Proposal for a Council Regulation concerning 'the implementation of projects promoting cooperation and commercial relations between the EU and the industrialised countries of North America, the Far East and Australasia'
Date: 2000-06-23
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Australia, Far East, New Zealand, North America, trade relations

28.11.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 337 E/153

Proposal for a Council Regulation concerning (cid:18)the implementation of projects promoting coop-
eration and commercial relations between the EU and the industrialised countries of North
America, the Far East and Australasia 

(2000/C 337 E/23)

COM(2000) 381 final (cid:16) 2000/0165(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission on 23 June 2000)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 133 and Article 308
thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

Whereas:

(1) The promotion of cooperation and commercial relations
with the industrialised countries should be pursued where
it is in the mutual
interest of the Community and the
partner country concerned.

(2) The European Parliament has adopted various resolutions
on relations between the EU and the US in 1994, 1998
and 1999. The EU and the US agreed to strengthen their
relationship in the Transatlantic Declaration of 1990, the
New Transatlantic Agenda of 1995,
the Transatlantic
Economic Partnership of 1998 and the Bonn Declaration
of 1999. The common commercial policy should be
general
complemented by
knowledge through more intensive dialogue between the
actors in EU-US relations.

further dissemination of

in 1990,

(3) The European Parliament has adopted a resolution and the
Economic and Social Committee an opinion on relations
between the EU and Canada in 1996, calling for closer
relations with Canada. The EU and Canada signed a
for commercial and economic
Framework Agreement
cooperation in 1976 and a Declaration on EC-Canada
relations
and agreed to strengthen their
relationship in the Joint Action Plan and the Joint
Political Declaration of 1996. EU-Canada relations have
become more diversified and Canada is a key partner in
multilateral trade areas and in issues relating to global
challenges and the Common Foreign and Security Policy.
It
strengthen these
relations by means of an intensified process of consul-
tation and cooperation on an increasing number of issues.

therefore necessary to further

is

(4) Activities covered by specific instruments, such as the
Agreements between the Community and the United

States of America and between the Community and
Canada
cooperation in
higher education and training, shall be complemented
and not affected by this Regulation.

establishing programmes

for

access

the Council

(5) The EU and Japan decided to intensify their dialogue and
to strengthen their cooperation and partnership in the
Joint Declaration of 1991. The European Parliament has
adopted a resolution on the communication from the
Commission to the Council on :Europe and Japan: the
next steps<. The Council’s conclusions to the Commission’s
communication on Japan recognised the distinct and
in Japan. The
specific problems of market
Council considered that priority should be given to
improving access to the Japanese market. In the light of
this,
adopted Council Regulation (EC)
No 1035/1999 of 11 May 1999 on implementation by
the Commission of a programme of specific measures
and actions to improve access of European goods and
cross-border
to Japan. This Regulation will
expire on 31 December 2001. The preliminary results
evaluating the Commission programme described above
have shown the usefulness and effectiveness of
the
programme. It is therefore deemed necessary to continue
implementing the Commission programmes described in
the said Regulation. This Regulation is without prejudice
to the Council Decision of 18 May 1992 on the consoli-
dation of the EC-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation
which remains valid.

services

(6) Bilateral cooperation in economic and other areas with
the Republic of Korea should be enhanced in accordance
with the principles of the Framework Agreement on Trade
and Cooperation with Korea, the European Parliament’s
opinion, and the Council’s Conclusions on the Korean
Peninsula. The EU should support market principles in
Korea and promote the removal of existing barriers to
trade and investment.

(7) The EU and Australia

agreed to strengthen their
relationship and to cooperate across the many areas in
which they have shared interests in the Joint Declaration
of 1997. With a view to further strengthen these relations,
an intensified process of consultation and cooperation on
an increasing number of bilateral and international issues
is necessary.

(8) The EU and New Zealand agreed in the Joint Declaration
of 1999 to strengthen their relationship and cooperation
based on broadly shared interest to the mutual benefit of
their peoples, and to endow their mutual relations with a
long term perspective.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

28.11.2000

(9) There are currently a large number of small budget lines
from which the various Community actions with regard
to the promotion of cooperation and commercial relations
vis-B-vis the industrialised countries referred to in this
Regulation are financed. Some budgetary appropriations
were made available under these different budget lines for
the financing of pilot schemes and preparatory actions.
After two years experience with these pilot schemes and
preparatory actions the measures implemented up to now
have proved their usefulness and demonstrated the need
for continuation as regular activities. The Community
must have the necessary means at
its disposal on a
regular basis to be able to implement such measures in
the future. It is therefore deemed necessary, for the sake of
efficiency, rationalisation and continuation, to establish a
single budget line for funding the activities referred to in
this Regulation.

(10) The

activities of Member States

to draw up and
implement programmes and arrangements to promote
their exports of goods and cross-border services to third
country markets shall not be affected by this Regulation.

(11) In accordance with Article 2 of Council Decision
1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the
for
implementing powers
procedures
conferred
the
on the Commission, measures
implementation of this Regulation should be adopted by
use of the advisory procedure provided for in Article 3 of
that Decision.

the exercise of

for

(12) Part of the activities falling within the scope of this Regu-
lation are covered by Article 133 of the Treaty; for the
other activities, the Treaty does not provide for powers
other than those in Article 308 thereof,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The Community shall continue to implement actions
to
promote cooperation and commercial relations between the
Community
countries of North
industrialised
America, the Far East and Australasia.

and

the

Article 3

Cooperation

Actions to promote cooperation shall be used to support the
objectives laid down in the various bilateral instruments in this
field between the EU and the partner countries, in order to
create a more favourable environment for the conduct and
further development of the relations between the EU and the
partner countries.

Article 4

EU financing in the field of cooperation shall cover,
particular, the following types of activities:

in

(a) education and information of the public on the bilateral
relations between the EU and the partner countries, with
particular reference to decision makers, opinion formers
and other multipliers;

(b) strengthening cultural, academic and people-to-people links;

(c) promotion of the dialogue between political, economic and
social partners and NGOs in various relevant sectors;

(d) research work and studies destined to provide input to the
Commission’s work, with a view to further develop bilateral
relations;

(e) cooperative projects in science and technology, energy,

transport and environmental matters;

(f) enhancing customs cooperation between the EU and the

partner countries;

(g) enhancing the visibility of the EU in the partner countries;

(h) pilot

schemes, which could subsequently lead to new

regular activities to be financed.

Article 5

The financing of cooperation projects will be made from the
Community’s budget either in totality or will take the form of
co-financing with other sources in the partner countries and/or
the EU. When implementing Article 4, the Commission shall
ensure
and
cooperation projects
substantially coherent with activities financed under other
relevant policies of the Community.

legally

that

the

are

For the purpose of this Regulation, the industrialised countries
of North America, the Far East and Australasia shall comprise
Japan, the Republic of Korea
of the United States, Canada,
and New
:Korea<), Australia
(hereinafter
Zealand, hereinafter referred to as :the partner countries<.

referred to as

Article 2

The amount of Community funding deemed necessary for the
implementation of the actions identified in this Regulation will
be established by the budget authority on an annual basis.

Article 6

Commercial relations

Actions to promote commercial relations shall contribute to
the deepening of relations between the EU and the partner
countries. They shall be aimed in particular at the development
of closer trade and investment relations between the EU and
the partner countries, enhancing mutual understanding of trade
regulations and business practices and creating an environment
more favourable for Community enterprises, notably SMEs, on
the markets of the partner countries.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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Article 7

The Community shall
implement a specific, coherent and
targeted programme of measures and actions to promote the
exports of Community goods and cross-border services to
Japan and Korea that complement and bring added value to
the efforts undertaken by Member States and other European
Union public bodies in the Japanese and Korean markets.

Article 8

EU financing in this field shall cover

1.
principal measures and actions:

the following

(a) training programmes

executives able to communicate and operate
Japanese and Korean business environment
Training Programmes<);

to build up pools of European
in the
(:Executive

(b) the recruitment,

training, pre-mission preparation and
participation of groups of European business executives,
notably from SMEs,
to participate in actions in Japan
aimed at
improving their commercial presence on the
Japanese market (the :Gateway to Japan< campaign);

(c) A study will be commissioned with a view to assess the
feasibility of a Gateway to Korea campaign. On the basis of
the results of the study, the Commission may, after having
taken account of the opinion delivered by the Advisory
Committee referred to in Article 9, decide to launch a
Gateway to Korea campaign.

In addition to the measures and actions referred to in
2.
paragraph 1, support may be given to the following actions
and measures, where appropriate:

(a) the collection of information and policy advice on trade-

related issues;

(b) conferences and seminars to promote trade and investment
relations between the European Union and the partner
countries;

(c) high-level business missions to address specific market

access issues in Japan and Korea;

(d) special actions that facilitate access to the Japanese and
Korean markets by Community enterprises, notably SMEs.

3. When implementing paragraph 2, the Commission shall
ensure the full compatibility of specific activities with the
policies of the Community and the Member States.

Article 9

Implementing procedures

1.
In carrying out the activities referred to in Article 8, the
Commission shall be assisted by a committee, composed of the
representatives of
the Member States and chaired by the
representative of the Commission.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, the advisory
procedure laid down in Article 3 of Decision 1999/468/EC
shall apply, in compliance with Article 7(3) thereof

Article 10

The Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and
the Council an annual report on the implementation of this
Regulation. The report shall set out the results of implemen-
tation of the budget and present the actions and programmes
financed during the year.

In addition, the Commission shall regularly evaluate actions
and programmes financed under this Regulation in order to
establish whether they have achieved their objectives. This
evaluation shall be made at least once every six years, with
the first such evaluation being completed within three years of
the entry into force of
the Regulation. Where necessary,
evaluation reports shall also take account of contractual obli-
gations and principles of sound management and shall include
the results of a cost-effectiveness analysis.

A limited proportion of the annual budget shall be used to
the actions and programmes
finance evaluation studies of
undertaken within the framework of this Regulation.

Article 11

1.

Regulation (EC) No 1035/1999 is hereby repealed.

Any reference to the repealed Regulation shall be deemed

2.
to be a reference to this Regulation.

Article 12

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day
following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the
European Communities.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly
applicable in all Member States.