Proposal for a Council Decision on a Community position within the EU/Mexico Joint Council concerning the implementation of Article 9 of the Joint Council Decision No 2/2001 on the establishment of a framework for the negotiation of mutual recognition agreements
Date: 2007-07-24
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Association Council (EU), Mexico, cooperation agreement, cooperation policy, economic cooperation, political cooperation

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 24.7.2007 
COM(2007)441 final 

2007/0155(ACC) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

on a Community position within the EU/Mexico Joint Council concerning the 
implementation of Article 9 of the Joint Council Decision No 2/2001 on the 
establishment of a framework for the negotiation of mutual recognition agreements 

(presented by the Commission) 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

The  EU/Mexico  Free  Trade  area  was  established  by  decisions  of  the  EU  Mexico  Joint 
Council. The EU/Mexico Joint Council Decision 2/2001, which provides for the liberalization 
of trade in services between the Parties in accordance with Article V of the GATS, includes 
review clauses in its Articles 7, 9 and 17. 

On 23 October 2006 the Council authorised the Commission to honour those review clauses. 
As  regards  the  review  clause  foreseen  in  Article  9  of  Decision  2/2001,  subsequent 
negotiations  with  Mexico  resulted  in  an  agreement  to  establish  a  framework  for  the 
negotiation of mutual recognition agreements. 

The Commission therefore recommends the Council to adopt the enclosed Council Decision 
as the EU common position on the proposed EU/Mexico Joint Council Decision in annex. 

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2007/0155(ACC) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

on a Community position within the EU/Mexico Joint Council concerning the 
implementation of Article 9 of the Joint Council Decision No 2/2001 on the establishment 
of a framework for the negotiation of mutual recognition agreements 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

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

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission1, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

The EU/Mexico Free Trade area was established by decisions of the EU Mexico Joint 
Council.  The  EU/Mexico  Joint  Council  Decision  2/2001,  which  provides  for  the 
liberalization of trade in services between the Parties in accordance with Article V of 
the GATS, includes review clauses in its Articles 7, 9 and 17. 

In accordance with Article 9 of Joint Council Decision 2/2001, the Joint Council shall 
establish the necessary steps for the negotiation of mutual recognition agreements 

On  23  October  2006  the  Council  authorised  the  Commission  to  honour  the  review 
clauses  of  Joint  Council  Decision  2/2001.  As  regards  the  review  clause  foreseen  in 
Article  9  of  Decision  2/2001,  subsequent  negotiations  with  Mexico  resulted  in  an 
agreement  to  establish  a  framework  for  the  negotiation  of  mutual  recognition 
agreements. 

The negotiation of mutual recognition agreements could be fostered and facilitated by 
recommendations  issued  by  professional  bodies  of  the  Parties;  the  Parties  should 
assess the consistency of those recommendations with the Global Agreement and with 
Decisions adopted by the Joint Council established by that Agreement; following that 
assessment, negotiations could be initiated by the competent authorities of the Parties. 

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: 

1 

OJ C [..], [..], p. [..]. 

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Sole Article 

To  adopt  as  a  Community  position  within  the  EU-Mexico  Joint  Council,  the  annexed  draft 
decision. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the Council 
The President 

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ANNEX 

DRAFT DECISION NO …/… OF THE EU-MEXICO JOINT COUNCIL 

of 

implementing article 9 of Joint Council Decision No 2/2001 of 27 February 2001 on the 
establishment of a framework for the negotiation of mutual recognition agreements 

THE JOINT COUNCIL 

Having  regard  to  Decision  No  2/2001  of  the  EU-Mexico  Joint  Council,  and  in  particular 
article  9  thereof,  and  to  the  Economic  Partnership,  Political  Coordination  and  Cooperation 
Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the 
United  Mexican  States,  of  the  other  part,  (hereafter  “Global  Agreement”)  and  in  particular 
Article 47 thereof,  

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

In  principle,  no  later  than  three  years  following  the  entry  into  force  of  Decision  No 
2/2001,  the  Joint  Council  shall  establish  the  necessary  steps  for  the  negotiation  of 
mutual recognition agreements 

The negotiation of mutual recognition agreements could be fostered and facilitated by 
recommendations  issued  by  professional  bodies  of  the  Parties;  the  Parties  should 
assess the consistency of those recommendations with the Global Agreement and with 
Decisions adopted by the Joint Council established by that Agreement; following that 
assessment, negotiations could be initiated by the competent authorities of the Parties. 

(3) 

The  assessment  of  professional  bodies  recommendations  shall  be  carried  out  by  the 
Joint Committee, pursuant to the provision of Article 48(2) of the Global Agreement 

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: 

Article 1 

1. 

2. 

The  Parties  shall  encourage  the  relevant  representative  professional  bodies  in  their 
respective territories to provide recommendations on mutual recognition to the Joint 
Committee, for the purpose of the fulfilment, in whole or in part, by service suppliers 
of  the  criteria  applied  by  each  Party  for  the  authorisation,  licensing,  operation  and 
certification of service suppliers and, in particular, professional services. 

On  receipt  of  a  recommendation  referred  to  in  the  preceding  paragraph,  the  Joint 
Committee shall review the recommendation with a view to determine whether it is 
consistent  with  the  Global  Agreement  and  with  Decisions  adopted  by  the  Joint 
Council established by that Agreement. 

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3. 

4. 

When,  in  conformity  with  the  procedure  set  in  paragraph  2,  a  recommendation 
referred  to  in  paragraph  1  has  been  found  to  be  consistent  with  the  relevant 
Agreement and Joint Council Decisions and the competent authorities find that there 
is a sufficient level of correspondence between the relevant regulations of the Parties, 
the Parties shall, with a view to implement that recommendation, negotiate, through 
those  competent  authorities,  an  agreement  on  mutual  recognition  of  requirements, 
qualifications, licences and other regulations. 

The  agreements  referred  to  in  paragraph  3  shall  be  concluded  within  a  mutually 
agreed time by way of a Joint Council Decision, which may cover, inter alia, the following 
matters: 

a) 

equivalence  of  qualifications, 
examinations; 

including 

education, 

experience 

and 

b) 

equivalence of conduct and ethics standards 

c) 

d) 

e) 

professional development and continuing education to maintain equivalence 

local  knowledge,  covering  matters  such  as  local  laws,  regulations,  language, 
geography or climate; 

equivalence of consumer protection requirements such as professional liability 
insurance; 

f) 

specific treatment for short-term temporary licensing. 

Article 2 

This  Decision  shall  enter  into  force  on  an  exchange  of  written  notifications  certifying  the 
completion of the necessary legal procedures. The date of entry into force shall be published 
in  the  Official  Journal  of  the  European  Union  and  in  the  Official  Journal  of  the  United 
Mexican States. 

Done at 

For the Joint Council  
The President 

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LEGISLATIVE FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR PROPOSALS HAVING A 
BUDGETARY IMPACT EXCLUSIVELY LIMITED TO THE REVENUE SIDE 

1. 

NAME OF THE PROPOSAL: 

Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION On a Community position within the EU/Mexico Joint 
Council concerning the implementation of Article 9 of the Joint Council Decision No 2/2001 
on the establishment of a framework for the negotiation of mutual recognition agreements 

2. 

BUDGET LINES: 

Chapter and Article: Not applicable 

Amount budgeted for the year concerned: Not applicable 

3. 

FINANCIAL IMPACT  

x 

Proposal has no financial implications 

(cid:133) 

Proposal has no financial impact on expenditure but has a financial impact on 
revenue – the effect is as follows: 

(€ million to one decimal place) 

Budget line 

Revenue2 

12 month period, 
starting dd/mm/yyyy

[Year n] 

Article … 

Impact on own resources 

Article … 

Impact on own resources 

2 

Regarding  traditional  own  resources  (agricultural  duties,  sugar  levies,  customs  duties)  the  amounts 
indicated must be net amounts, i.e. gross amounts after deduction of 25 % of collection costs 

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Situation following action 

[n+1] 

[n+2] 

[n+3] 

[n+4] 

[n+5] 

Article … 

Article … 

4. 

ANTI-FRAUD MEASURES 

5. 

OTHER REMARKS 

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