on the possible relocation of the ICCO headquarter from London to Abidjan

The annual administrative budgets of ICCO after relocation to Abidjan would be more or less comparable to the budgets in London.

Cote d'Ivoire has indicated to take over the relocation costs necessary which have been assessed at 1,949,944£.

Since 2002, no other country than Cote d'Ivoire has offered to host the ICCO. As Cote d'Ivoire is the biggest cocoa producer, a relocation of ICCO's headquarters from London to Abidjan is appropriate, if the local conditions allow it.

The contents of this decision were discussed in the Council Working Party on Commodities at a number of meetings in 2015.

With Council Conclusion of 13 March 2012, the European Union adopted its position to be taken in the 85th session of the ICCO Council (March 2012) regarding the relocation of ICCO headquarter to Abidjan.

With Council Decision 2012/189/EU of 26 March 2012 (OJ L 102, 12.4.2012, p. 1) the European Union approved the International Cocoa Agreement on behalf of the Union.

With the current decision, the European Union will adopt its position to be taken in the 92nd regular session of the ICCO Council in September 2015 (or any extraordinary session after September until the end of 2015) regarding the relocation of ICCO headquarter from London to Abidjan.

The Council of the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) decided in May 2002 to move its headquarters from London to Abidjan in Cote d'Ivoire with effect from 1 January 2003. Due to the security situation in Cote d'Ivoire, the implementation of the relocation to Abidjan was several times postponed, the last time in March 2012 when the Council of ICCO agreed to make a final decision at its September 2015 session.

•Reasons for and objectives of the proposal

A decision to move ICCO headquarters from London to Abidjan should be taken in September 2015 or at least not later than end of 2015. The relocation itself should take place in September 2016 and not later than March 2017.

2015/0183 (NLE)

Proposal for a

COUNCIL DECISION

on the possible relocation of the ICCO headquarter from London to Abidjan

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 207 in conjunction of Article 218(9) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:

(1)The EU is a party to the International Cocoa Agreement 2010 and a member of the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO),

(2)ICCO is supposed to adopt a decision in the 92nd regular session of its Council in September 2015 regarding the relocation of ICCO headquarter from London to Abidjan,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The European Union’s position for the 92nd regular session of the ICCO Council (21-25 September 2015) regarding the seat of the International Cocoa Organisation is set out as follows:

Provided that by the 92nd regular session of the ICCO Council in September 2015 or by any upcoming extraordinary session thereof until the end of 2015,

the UN security level for Cote d'Ivoire is number two or better;

an updated Headquarters Agreement, Memorandum of Understanding or equivalent exchange of letters between the ICCO and Cote d'Ivoire stipulating the mutual obligations and responsibilities concerning the relocation has been signed or exchanged;

an ICCO Council decision is approved on the share of the relocation costs (1,949,944 GBP paid by Cote d'Ivoire) and responsibilities between Cote d'Ivoire and ICCO, the modalities and timelines for the payment of the relocation costs, bearing in mind that 100% of the estimated relocation costs should be paid to ICCO by Cote d'Ivoire until March 2016);

an ICCO Council decision is approved establishing the timelines for the relocation;