Proposal for a Council Decision on the position to be adopted by the Community within the ACP-EC Council of Ministers with regard to the adoption of a decision on transitional measures to cover the period from the signing to the entry into force of the revised ACP-EC Partnership Agreement
Date: 2005-05-23
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: ACP-EU Convention, cooperation agreement (EU), revision of an agreement, trade agreement (EU)

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 23.5.2005 
COM(2005) 213 final 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

on the position to be adopted by the Community within the ACP-EC Council of 
Ministers with regard to the adoption of a decision on transitional measures to cover the 
period from the signing to the entry into force of the revised ACP-EC Partnership 
Agreement 

(presented by the Commission) 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

The negotiations on the revision of the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement were completed at a 
ministerial  conference  of  23  February  2005.  The  revised  agreement  must  be  submitted  for 
signature and ratification by the parties. Experience shows that this process can take from 18 
up to 30 months. Article 95(3) of the Cotonou agreement stipulates that the ACP-EC Council 
of  ministers  must  adopt  any  transitional  measures  that  may  be  required  until  the  revised 
provisions  enter  into  force.  In  this  case,  a  decision  to  that  effect  is  necessary  and  must 
therefore be adopted by the ACP-EC Council of ministers in the framework of the signature 
of the revised agreement. 

The  Commission  believes  that  most  of  the  new  provisions  could  be  applied  provisionally 
during  the  period  from  the  signature  until  entry  into  force  of  the  revised  agreement.  The 
benefits  of  the  revised  agreement  in  terms  of  increased  efficiency  and  positive  impact  for 
cooperation should be reaped as soon as possible. 

However,  the  provisions  relating  to  the  release  and  implementation  of  the  new  financial 
resources  cannot  take  effect  until  the  entry  into  force  pf  the  next  multiannual  financial 
framework,  set  out  in  Annex Ibis  of  the  revised  agreement.  Therefore,  cooperation  will  be 
financed,  during  the  transitional  period  and  up  to  31  December  2007  at  the  latest,  from  the 
balances of the 9th EDF and the transferred balances of previous EDFs.  

The programming of the resources available under the next multiannual financial framework, 
on the other hand, may begin before the entry into force of the latter. As soon as the overall 
budget  has  been  decided,  indicative  allocations  can  be  incorporated  into  the  programming 
exercise.  This  does  not  imply  commitment  of  any  resources  until  the  multiannual  financial 
framework  enters  into  force.  As  a  result,  appropriate  procedures  for  the  adoption  of 
programming  decisions  and  the  preparation  of  measures  to  implement  the  multiannual 
financial framework must also be put into place. To this end, and in case of non budgetisation 
of  the  European  Development  Fund,  the  Commission  would  propose  to  provide  for,  where 
appropriate,  provisional  application  of  the  relevant  provisions  of  a  future  internal  financial 
agreement. 

In accordance with the procedure described in the second subparagraph of Article 300(2) of 
the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Community,  the  Council  of  the  European  Union  is 
responsible  for  determining  the  Community’s  position  on  the  transitional  measures  to  be 
adopted to cover the period in question. The Commission considers that the Council should 
approve  the  attached  draft  proposal  with  a  view  to  the  adoption  of  a  decision  on  the 
provisional application of the revised ACP-EC Partnership Agreement during the period from 
the signature of the revised agreement until the completion of the ratification process. 

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Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

on the position to be adopted by the Community within the ACP-EC Council of 
Ministers with regard to the adoption of a decision on transitional measures to cover the 
period from the signing to the entry into force of the revised ACP-EC Partnership 
Agreement 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Community,  and  in  particular  the 
second subparagraph of Article 300(2) in conjunction with Article 310 thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

Article 15 of the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000 
(hereinafter  referred  to  as  ‘the  agreement’)  establishes  a  Council  of  ministers  with 
decision-making powers determined by the agreement. 

In accordance with Article 95(3) of the agreement, the Council of ministers must adopt 
any transitional measures that might be required until the revised provisions enter into 
force.  

The Community position within the Council of ministers regarding the adoption by the 
latter of a decision on transitional measures to be applied when the revised agreement 
is signed should be determined, 

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: 

Sole Article 

The  Community  position  within  the  Council  of  ministers  regarding  the  adoption  of 
transitional measures to cover the period from the signature until the entry into force of the 
revised ACP-EC Partnership Agreement shall be based on the draft decision annexed hereto.  

Done at Brussels, 

For the Council 
The President 

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ANNEX 

Draft 

DECISION OF THE ACP-EC COUNCIL OF MINISTERS 

on transitional measures applicable from the signing until the 
entry into force of the revised ACP-EC Partnership Agreement 

THE ACP-EC COUNCIL OF MINISTERS, 

Having  regard  to  the  ACP-EC  Partnership  Agreement  signed  in  Cotonou  on  23  June  2000, 
hereinafter referred to as “the agreement”, and in particular Article 95(3) thereof, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

The  Agreement  was  concluded  for  twenty  years  commencing  on  1  March  2000. 
However  provision  was  made  for  the  possibility  of  amending  the  provisions  of  the 
agreement through a revision process after each five-year period.  

Under  this  option,  negotiations  for  the  revision  of  the  ACP-EC  Partnership 
Agreement,  hereinafter  “the  revised  agreement”,  were  concluded  in  Brussels  on 
23 February 2005. The revised agreement was signed in XXXX, on XXXXX and will 
enter into force upon completion of the ratification procedures referred to in Article 93 
thereof. 

In accordance with Article 95(3) of the agreement, the Council of ministers shall adopt 
transitional measures to cover the period from the signature until the entry into force 
of the revised agreement. 

(4)  With the exception of the provisions concerning the release and implementation of the 
multiannual  financial  framework  for  cooperation,  the  parties  deem  it  appropriate  to 
provide  for  early  application  of  the  revised  agreement,  to  take  effect  following  the 
signature. 

(5) 

(6) 

The  provisions  relating  to  the  release  and  implementation  of  resources  under  the 
multiannual financial framework set out in Annex Ibis of the revised agreement cannot 
take effect before it enters into force. Therefore, cooperation will be financed during 
the transitional period and up to 31 December 2007 at the latest, from the balances of 
the 9th EDF and the transferred balances from previous EDFs. 

Programming  of  the  resources  available  under  the  multiannual  financial  framework 
may begin before it enters into force. As soon as the overall budget has been decided, 
indicative allocations can be incorporated into the programming exercise. However, no 
resources  can  be  committed  until  the  multiannual  financial  framework  enters  into 
force. 

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HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: 

Article 1 
Provisional application of the Agreement 

1. 

All the revised provisions of the agreement shall take early effect, from the date of 
signature,  with  the  exception  of  the  required  amendments  to  the  multiannual 
financial framework and relevant parts of the Cotonou Agreement which, pursuant to 
paragraph  3  of  Annex  Ibis,  will  be  decided  by  the  ACP-EC  Council  of  ministers 
before  the  entry  into  force  of  the  revised  Agreement,  by  way  of  derogation  from 
Article 95 of the current agreement 

2. 

However, the early application of the following provisions shall be conditional upon 
the availability of the financial resources referred to in the articles concerned: 

(a)  Article 11bis: Fight against terrorism 

(b)  Article 11ter: Cooperation on combating the proliferation of weapons of mass 

destruction. 

3. 

The revised provisions of the Agreement are annexed to this decision.1 

Article 2 
Implementation of this Decision 

The  ACP  States,  the  Member  States  and  the  Community  are  invited  to  take  what  they 
consider to be appropriate steps in order to implement the current decision.  

Article 3 
Entry into force and validity of the current decision 

The  current  decision  shall  enter  into  force  from  the  date  on  which  the  revised  agreement  is 
signed. It shall apply until the entry into force of the revised agreement. 

Done at 

For the ACP-EC Council of ministers 
The President 

1 

The amendments to the Agreement are set out in doc. COM (2005)185 of 3.5.2005. 

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