Proposal for a Council Decision adapting Council Decision 2004/246/EC by reason of the accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia
Date: 2004-04-30
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: accession to the European Union, help for victims, indemnification, international convention, oil pollution

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 30.04.2004 
COM(2004)329 final 

. 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

adapting Council Decision 2004/246/EC by reason of the accession of 
the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, 
Slovenia and Slovakia 

. 

(presented by the Commission) 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

On  2  March  2004  the  Council  adopted  a  Decision  authorising  the  Member  States  to  sign, 
ratify  or  accede  to,  in  the  interest  of  the  European  Community,  the  Protocol  of  2003  to  the 
International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for 
Oil Pollution Damage, 1992, and authorising Austria and Luxembourg, in the interest of the 
European Community, to accede to the underlying instruments. 

This  Decision,  which  is  not  applicable  in  Denmark,  involves  the  following  two  main 
provisions: 

–  The first seeks, 

– 

– 

on the one hand, to authorise the Member States that are Contracting Parties to 
the  underlying  instruments  (1992  Convention  on  civil  liability  and  1992 
Convention  establishing  the  Fund)  –  namely,  all  Member  States  with  the 
exception of Luxembourg and Austria – to sign, ratify or accede to this 2003 
Protocol, 

on  the  other  hand,  to  authorise  Luxembourg  and  Austria,  which  are  not 
Contracting Parties to the underlying instruments, to accede to these underlying 
instruments and to the 2003 Protocol. 

–  The second seeks, 

– 

– 

on  the  one  hand,  to  invite  the  Member  States  –  with  the  exception  of 
Luxembourg  and  Austria  –  to  agree  to  be  bound  by  this  Protocol  before  30 
June 2004, 

on the other hand, to authorise Luxembourg and Austria to agree to be bound 
by  the  underlying  instruments  and  by  the  2003  Protocol  before  31  December 
2005. 

The  Decision  is  addressed  to  all  Member  States  within  the  meaning  of  Title  IV  of  the  EC 
Treaty.  

In accordance  with  Article  53  of  the Act of Accession of  2003, this Decision will therefore 
apply to the new Member States from the moment of accession.  

On  the  basis  of  this  Decision,  the  new  Member  States  which  are  Contracting  Parties  to  the 
underlying  instruments  are  authorised  to  sign,  ratify  or  accede  to  the  2003  Protocol.  These 
new  Member  States  are  also  invited,  under  this  Decision,  to  agree  to  be  bound  by  this 
Protocol before the end of June 2004. 

The  situation  is  different  with  regard  to  the  new  Member  States  that  are  not  Contracting 
Parties  to  the  underlying  instruments,  viz.  the  Czech  Republic,  Estonia,  Hungary  and 
Slovakia. 

Indeed,  the  Council  Decision  of  2  March  2004  refers  specifically  only  to  Luxembourg  and 
Austria  and  not,  in  the  abstract,  to  any  Member  State  that  is  not  a  Contracting  Party  to  the 
underlying instruments. 

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Accordingly, the Decision of 2 March 2004 needs to be adapted within the meaning of the Act 
of Accession of 2003. 

This  adaptation  seeks,  on  the  one  hand,  to  authorise  the  Czech  Republic,  Estonia,  Hungary 
and  Slovakia  to  accede  to  the  underlying  instruments  and  to  the  2003  Protocol  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  to  invite  these  new  Member  States  to  agree  to  be  bound  by  these  underlying 
instruments and by the Protocol before the end of December 2005.  

The adaptation consists in amending the text of the Decision of 2 March 2004 by adding to 
each  existing  reference  to  Austria  and  Luxembourg  a  corresponding  reference  to  the  Czech 
Republic, Estonia, Hungary and Slovakia. 

No  provision  was  made  for  such  adaptation  in  the  Act  of  Accession  of  2003  nor  in  the 
Annexes thereto. The adaptation in question is a technical adaptation which can be carried out 
in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 57 of the Act of Accession.  

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Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

adapting Council Decision 2004/246/EC by reason of the accession of 
the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, 
Slovenia and Slovakia 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  of  Accession  of  the  Czech  Republic,  Estonia,  Cyprus,  Latvia, 
Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia, 

Having  regard  to  the  Act  of  Accession  of  the  Czech  Republic,  Estonia,  Cyprus,  Latvia, 
Lithuania,  Hungary,  Malta,  Poland,  Slovenia  and  Slovakia,  and  in  particular  Article  57(1) 
thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,1 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

For  certain  acts  which  remain  valid  beyond  1  May  2004  and  require  adaptation  by 
reason of accession, the necessary adaptations were not provided for in the 2003 Act 
of  Accession,  or  were  provided  for,  but  further  adaptations  are  necessary.  All  these 
adaptations  need  to  be  adopted  before  accession  in  order  to  enter  into  force  as  from 
accession. 

Pursuant to Article 57(2) of the Act of Accession, such adaptations are to be adopted 
by the Council in all cases where the Council adopted the original act alone or jointly 
with the European Parliament. 

Under Council Decision 2004/246/EC,2 Member States are authorised to sign, ratify or 
accede  to,  in  the  interest  of  the  European  Community,  the  Protocol  of  2003  to  the 
International  Convention  on  the  Establishment  of  an  International  Fund  for 
Compensation  for  Oil  Pollution  Damage,  1992,  and,  at  the  same  time,  Austria  and 
Luxembourg are authorised, in the interest of the European Community, to accede to 
the underlying instruments. 

1 
2 

OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ L 78, 16.3.2004, p. 22. 

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(4) 

In accordance with Article 53 of the Act of Accession of 2003, Decision 2004/246/EC 
will  therefore  apply  to  the  new  Member  States  from  the  moment  of  accession. 
However, in the case of the new Member States that are not Contracting Parties to the 
underlying instruments, namely the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary and Slovakia, 
specific authorisation is required from the Council enabling these States to accede to 
the underlying instruments and to the 2003 Protocol and inviting them to agree to be 
bound  by  these  underlying  instruments  and  by  the  Protocol  before  the  end  of 
December 2005.  

(5) 

Decision 2004/246/EC should be amended accordingly. 

(6) 

In  accordance  with  Articles  1  and  2  of  the  Protocol  on  the  position  of  Denmark, 
annexed  to  the  Treaty  on  European  Union  and  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European 
Community,  Denmark  is  not  taking  part  in  the  adoption  of  this  Decision  and  is 
therefore not bound by it or subject to its application. 

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: 

Decision 2004/246/EC is amended as follows: 

Article 1 

Article 1(2) is replaced by the following:"2.  Furthermore, 

the  Czech  Republic,  Estonia, 
Luxembourg,  Hungary,  Austria  and  Slovakia  are  hereby  authorised  to  accede  to  the 
underlying instruments." 

Article 2 is amended as follows: 

(a) 

(b) 

 paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:"1.  Member  States  shall 
the 
necessary  steps  to  agree  to  be  bound  by  the  Supplementary  Fund  Protocol, 
pursuant  to  Article  19(2)  thereof,  within  a  reasonable  time  limit  and,  if 
possible,  before  30  June  2004,  with  the  exception  of  the  Czech  Republic, 
Estonia,  Luxembourg,  Hungary,  Austria  and  Slovakia,  which  have  already 
agreed  to  be  bound  by  the  Protocol  subject  to  the  conditions  set  out  in 
paragraph 3 of this Article” 

take 

Paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:"3.  The  Czech  Republic,  Estonia, 
Luxembourg, Hungary, Austria and Slovakia shall take the necessary steps to 
agree to be bound by the underlying instruments and the Supplementary Fund 
Protocol, if at all possible before 31 December 2005.” 

Article 2 

This  Decision  shall  enter  into  force  as  from  the  date  of  entry  into  force  of  the  Treaty  of 
Accession  of  the  Czech  Republic,  Estonia,  Cyprus,  Latvia,  Lithuania,  Hungary,  Malta, 
Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia. 

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Article 3 

This Decision is addressed to the Member States in accordance with the Treaty establishing 
the European Community. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the Council 
The President 

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