The position to be adopted, on the Union's behalf, within the Trade Committee established by the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Singapore, as regards the adoption of the Rules of Procedure for the Trade Committee, shall be based on the draft decision of the Trade Committee attached to this Decision.

(4)The position of the Union within the Trade Committee should be based on the draft decision of the Trade Committee,

(3)It is therefore appropriate to establish the position to be adopted on the Union's behalf within the Trade Committee with regard to the adoption of the Rules of Procedure for the Trade Committee in order to ensure the effective implementation of the Agreement.

(2)Pursuant to point (f) of paragraph 4 of Article 16.1 of the Agreement, the Trade Committee established by the Agreement (the ‘Trade Committee’) may adopt its own Rules of Procedure.

(1)The Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Singapore (‘the Agreement’) was concluded by the Union by Council Decision 2019/1875 and entered into force on 21 November 2019.

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Articles 91(1) and 100(2) and the first subparagraph of Article 207(4), in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,

on the position to be adopted, on behalf of the European Union, within the Trade Committee established by the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Singapore as regards the adoption of the Rules of Procedure for the Trade Committee

It is envisaged to publish the Decision of the Trade Committee once adopted.

The legal basis of the proposed decision should be Article 207(4) TFEU in conjunction with Article 218(9) TFEU.

Therefore, the substantive legal basis of the proposed decision is Article 207(4) TFEU.

The main objective and content of the envisaged act relate to the common commercial policy.

The substantive legal basis for a decision under Article 218(9) TFEU depends primarily on the objective and content of the envisaged act in respect of which a position is taken on the Union's behalf. If the envisaged act pursues two aims or has two components and if one of those aims or components is identifiable as the main one, whereas the other is merely incidental, the decision under Article 218(9) TFEU must be founded on a single substantive legal basis, namely that required by the main or predominant aim or component.

Therefore, the procedural legal basis for the proposed decision is Article 218(9) TFEU.

The envisaged act does not supplement or amend the institutional framework of the Agreement.

The act which the Trade Committee is called upon to adopt constitutes an act having legal effects. The envisaged act will be binding under international law in accordance with Article 16.4, paragraph 1of the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Singapore.

The Trade Committee is a body set up by an agreement, namely the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Singapore.

The concept of ‘acts having legal effects’ includes acts that have legal effects by virtue of the rules of international law governing the body in question. It also includes instruments that do not have a binding effect under international law, but that are ‘capable of decisively influencing the content of the legislation adopted by the EU legislature’.

Article 218(9) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides for decisions establishing ‘the positions to be adopted on the Union’s behalf in a body set up by an agreement, when that body is called upon to adopt acts having legal effects, with the exception of acts supplementing or amending the institutional framework of the agreement.’

The position to be adopted on behalf of the Union should aim at adopting the Rules of Procedure of the Trade Committee, as provided for by the Agreement.

3.Position to be taken on the Union's behalf

The envisaged act will become binding on the parties in accordance with Article 16.4, paragraph 1of the Agreement, which provides: that the Parties may take decisions in the Trade Committee or in a specialised committee, where provided for in the Agreement. The decisions taken in such a committee shall be binding on the Parties, which shall take the measures necessary to implement those decisions.

The purpose of the envisaged act is to formalise the functioning of the Trade Committee.

Consultations on the draft Rules of Procedure have taken a long time to reach consensus, and were not finalised yet by the time of the first Trade Committee meeting that was held on 7 December 2021.

Pursuant to the Article 16.1 paragraph 4, point (f) of the Agreement the Trade Committee is to adopt the decision on its Rules of Procedure (‘the envisaged act’).

The Trade Committee shall ensure that the Agreement operates properly, supervise and facilitate the implementation and application of this Agreement, further its general aims, supervise the work of all specialised committees, working groups and other bodies established under this Agreement, consider ways to further enhance trade relations between the Parties, seek to solve problems which might arise in areas covered by this Agreement and consider any other matter of interest relating to an area covered by this Agreement. The Trade Committee shall meet alternately in the Union or Singapore every two years or without undue delay at the request of either Party. The Trade Committee shall be co-chaired by the Member of the European Commission responsible for Trade and the Minister for Trade and Industry of Singapore, or their respective delegates. Decisions are taken unanimously. The Union and its Member States are continuously informed about the functioning of the Agreement through the Trade Policy Committee and Trade Committee decisions are subject to 218(9) TFEU procedure.

The Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Singapore (‘the Agreement’) aims to liberalize and facilitate trade and investment between the Parties. The Agreement entered into force on 21 November 2019.

2.1.The Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and the republic of Singapore

This proposal concerns the decision establishing the position to be taken on the Union's behalf in the Trade Committee established by the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Singapore in connection with the envisaged adoption of the Rules of Procedure of the Trade Committee.

on the position to be adopted, on behalf of the European Union, within the Trade Committee established by the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Singapore as regards the adoption of the Rules of Procedure for the Trade Committee

EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 20.9.2022 COM(2022) 472 final ANNEX to the Proposal for a Council Decision on the position to be adopted, on behalf of the European Union, within the Trade Committee established by the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Singapore as regards the adoption of the Rules of Procedure for the Trade Committee



ATTACHMENT Draft

DECISION No …/2022 OF THE TRADE COMMITTEE of … adopting its Rules of Procedure THE TRADE COMMITTEE, Having regard to the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Singapore, and in particular Articles 16.1, paragraph 4, point (f), thereof, Whereas pursuant to Article 16.1, paragraph 4, point (f) of the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Singapore, the Trade Committee may adopt its own Rules of Procedure. HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: 1.The Rules of Procedure of the Trade Committee, as set out in the Annex, are hereby adopted. 2.This Decision shall enter into force on [date to be agreed]. Done at …, …. For the Trade Committee The Co-Chairs

ANNEX RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE TRADE COMMITTEE established by Article 16.1 of the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union, of the one part, and the Republic of Singapore, of the other part RULE 1 Role and Name of the Trade Committee 1.The Trade Committee established pursuant to Article 16.1 of the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union, of the one part, and the Republic of Singapore, of the other part, (hereafter referred to as “Agreement”) is responsible for all matters referred to in Article 16.1 of the Agreement.

2.The above Committee shall be referred to in documents of the Committee, including decisions and recommendations, as the Trade Committee. RULE 2 Composition and Co-chairs 1.Pursuant to Article 16.1 of the Agreement, the Trade Committee shall comprise representatives of the European Union and of the Republic of Singapore and shall be co-chaired by the Member of the European Commission responsible for Trade and the Minister for Trade and Industry of Singapore, or their respective delegates. 2.Each Party shall notify the other Party the name, position and contact details of the delegated official who is in charge of co-chairing the Trade Committee for that Party. This delegated official is deemed to have the authorisation of representing the Party until the date the Party has notified the other Party that it has appointed a new Co-chair. RULE 3 Secretariat 1.Officials from the department responsible for Trade for each Party shall act as Secretariat of the Trade Committee. 2.Each Party shall notify the other Party the name, position and contact details of the official who is to be the member of the Secretariat of the Trade Committee for that Party. This official is deemed to continue acting as member of the Secretariat for the Party until the date the Party has notified the other Party that it has appointed a new member. RULE 4 Meetings 1.In accordance with Article 16.1 of the Agreement, the Trade Committee shall meet every two years or without undue delay at the request of either Party. 2.The meetings shall be held at an agreed date and time alternately in Brussels and in Singapore, unless agreed otherwise by the Co-chairs. 3.The meetings shall be convened by the Co-chair of the Party hosting the meeting. 4.A meeting may be held in person, by videoconference, or by any other means. RULE 5 Delegations Before each meeting, each member of the Secretariat of the Trade Committee for each Party shall inform the other member of the intended composition of the delegations of their respective party. The lists shall specify the name and function of each member of the delegation. RULE 6 Agenda for the meetings

1.At least 15 days in advance of a meeting, a provisional agenda for each meeting shall be drawn up by the Secretariat of the Trade Committee on the basis of a proposal made by the Party hosting the meeting. The other Party shall have the opportunity to provide comments. 2.The agenda shall be adopted by the Trade Committee at the beginning of each meeting. Items not appearing on the provisional agenda may be placed on the agenda by mutual agreement. RULE 7 Invitation of experts The Co-chairs of the Trade Committee may, by mutual agreement, invite independent experts to attend the meetings of the Trade Committee in order to provide information on specific subjects and only for the parts of the meeting where such specific subjects are discussed. RULE 8 Minutes 1.Draft minutes of each meeting shall be drawn up by the member of the Secretariat of the Party hosting the meeting, within 21 days from the end of the meeting, unless otherwise decided by the Co-chairs. The draft minutes shall be transmitted for comments to the member of the Secretariat of the other Party. 2.Where the present rules apply to the meetings of specialised committees, the minutes of the specialised committee meetings shall be made available for any subsequent meetings of the Trade Committee. 3.The minutes shall, as a general rule, summarise each item on the agenda, specifying where applicable: (a)all documents submitted to the Trade Committee; (b)any statement that one of the Co-chairs of the Trade Committee requested to be entered in the minutes; and (c)the decisions taken, recommendations made, statements agreed upon and conclusions adopted on specific items. 4.The minutes shall include a list of all decisions of the Trade Committee taken by written procedure pursuant to Rule 9.2 since the last meeting of the Committee. 5.An annex to the minutes shall also include a list of the names, titles and capacity of all individuals who attended the meeting of the Trade Committee. 6.The Secretariat shall adjust the draft minutes on the basis of comments received and the draft minutes, as revised, shall be approved by the Parties within 30 days of the date of the meeting, or by any other date agreed by the Co-chairs. Once approved, two originals of the minutes shall be prepared by the Secretariat and the Parties shall each receive one original of the minutes. RULE 9 Decisions and recommendations 1.The Trade Committee may adopt decisions and recommendations in respect of all matters where the Agreement so provides. The Trade Committee shall adopt decisions and recommendations by mutual agreement, as provided for in Article 16.4 of the Agreement. 2.In the period between meetings, the Trade Committee may adopt decisions or recommendations by written procedure.

3.For that purpose, the text of a draft decision or recommendation shall be presented in writing by a Co-chair to the other Co-chair in the working language of the Trade Committee. The other Party shall have one month, or any longer period of time specified by the proposing Party, to express its acceptance of the draft decision or recommendation. The draft decisions or recommendations shall be deemed to be adopted once the other Party expresses its acceptance within the period of time specified by the proposing Party and shall be recorded in the minutes of the Trade Committee meeting pursuant to Rule 8(4). If the other Party does not express its acceptance, the proposed decision or recommendation shall be discussed and may be adopted at the next meeting of the Trade Committee. 4.Where the Trade Committee is empowered under the Agreement to adopt decisions or recommendations, such acts shall be titled ‘Decision’ or ‘Recommendation’ respectively. The Secretariat of the Trade Committee shall give any decision or recommendation a progressive serial number, the date of adoption and a description of their subject-matter. Each decision and recommendation shall provide for the date of its entry into force or operation, as appropriate. 5.The decisions and recommendations adopted by the Trade Committee shall be done in duplicate, authenticated by the Co-chairs and shall be transmitted to each Party. RULE 10 Transparency 1.Unless otherwise specified by the Agreement or decided by the Parties, the meetings of the Trade Committee will not be open to the public. 2.Each Party may decide on the publication of the decisions and recommendations of the Trade Committee in its respective official publication or online. 3.Where a Party submits information to the Trade Committee which is considered as confidential under its laws and regulations, the other Party shall treat that information as confidential, unless the submitting Party agrees otherwise. 4.Each Party may make public in any appropriate medium the agenda finalised between the Parties before the meeting of the Trade Committee, and the approved joint minutes drawn up in accordance with Rule 8. 5.Publication of documents mentioned under paragraphs 2 to 4 shall be made in compliance with each Party’s applicable data protection rules. RULE 11 Languages 1.The working language of the Trade Committee shall be English. 2.The Trade Committee shall adopt decisions concerning the amendment or interpretation of the Agreement. Article 16.21 of the Agreement applies mutatis mutandis to decisions of the Trade Committee amending or interpreting the Agreement. All other decisions of the Trade Committee, including the one through which the present rules of procedure are adopted, shall be adopted in the working language referred to in paragraph 1. 3.Each Party shall be responsible for the translation of decisions and other documents into its own official language(s), if required pursuant to this Rule, and it shall meet expenditures associated with such translations. RULE 12 Expenses 1.Each Party shall meet any expenses it incurs as a result of participating in the meetings of the Trade Committee, in particular with regard to staff, travel and subsistence expenditure and with regard to video or teleconferences, postal and telecommunications expenditure. 2.Expenditure in connection with the organisation of meetings and reproduction of documents shall be borne by the Party hosting the meeting. RULE 13