Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) extending the measures taken under the agreement between the European Economic Community and the United States of America for the conculusion of negotiations under GATT Article XXIV.6
Date: 1994-01-07
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: GATT, United States, agreement (EU), customs tariff, trade agreement

COMVIISSION  OF  THE  EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES 

C0M(93)  710 

f i n al 

B r u s s e l s,  7  January  1994 

Proposal 

for  a 

COUNCIL  REGULATION  (EC) 

e x t e n d i ng  t he  measures  taken  under  t he  agreement  between 
t he  European  Economic  Community  and  t he  United  S t a t es  of 
America  f or  t he  c o n c l u s i on  of  n e g o t i a t i o ns  under  GATT 
A r t i c le  XXIV.6 

(presented  by  the  Commission) 

EXPLANATORY  MEMORANDUM 

Subject:  The  L£  bilaterial agreement between the European 

Economic Community and the United  States of 
America 

1.  In  1987  an  "Agreement  for  the  Conclusion  of 
Negotiations  between  the  European  Economic  Community 
and  the  United  States  of  America  under  GATT  Article 
XXIV.6"  was  entered  into  between  the  two  parties  by 
which  they  agreed  upon  a  number  of  rights  and 
obligations  '.  Consultations  between  the  two  parties 
as foreseen in the Agreement subsequently  took place in 
an  attempt  to  find  a  solution  to  the  disagreement 
existing  between  the  Community  and  the  United  States, 
on  whether  or  not  new  actions,  if  any,  might  be 
appropriate. 

2. 

It was not possible  to conclude  these  consultations  by 
the end of  1990, notably  in view of the prolongation of 
the  Uruguay  Round,  and  therefore  in  respect  of  those 
rights and obligations which were foreseen to expire on 
that  date  an  agreement  was  reached  between  the 
Community  and  the  United  States  to  extend  these  until 
31  December  1991. 
The  Community  implemented  this 
prolongation by a Decision by the Council to approve an 
Exchange  of  Letters  between  the  Community  and  United 
States complementing  the Agreement 2. 

3.  The  Commission  considered  it  appropriate  that  on  the 
one  hand  it  was  desirable  to  continue  to  apply  these 
measures,  in  particular  to  avoid  a  worsening  of  the 
disagreement  on this  issue, and  on the  other  hand  that 
it  was  preferable  to  do  so  on  an  autonomous  basis. 
Consequently, the Commission submitted  to the Council a 
draft  regulation  extending  these  measures  from  1 
January  1992  for  a  year.  Subsequently,  the  proposal 
was  adopted  by  the  Council  late  1991  and  published  in 
Regulation  (EEC) No 3919/91 3. 

The Council, by Regulation  (EEC) No 991/93 of 23 April 
1993, decided to extend these provisions  for 1993 4. 

1 OJNoL98, 10.4.1987, p. 1. 
2O J N oL 17, 23.1.1991, p. 17. 
3 OJ No L 372, 31.12.1991, p. 35. 
4O J N oL 104, 29.4.1993, p. 1. 

-2-

The  negotiations  under  the  Uruguay  Round  are  being 
actively  pursued  but  the  implementation  of  the  results 
of  these  negotiations  will  not  in  any  case  be  applied 
before  1  January  1994,  the  Commission,  therefore, 
proposes to extend these measures for another year with 
effect  from  1 January until 31 December  1994. 

P r o p o s al  for  a 

C O U N C IL  R E G U L A T I ON  (E  C)  NO 

/ . . 

of 

e x t e n d i ng  the  m e a s u r es  taken  under  the  a g r e e m e nt  b e t w e en 

the  E u r o p e an  Economic  Community  and  the  United  S t a t es  of 

A m e r i ca  for  the  c o n c l u s i on  of  n e g o t i a t i o ns  under  G A TT 

A r t i c le  X X I V .6 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN  UNION. 

TES, 

H a v i ng  regard  to  the  Treaty  e s t a b l i s h i ng  the  European 

Community, 

and 

in 

p a r t i c u l ar 

A r t i c le 

113 

thereof, 

Having  regard  to  the  p r o p o s al  from  the  Commission, 

W h e r e as  by  an  A g r e e m e nt  between  the  European  Economic 

Community  and  the  United  S t a t es  of  America 

for 

the 

c o n c l u s i on  of  n e g o t i a t i o ns  u n d er  A r t i c le  X X I V .6  of  the 

G e n e r al  A g r e e m e nt  on  T a r i f fs  and  T r a de  (GATT)  ' w h i ch  w as 

extended  by  the  c o n c l u s i on  of  an  e x c h a n ge  of  letters  2 

c o m p l e m e n t i ng  that  A g r e e m e nt  until  31  D e c e m b er  1991,  the 

Community  agreed  to  t a ke  c e r t a in  m e a s u r e s; 

1OJNoL98, 10.4.1987, p. 1. 
2OJNoL17, 23.1.1991, p. 17. 

~u 

Whereas  the  Community  applied  these  measures  during  1992 

and  1993  by  virtue  of  Council  Regulations  (EEC)  No 

3919/913 and  (EEC) No 991/934; 

Whereas  the  reasons  still  exist  for  the  prolongation  of 

these measures, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION 

Article 1 

The  measures  referred  to  in  the  exchange  of  letters 

complementing  the Agreement  between  the  European  Economic 

Community  and  the  United  States  of  America  for  the 

conclusion  of  negotiations  under  GATT  Article  XXIV.6 

shall be applied by the Community  until  31 December  1994. 

This Regulation  shall enter  into force on  1 January  1994. 

Article 2 

This  Regulation  shall  be  binding  in  its  entirety  and 

directly  applicable  in all Member States. 

Done at Brussels, 

3OJNoL372,  31.12.1991, p. 35. 
4OJNoL104,  29.4.1993, p. 1. 

For the Council 

The President 

ISSN 0254-1475 

COM(93) 710 final 

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