2004/859/EC: Council Decision of 25 October 2004 concerning the conclusion of an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Community and the Kingdom of Norway on Protocol 2 to the bilateral Free Trade Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Kingdom of NorwayText with EEA relevance
Date: 2004-10-25
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Norway, agreement (EU), bilateral agreement, free-trade agreement, tariff exemption, tariff policy

L 370/70

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

17.12.2004

II

(Acts whose publication is not obligatory)

COUNCIL

COUNCIL DECISION

of 25 October 2004

concerning the conclusion of an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the
European Community and the Kingdom of Norway on Protocol 2 to the bilateral Free Trade
Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Kingdom of Norway

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2004/859/EC)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

establishing the European
Having regard to the Treaty
Community, and in particular Article 133 in conjunction with
the first sentence of the first subparagraph of Article 300(2)
thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

Protocol 2 to the bilateral free trade agreement between
the European Economic Community and the Kingdom of
Norway (1), of the one hand, and Protocol 3 to the EEA
Agreement, as amended by Decision No 140/2001 of the
EEA Joint Committee (2), of the other hand, determine
the trade arrangements
for certain agricultural and
processed agricultural products between the Contracting
Parties.

component of

At the time of the adoption of Decision No 140/2001,
the EC and Norway stated in a joint declaration that the
customs duties on
non-agricultural
products in Table I of Protocol 3 must be eliminated.
On this basis, discussions between Commission and
Norwegian officials were
concluded on 11 March
2004. The new tariff concessions shall be implemented
by an EEA Joint Committee Decision amending Protocol
3 to the EEA Agreement.

(3)

letters
An agreement in the form of an exchange of
between the European Community and the Kingdom of
Norway on Protocol 2 to the bilateral Free Trade

Agreement between the European Economic Community
and the Kingdom of Norway, has also been negotiated in
order
these
discussions.

into account

results of

to take

the

(4)

The measures necessary for the implementation of this
Decision should be adopted in accordance with Council
Decision 1999/468/EEC of 28 June 1999 laying down
the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers
conferred on the Commission (3).

(5)

The Agreement should be approved,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

The Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between
the European Community and the Kingdom of Norway
concerning Protocol No 2 to the bilateral
Free Trade
Agreement between the European Economic Community and
the Kingdom of Norway is hereby approved on behalf of the
Community.

The text of the Agreement is attached to this Decision.

Article 2

The President of the Council is hereby authorised to designate
the person empowered to sign the Agreement in order to bind
the Community.

(1) OJ L 171, 27.6.1973, p. 2.
(2) OJ L 22, 24.1.2002, p. 34.

(3) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

17.12.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 370/71

Article 3

The measures necessary for the implementation of this Decision
shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in
Article 4(2).

Article 4

The period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC
shall be set at one month.

3.

The Committee shall adopt its Rules of Procedure.

Done at Luxembourg, 25 October 2004

For the Council
The President

R. VERDONK

The Commission shall be assisted by the management
1.
in
committee on horizontal questions
processed agricultural products referred to in Article 16 of
Council Regulation (EC) No 3448/93 (1), hereinafter referred
to as ‘the Committee’.

concerning

trade

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 4 and
7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply.

(1) OJ L 318, 20.12.1993, p. 18. Regulation as last amended by
Regulation (EC) No 2580/2000 (OJ L 298, 25.11.2000, p. 5).