimously on 22 October 1990 to send a 
letter requesting the formal opening of accession negotiations. 
5. The Council of the FAO replied favourably to the Community's initiative 
and instructed the Director-General to follow up the talks and to prepare 
draft amendments to the basic texts of the FAO to allow assess ion by t he 
Community. The accession negotiations were formally initiated by 
Mr Matutes, in close partnership with the President of the Council, in Rome 
on 1 February 1991. 
6. Accession by regional economic integration organizations was the main 
item discussed at the 99th session of the FAO Council in Rome on 10-
21 June 1991. The report adopted by the CounciI concluded preparations for 
accession by proposing amendments to the FAO's basic texts, to be put to 
the Conference in November 1991. The absence of any political opposition to 
the Community's candidature suggests that Member Nations of the FAO will 
vote in favour. The FAO Council has entrusted the final phase of the 
negotiations to a com it tee of FAO Member Nations, which met in Rome from 
9-13 September 1991. The Committee's work enabled the final agreements to 
be drawn up. However the Community will not be able to submit a formal 
request to accede to the Organization until after the Conference has 
adopted the final text of the amendments. 
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As for the procedure, the Community is unable to submit a request for 
accession by the date required, that is one month before the opening of the 
Conference, in time for inclusion on the agenda. Given this situation, to 
allow the Conference to debate the possible request for accession, the 
Community has decided to send a letter to the Director-General of the FAO 
asking him to include two items on the Conference agenda for discussion: 
the accession of the European Community and a derogation from Article XIX 
of the General Rules of the Organization1. 
In this situation, in order to align the decision-making processes of the 
FAO and the Community, the Council needs to decide in advance to follow the 
procedure leading to accession, while making the decision to submit a 
formal request for accession conditional on the Community's achieving the 
objectives it has set in the course of the negotiations. 
7. At this point in the negotiations proper, the bulk of the questions 
concerning the accession of REIOs has been settled. In the Commission's 
opinion, the methods proposed for defining the criteria allowing REIOs to 
apply for membership of the organization, the obligations resulting from 
the declarations of competence to be submitted on accession, and the 
recognition of and methods of exercising the REIOs' right to vote are 
satisfactory and in accordance with the Community's general practice. 
The derogation from Article XIX of the General Rules will be put to the 
vote at a plenary meeting of the Conference, which will decide by a 
two-thirds majority of the votes cast in accordance with Rule XL I I . 
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One essential question remains open and has yet to be resolved to the 
Community's satisfaction, namely that of speaking rights granted to REIOs 
and their Member States, in discussions on matters in respect of which they 
have concurrent competence. This is the only question which directly 
concerns the Community and its Member States. The Community seeks to be 
able to express its views concurrently with its Member States, while a 
minority of Member Nations of the FAO are arguing for the strict 
application of the division of competence to speaking rights, so that 
either the Member Organization o_r_ its Member State exercises speaking 
r ights. 
In the Commission's opinion, there is reason to believe that the majority 
of Member Nations of the FAO will be able to accept an amendment along the 
lines of the compromise proposed by the Commission, which provides that on 
matters in respect of which the Member Organization and its Member States 
have concurrent competence, both may participate in discussions, on the 
understanding that the Organization and its Member States will take care as 
far as possible to limit interventions by both on the same agenda item. If 
the Conference accepted an amendment to this end, the outcome of the 
negotiations would be fair and appropriate. 
8. Accordingly, the Commission proposes that the Council decide: 
that at the 26th session of the Conference, to be held in Rome from 
8-28 November 1991, the Community will apply for accession to the 
FAO after the Conference has adopted the appropriate amendments and 
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in as far as these amendments are acceptable to the Community, in 
particular as regards speaking rights for the Community and its 
Member States in discussions on matters in which both the Community 
and its Member States are competent. 
in as far as these conditions are met, the Council adopts the 
attached proposal for a decision1 and the President of the Council 
will submit an application for membership and a formal instrument 
whereby the Community accepts the obligations of the Constitution 
of the FAO (Annex 1). 
the President of the Council will at the same time submit a 
declaration of competence by the Community, specifying the matters 
in respect of which the Member States have transferred their 
competence to it and the matters in respect of which the Member 
Organization and its Member States have concurrent competence 
(Annex 2). 
the President of the Council will submit the Community's request 
for accession to the FAO to the Conference with the support of all 
the Member States of the Community. 
The Council should request consultation with the European Parliament on 
this proposal according to the urgent procedure agreed by the 
institutions, explaining to the European Parliament the reasons 
compelling recourse to this procedure. 
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proposal for a Council Decision on the accession of the European 
Community to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 
(FAQ) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the EEC, and in particular 
Articles 43, 113and 235 thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament, 
Whereas following exploratory talks with the FAO Secretariat, the Community 
and the FAO examined the possibility of regional economic integration 
organizations acceding to the FAO; 
Whereas on 22 October 1990, the Council decided to initiate negotiations 
with a view to the Community's accession to the FAO; 
Whereas the negotiations were initiated by the Commission, in close 
partnership with the President of the Council, on 1 February 1991 in Rome; 
Whereas on essential points the outcome of the negotiations is fair and 
appropriate for the Community and its Member States, and the Constitution 
and the General Rules of the FAO have been amended in accordance with this 
outcome; 
Whereas in view of the above the Community may accede to the FAO, 
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: 
Sole Art icle 
1. The Community shall, at the 26th session of the FAO Conference, submit a 
request for accession to the FAO, accompanied by a formal instrument 
according to which it accepts the obligations of the Constitution as in 
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force at the time of admission (Annex 1) and a declaration of competence 
(Annex 2). 
2. The President of the Council shall be responsible for completing the 
necessary procedures to this end. 
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ANNEX 1 
Sir, 
I have the honour to inform you that the European Community has decided to 
request admission as a member to the Food and Agriculture Organization of 
the United Nations. I would therefore ask you to submit this request, in 
accordance with the relevant sections of the General Rules of the 
Organization, to the Conference. 
The European Community formally accepts the obligations attached to 
membership of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 
as laid down by the Constitution of the Organization, and solemnly 
undertakes to fulfil the obligations in force at the time of its admission 
in all loyalty and conscience. 
Yours faithfully, 
H.P. Van den Broek 
President-in-Office of the Counci 
of the European Communities 
The Director-General 
Food and Agriculture Organization 
of the United Nations 
Viale del le Terme di Caracal la 
Rome 
ITALY 
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INSTRUMENT OF ACCEPTANCE 
The European Community formally accepts the obligations attached to 
membership of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 
as defined in the Constitution of the Organization, and solemnly undertakes 
to fulfil the obligations in force at the time of its admission in all 
loyalty and conscience. 
H.P. Van den Broek 
President-in-Office of the Council 
of the European Communities 
The Director-General 
Food and Agriculture Organization 
of the United Nations 
Viale del le Terme di Caracal la 
Rome 
ITALY 
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ANNEX 2 
DECLARATION OF COMPETENCE BY THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY 
IN RESPECT OF MATTERS COVERED 
BY THE CONSTITUTION OF THE FAO 
(Pursuant to Rule XLIV of the 
General Rules of the Organization) 
Rule XLIV of the General Rules of the FAO stipulates that at the time of 
their admission, regional economic intégrât ion organizations shall submit a 
declaration specifying the matters covered by the Constitution in respect 
of which competence has been transferred to them by their Member States. 
The European Community was founded by the Treaties of Paris and Rome, 
signed respectively on 18 April 1951 and 25 March 1957. Following 
ratification by the signatory States, these Treaties entered into force on 
25 July 1952 and 1 January 1958.1 
The Treaty of Paris establishing the European Coal and Steel Community 
was registered with the Secretariat of the United Nations on 
15 March 1957 under No 3729; the Treaties of Rome establishing the 
European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community 
(Euratom) were registered in 21 April 1958 and 24 April 1958 
respectively under No 4300 and 4301. 
The present members of the Community are: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, 
Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, 
Portugal and the United Kingdom. 
The Constitution of the FAO applies, in respect of matters transferred 
to the European Economic Community, to the territories in which the 
Treaty establishing the latter is applicable, under the conditions laid 
down in that Treaty. This declaration is not valid for those 
territories of the Member States in which the Treaty is not applicable. 
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In accordance with the aforementioned Rule, this declaration specifies the 
Community's competence in matters covered by the Constitution. 
The exercise of competence which the Member States has transferred to the 
Community pursuant to the Treaties is, by its nature, liable to continuous 
change. The Community therefore reserves the right to make further 
declarations later. 
I• The European Community has exclusive competence in: 
(a) all matters relating to commercial policy, in accordance with 
Article 113 of the EEC Treaty. The common commercial policy 
comprises not only the traditional instruments in this field 
(tariff measures, trade protection and promotion, the conclusion of 
trade agreements, etc.) but also any new instrument introduced at 
international level to regulate trade (e.g. support measures for 
specific products, agreements on the recognition of technical 
standards, etc.)1. 
(b) all matters concerning fisheries, which are aimed at protecting the 
fishing grounds and conserving the biological resources of the sea, 
in accordance with Article 102 of the 1972 Treaty of Accession. 
1 Opinion 1/78 of the Court of Justice, [1979] ECR 2871. 
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11.The Community also has competence in the following matters which come 
under the FAO's fields of activity: 
(a) Agricultural policy (Articles 38 to 47 of the EEC Treaty), 
including the harmonization of standards of animal and plant 
health; 
(b) The approximation of provisions laid down by law, regulation or 
administrative action by the Member States (Articles 100 and 100a 
EEC); 
(c) Policy on research and technological development (Articles 130f to 
130q of the EEC Treaty); 
(d) Environmental policy (Articles 130r to 130t of the EEC Treaty); 
(e) Development policy (Articles 131 to 136a and Article 235 of the EEC 
Treaty) ; 
(f) Other Community policies (e.g. transport, economic, and social 
policy) which may marginally concern the activities of the FAO. 
In the sectors listed under II, the distribution of competence between the 
Community and the Member States is fixed as follows: 
(a) Agr[cultural policy 
1. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is very broad in its 
conception. It covers both agriculture and trade in agricultural 
products (products of first-stage processing as well as products of 
the soil, of stockfarming and of fisheries). It encompasses all 
aspects of agricultural life (productivity, income, prices, 
consumers, finance, technical progress, stabilization of prices, 
availability of supplies, structural policy, vocational training, 
and research). 
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2. However, the CAP only covers the products listed in Annex II of the 
Treaty. There are therefore a limited number of products which, 
although they fall within the general definition of agricultural 
products, are not listed (e.g. wool, hides and furs, some fruits 
and foreign plants such as maté). These products do not come within 
the Community's competence unless such competence has expressly 
been transferred by an act adopted outside the Articles of the 
Treaty relating to the CAP. This is the case for cotton (cf. 
Protocol No 4 of the 1980 Treaty of Accession). 
3. In addition, the Community has not up to now exercised its 
competence for a very small number of agricultural products 
(potatoes, agricultural alcohol, bananas, coffee,2 and cork). The 
Member States retain competence in agricultural policy for these 
products. 
4. The Community has fully exercised its competence in agricultural 
policy with regard to productivity, incomes, prices and structural 
policy; it therefore has exclusive competence to discuss these 
matters in external relations. On the other hand, where vocational 
training, research and finance are concerned, Community legislation 
is not comprehensive and the Member States retain partial 
competence which may be determined when these matters are discussed 
within the FAO. 
5. Forestry is not part of the CAP, but the Community has adopted a 
number of measures in this area3 for which it is competent 
externally. 
2 The Community is however a contracting party to the International Coffee 
Agreement (under its commercial policy). 
3 These relate to agricultural policy (structural policy), environmental 
policy or commercial policy (trade in wood). 
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(b) The approximation of provisions laid down by law, regulation or 
administrative action 
For the purposes of the FAO, only competence in respect of food 
products and machines, equipment and tools intended for 
agricultural and food production is relevant. Even in this limited 
area it is impossible to list all the Community measures in force. 
The Community and its Member States will therefore indicate their 
respective competence, in accordance with the General Rules of the 
FAO, when these matters arise on the agenda of an FAO meeting. 
(c). Policy on research and technological development 
The Community's competence under the terms of Articles 130f to 130q 
of the Treaty is of the same kind as its competence in agricultural 
research (Article 41 EEC): it mainly covers basic research 
(universities, research institutes) and both research and 
technological development relating to the food industries. Here, 
the Community has wide competence: 
in promoting Community cooperation with third countries and 
international organizations in research, technological development 
and demonstration (Article 130g); 
in providing for Community cooperation with third countries or 
international organizations via international agreements with 
regard to research, technological development and demonstration 
(Article 130n). 
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This competence is exercised by the Council on a proposal from the 
Commission on a case-by-case basis and will be indicated within the 
FAO when the time comes. In as far as the Community does not 
exercise its competence in this area, the Member States will retain 
competence. 
(d) Env i ronmentaI POIicy 
In environmental matters the situation is the same. The Community 
has adopted a large number of legislative acts and under Article 
130r(5) of the EEC Treaty has express competence to cooperate with 
third countries and international organizations, which may be laid 
down in international agreements. Its competence is exercised case 
by case, with the participation of the Member States where the 
latter have retained competence for part of the matter in question. 
(e) Development policy 
No common development policy exists under the Treaty beyond the 
relevant aspects of the common commercial policy (tariff measures 
in favour of developing countries and other support measures for 
certain products coming from developing countries, e.g. sugar) and 
the association of the overseas countries and territories (Articles 
131 to 136 of the EEC Treaty and Council Decision 86/283/EEC, 
OJ No L 175 of 1 July 1986). Nonetheless the Community has a policy 
of development aid, in addition to that of the Member States, 
through the the Lomé Convention (the association agreement with the 
countries known as the ACP) and numerous cooperation agreements 
with the countries of the Mediterranean basin, Asia and Latin 
America. It has also approved numerous food aid, humanitarian and 
technical programmes and campaigns. These acts form the basis of 
its competence in the field of development. 
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(f) Other pQliçies 
It is possible that, from time to time, other Community policies 
will enter into consideration as areas of Community competence 
within the FAO. This may in particular be the case with economic 
policy (particularly conjunctural policy, under Article 103 EEC), 
transport policy (Articles 74 to 84 EEC) and social policy (working 
conditions in agriculture; equality between men and women, see 
Articles 117 to 128 EEC). 

ISSN 0254-1475 
COM (91) 387 final 
DOCUMENTS 
EN 03 
Catalogue number : CB-CO-91-443-EN-C 
ISBN 92-77-76464-3 
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 
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