Proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion of a Protocol amending the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, of the other part, on a tariff quota for the imports of sugar and sugar products originating in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia into the Community
Date: 2005-08-23
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: North Macedonia, association agreement (EU), economic stabilisation, originating product, sugar, sugar product, tariff quota

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 23.08.2005 
COM(2005) 383 final 

2005/0163 (ACC) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

on the conclusion of a Protocol amending the Stabilisation and Association Agreement 
between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the 
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, of the other part, on a tariff quota for the 
imports of sugar and sugar products originating in the former Yugoslav Republic  
of Macedonia into the Community 

(presented by the Commission) 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

The  Stabilisation  and  Association  Agreement  between  the  European  Communities  and  their 
Member States, of the one part, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, of the other 
part, (hereinafter referred to as “the SAA”) was signed in Luxembourg on 9 April 2001 and 
entered into force on 1 April 2004. 

On 28 February 2005 the Council authorised the Commission to enter into negotiations with 
the  former  Yugoslav  Republic  of  Macedonia  to  amend  the  preferential  arrangements  as 
regards imports of sugar originating in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia into the 
Community  under  the  SAA,  so  as  to  replace  the  current  duty-free  access  for  unlimited 
quantities with an annual duty-free tariff quota. 

These  negotiations  have  been  successfully  concluded  and  appropriate  amendments  to  the 
SAA in the form of a Protocol amending the SAA should be adopted by the Council. To that 
effect, the Commission submits to the Council a proposal for the conclusion of the Protocol.  

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2005/0163 (ACC) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

on the conclusion of a Protocol amending the Stabilisation and Association Agreement 
between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the 
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, of the other part, on a tariff quota for the 
imports of sugar and sugar products originating in the former Yugoslav Republic  
of Macedonia into the Community 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  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) 

(3) 

On 28 February 2005 the Council authorised the Commission to enter into negotiations 
with  the  former  Yugoslav  Republic  of  Macedonia  to  amend  the  preferential 
arrangements as regards imports of sugar originating in the former Yugoslav Republic 
of Macedonia into the Community under the Stabilisation and Association Agreement 
between the European Communities and their Member States of the one part, and the 
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, of the other part1 (hereinafter: ‘SAA’).  

These  negotiations  have  been  successfully  concluded  and  the  Protocol  amending  the 
SAA should be concluded by the European Community. 

The measures necessary for the implementation of this Protocol should be adopted by 
the  Commission  according  to  the  same  procedure  as  that  provided  for  as  regards  the 
implementation  of  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  1260/2001  of  19  June  2001  on  the 
common organisation of the markets in the sugar sector2, 

1 
2 

OJ L 84, 20.3.2004, p. 1. 
OJ  L  178,  30.6.2001,  p. 1.  Regulation  as  last  amended  by  Regulation  (EC)  No 39/2004  (OJ L 6, 
10.1.2004, p. 16). 

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HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:  

Article 1 

1. 

The  Protocol  amending  the  Stabilisation  and  Association  Agreement  between  the 
European  Communities  and  their  Member  States,  of  the  one  part,  and  the  former 
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, of the other part, on a tariff quota for the imports 
of  sugar  and  sugar  products  originating  in  the  former  Yugoslav  Republic  of 
Macedonia into the Community (hereinafter referred to as “the Protocol”), is hereby 
approved on behalf of the European Community.  

2. 

The text of the Protocol is attached to this Decision. 

The  President  of  the  Council  is  hereby  authorised  to  designate  the  person(s)  empowered  to 
sign the Protocol in order to express the consent of the Community to be bound thereby. 

Article 2 

The  Commission  shall  adopt  the  detailed  rules  for  implementing  the  Protocol  in  accordance 
with the procedure laid down in Article 4 of this Decision. 

Article 3 

Article 4 

1. 

2. 

3. 

The Commission shall be assisted by the Management Committee for Sugar instituted 
by Article 42 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/2001. 

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

The period provided for in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be one month. 

Done at Brussels,  

For the Council 
The President 

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PROTOCOL 

amending the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European 
Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the former Yugoslav 
Republic of Macedonia, of the other part, on a tariff quota for the imports of sugar and 
sugar products originating in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia into the 
Community 

THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY, hereinafter referred to as “the Community”, 

of the one part, and 

THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA, 

of the other part,  

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

The  Stabilisation  and  Association  Agreement  between  the  European  Communities 
and  their  Member  States,  of  the  one  part,  and  the  former  Yugoslav  Republic  of 
Macedonia,  of  the  other  part,  (hereinafter  referred  to  as  “the  SAA”)  was  signed  in 
Luxembourg on 9 April 2001 and entered into force on 1 April 2004. 

Negotiations have taken place to alter the preferential arrangements in the SAA with 
regard  to  imports  of  sugar  and  sugar  products  originating  in  the  former  Yugoslav 
Republic of Macedonia into the Community. 

(3) 

Appropriate amendments to the SAA should be adopted, 

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:  

Article 1 

The SAA is hereby amended as follows: 

(1) 

Article 27 is amended as follows: 

(a) 

In paragraph (1) the first subparagraph is replaced by the following: 

“The Community shall abolish the custom duties and charges having equivalent 
effect  on  imports  of  agricultural  products  originating  in  the  former  Yugoslav 
Republic  of  Macedonia,  other  than  those  of  heading  Nos  0102,  0201,  0202, 
1701, 1702 and 2204 of the Combined Nomenclature.” 

(b) 

In paragraph (2) the following subparagraph is added: 

“The  Community  shall  apply  duty-free  access  on  import  into  the  Community 
for  products  originating  in  the  former  Yugoslav  Republic  of  Macedonia  of 
headings 1701 and 1702 of the Combined Nomenclature, within the limit of an 
annual tariff quota of 7000 tonnes (net weight).” 

(2) 

In  the  table  in  Annex  I  to  Protocol  3  the  references  to  products  falling  under 
heading 1702 of the Combined Nomenclature are deleted. 

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This Protocol shall form an integral part of the SAA. 

Article 2 

Article 3 

This  Protocol  shall  enter  into  force  on  the  first  day  of  the  month  following  the  date  of 
signature. 

Article 4 

This  Protocol  is  drawn  up  in  duplicate  in  each  of  the  official  languages  of  the  contracting 
parties, each of these texts being equally authentic. 

Done at Brussels,  

For the European Community 

For the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 

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