Internal Agreement between the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States, meeting within the Council, amending the Internal Agreement of 18 September 2000 on measures to be taken and procedures to be followed for the implementation of the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement
Date: 2006-04-10
Institutions: Representatives of the Governments of the Member States
Subjects: ACP countries, Cotonou Agreement, EU relations, interim agreement (EU), revision of an agreement

L 247/48

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

9.9.2006

INTERNAL AGREEMENT

between the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States, meeting within the
Council, amending the Internal Agreement of 18 September 2000 on measures to be taken and
procedures to be followed for the implementation of the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement

THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY,
MEETING WITHIN THE COUNCIL,

HAVING REGARD to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

HAVING REGARD to the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement signed in Cotonou (Benin) on 23 June 2000, hereinafter
referred to as ‘the ACP-EC Agreement’,

HAVING REGARD to the draft from the Commission,

WHEREAS:

(1)

(2)

(3)

By virtue of its Decision of 27 April 2004, the Council mandated the Commission to open negotiations with the
ACP States with a view to amending the ACP-EC Agreement. These negotiations were concluded in Brussels on
23 February 2005. The Agreement amending the ACP-EC Agreement was signed in Luxembourg on 25 June
2005.

As a result, the Internal Agreement between the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States,
meeting within the Council, of 18 September 2000 on measures to be taken and procedures to be followed
the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement (1), hereinafter referred to as ‘the Internal
for the implementation of
Agreement’, should be amended.

The procedure established by the Internal Agreement needs to be amended to take into account the changes made
to Articles 96 and 97 as set out in the Agreement amending the ACP-EC Agreement. This procedure should also
be amended to take into account the new Article 11b, whose paragraph (1) constitutes an essential element of the
Agreement amending the ACP-EC Agreement,

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

the
The Internal Agreement between the Representatives of
Governments of
the Member States, meeting within the
Council, of 18 September 2000 on measures to be taken and
procedures to be followed for the implementation of the ACP-
EC Partnership Agreement shall be amended as follows:

1. Article 3 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 3

The position of the Member States for the implementation of
Articles 11b, 96 and 97 of the ACP-EC Agreement shall,
when
their
competence, be adopted by the Council, acting in accordance
with the procedure set out in the Annex.

concerns matters within

position

that

(1) OJ L 317, 15.12.2000, p. 376.

If the planned measures concern matters falling within the
competence of the Member States, the Council may also act
on the initiative of a Member State.’

2. Article 9 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 9

This Agreement, drawn up in a single original in the Czech,
Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German,
Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese,
Greek, Hungarian,
Polish, Portuguese, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish
languages, all 20 texts being equally authentic, shall be
deposited in the archives of the General Secretariat of the
Council, which shall transmit a certified copy to each of the
governments of the Signatory States.’

9.9.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 247/49

3. The Annex shall be replaced by the following:

‘ANNEX

1. The Community and its Member States

to commencement of

shall
exhaust all possible options for political dialogue
with an ACP State under Article 8 of the ACP-EC
in cases of special urgency,
Agreement, except
consultation
the
prior
process set out
the ACP-EC
in Article 96 of
Agreement. Dialogue under Article 8 shall be
systematic and formalised in accordance with the
modalities laid down in Article 2 of Annex VII to
the ACP-EC Agreement. Regarding the dialogue
conducted at national, regional and subregional
level, when the Joint Parliamentary Assembly is
involved,
co-
represented by the
presidents in office or a designated nominee.

shall be

it

on

and

8
the

under Article

of
initiative

2. Where, having exhausted all possible options for
the ACP-EC
dialogue
the
of
Agreement,
Commission or a Member State,
the Council
considers that an ACP State has failed to fulfil an
obligation concerning one of the essential elements
referred to in Articles 9 or 11b of the ACP-EC
Agreement, or in serious cases of corruption, the
ACP State concerned shall be invited, unless there
is
in
accordance with Articles 11b, 96 or 97 of the
ACP-EC Agreement.

to hold consultations

special urgency,

The Council shall act by a qualified majority.

In the consultations,
the Community shall be
represented by the Presidency of the Council and
the Commission and shall strive to ensure equality
in the level of representation. The consultations
shall focus on the measures to be taken by the
party concerned and shall take place in accordance
with the modalities set out in Annex VII of the
ACP-EC Agreement.

3. If, on expiry of the deadlines set in Articles 11b,
96 or 97 of the ACP-EC Agreement for the consul-
tations and despite all efforts, no solution has been
found, or immediately in a case of urgency or
the Council may,
refusal
pursuant to those Articles, decide, on a proposal
from the Commission,
appropriate
measures including partial suspension acting by a

to hold consultations,

take

to

qualified majority. The Council shall act unani-
mously in case of a full suspension of application
of the ACP-EC Agreement in relation to the ACP
State concerned.

These measures shall remain in force until such
time as
the Council has used the applicable
procedure as set out in the first subparagraph to
take a decision amending or revoking the measures
adopted previously, or where applicable, for the
period indicated in the Decision.

For that purpose the Council shall review the
above mentioned measures regularly and at least
every six months.

The President of the Council shall notify the ACP
concerned and the ACP-EC Council of
State
the measures thus adopted before
Ministers of
they enter into force.

The Council's Decision shall be published in the
Official
Journal of the European Union. Where the
measures are adopted immediately, notification
thereof shall be addressed to the ACP State and
to the ACP-EC Council of Ministers at the same
time as an invitation to hold consultations.

4. The European Parliament shall be immediately and
fully informed of any decision taken under points
2 and 3.’

Article 2

This Agreement shall be approved by each Member State in
accordance with its own constitutional
requirements. The
government of each Member State shall notify the General
Secretariat of the Council of the completion of the procedures
required for the entry into force of this Agreement.

Provided that the provisions of the first paragraph have been
complied with, this Agreement shall enter into force at the same
time as the Agreement amending the ACP-EC Agreement (1). It
shall remain in force for the duration of that Agreement.

(1) The date of entry into force of this Agreement will be published in
the Official Journal of the European Union by the General Secretariat of
the Council.

L 247/50

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

9.9.2006

Hecho en Luxemburgo, el diez de abril de dos mil seis.

V Lucemburku dne desátého dubna dva tisíce šest.

Udfærdiget i Luxembourg den tiende april to tusind og seks.

Geschehen zu Luxemburg am zehnten April zweitausendsechs.

Kahe tuhande kuuenda aasta aprillikuu kümnendal päeval Luxembourgis.

'Εγινε στo Λουξεμβούργο, στις δέκα Απριλίου δύο χιλιάδες έξι.

Done at Luxembourg on the tenth day of April in the year two thousand and six.

Fait à Luxembourg, le dix avril deux mille six.

Fatto a Lussemburgo, addì dieci aprile duemilasei.

Luksemburgā, divtūkstoš sestā gada desmitajā aprīlī.

Priimta du tūkstančiai šeštų metų balandžio dešimtą dieną Liuksemburge.

Kelt Luxembourgban, a kettőezer hatodik év április tizedik napján.

Magħmul fil-Lussemburgu, fl-għaxar jum ta' April tas-sena elfejn u sitta.

Gedaan te Luxemburg, de tiende april tweeduizend zes.

Sporządzono w Luksemburgu dnia dziesiątego kwietnia roku dwa tysiące szóstego.

Feito no Luxemburgo, em dez de Abril de dois mil e seis.

V Luxemburgu dňa desiateho apríla dvetisícšesť.

V Luxembourgu, desetega aprila leta dva tisoč šest.

Tehty Luxemburgissa kymmenentenä päivänä huhtikuuta vuonna kaksituhattakuusi.

Som skedde i Luxemburg den tionde april tjugohundrasex.

9.9.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 247/51

Pour le Royaume de Belgique
Voor het Koninkrijk België
Für das Königreich Belgien

Cette signature engage également la Communauté française, la Communauté flamande, la Commu-
nauté germanophone, la Région wallone, la Région flamande et la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale.
Deze handtekening verbindt eveneens de Vlaamse Gemeenschap, de Franse Gemeenschap, de
Duitstalige Gemeenschap, het Vlaamse Gewest, het Waalse Gewest en het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk
Gewest.
Diese Unterschrift bindet zugleich die Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft, die Flämische Gemeinschaft,
die Französische Gemeinschaft, die Wallonische Region, die Flämische Region und die Region Brüssel-
Hauptstadt.

Za Českou republiku

På Kongeriget Danmarks vegne

Für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Eesti Vabariigi nimel

L 247/52

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

9.9.2006

Για την Ελληνική Δημοκρατία

Por el Reino de España

Pour la République française

Thar cheann Na hÉireann
For Ireland

Per la Repubblica italiana

9.9.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 247/53

Για την Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία

Latvijas Republikas vārdā

Lietuvos Respublikos vardu

Pour le Grand-Duché de Luxembourg

A Magyar Köztársaság részéről

L 247/54

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

9.9.2006

Għar-Repubblika ta' Malta

Voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden

Für die Republik Österreich

W imieniu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej

Pela República Portuguesa

9.9.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 247/55

Za Republiko Slovenijo

Za Slovenskú republiku

Suomen tasavallan puolesta
För Republiken Finland

För Konungariket Sverige

For the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland