Proposal for a Council Decision on the signature and provisional application of the stepping stone Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and Côte d'Ivoire, of the other part
Date: 2008-07-10
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Côte d'Ivoire, cooperation agreement, economic cooperation, negotiation of an agreement (EU)

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 10.7.2008 
COM(2008) 438 final 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

on the signature and provisional application of the stepping stone Economic Partnership 
Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, 
and Côte d'Ivoire, of the other part 

(presented by the Commission) 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

The  attached  proposal  constitutes  the  legal  instrument  for  the  signature  and  provisional 
application  of  a  stepping  stone  Economic  Partnership  Agreement  (EPA)  between  the 
European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and Côte d'Ivoire, of the other 
part:  Proposal  for  a  Council  Decision  on  the  signature  and  provisional  application  of  the 
stepping stone EPA. 

As  announced  in  the  Communication  to  the  Council  and  the  European  Parliament  dated  23 
October  2007,  the  stepping  stone  EPA  has  been  negotiated  with  Côte  d'Ivoire  in  order  to 
avoid  disrupting  trade  between  this  country  and  the  Community  on  the  expiry  on  31 
December 2007 of the trade provisions set out in Annex V of the Cotonou Agreement and the 
WTO waiver that covered them, and pending the completion of a comprehensive EPA with 
the whole West African region1. Following the initialling of this Agreement on 7 December 
2007,  Côte  d'Ivoire  was  added  to  the  list  of  countries  benefiting  from  an  EPA  trade  regime 
established by Council Regulation (EC) No 1528/2007, adopted on 20 December 2007. This 
Regulation  provided  for  an  advance  application  of  the  EPA  trade  regime.  Following  the 
initialling of a stepping stone EPA on 13 December 2007, Ghana was also added to this list. 
As  Least  Developed  Countries  (LDC),  all  other  West  African  countries,  except  Nigeria  and 
Cape Verde, are subject to the Everything But the Arms (EBA) initiative since the 1st January 
2008 which offers duty free quota free access to the EC market for all products except arms. 
Cape Verde was graduated on 1st January 2008 to the status of non-LDC but has been granted 
a three-years extension during which it will still benefit from the EBA regime, as foreseen by 
Council  Regulation  No  980/2005  of  27  June  2005  applying  a  scheme  of  generalised  tariff 
preferences (GSP). Nigeria, which is a non-LDC, was offered the possibility of negotiating a 
stepping  stone  EPA  equivalent  with  those  negotiated  with  Côte  d'Ivoire  and  Ghana  but 
decided not to do so. Consequently, they are subject to the regular GSP regime since the 1st 
January 2008. 

The  negotiation  of  a  full  EPA  with  the  whole  West  African  region  continues,  consistently 
with the negotiating directives for EPAs with the ACP States adopted by Council on 12 June 
2002. 

The  stepping  stone  EPA  contains  provisions  on  Trade  in  Goods,  Customs  and  Trade 
Facilitation, Technical Barriers to Trade and Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures. There are 
also  Development  Cooperation  provisions  setting  out  priority  areas  of  action  for  the 
implementation  of  the  EPA.  Each  individual  substantive  chapter  of  the  Agreement  includes 
specific areas of cooperation and a Development Cooperation declaration establishes the link 
with  the  EU  Aid  for  Trade  strategy  and  recalls  the  Commission's  and  Member  States' 
intention  to  contribute  to  a  regional  development  fund.  The  Agreement  also  foresees  the 
continuation of negotiations at regional level on investment, services and trade related issues 
and provides that the full regional EPA will supersede it once concluded. 

Pending the entry into force of the stepping stone EPA, the stepping stone EPA foresees the 
provisional application of the Agreement. 

The Commission requests the Council: 

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The countries of this region are Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, 
Togo, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Mauritania. 

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– 

– 

to  authorise  the  signature,  on  behalf  of  the  European  Community,  of  the  stepping 
stone EPA with Côte d'Ivoire; 

to  approve  the  provisional  application  of  the  stepping  stone  EPA  pending  its  entry 
into force. 

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Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

on the signature and provisional application of the stepping stone Economic Partnership 
Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, 
and Côte d'Ivoire, of the other part 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Articles 
133 and 181 in conjunction with the first sentence of the first subparagraph of Article 300(2) 
thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission2, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

On  12  June  2002  the  Council  authorised  the  Commission  to  open  negotiations  of 
Economic Partnership Agreements with ACP countries. 

Negotiations  of  a  stepping  stone  Economic  Partnership  Agreement  (hereinafter 
referred  to  as  the  'stepping  stone  EPA')  have  been  concluded  with  Côte  d'Ivoire  and 
the Agreement has been initialled on 7 December 2007. 

Article 75 of the stepping stone EPA provides for its provisional application pending 
its entry into force. 

The stepping stone EPA should be signed on behalf of the Community and applied on 
a provisional basis subject to its conclusion at a later date. 

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:  

Article 1 

The  signing  of  the  stepping  stone  Economic  Partnership  Agreement  between  Côte  d'Ivoire 
and  the  European  Community  and  its  Member  States  is  hereby  approved  on  behalf  of  the 
Community, subject to the Council Decision concerning the conclusion of  the said stepping 
stone Economic Partnership Agreement. 

The text of the Agreement is attached to this Decision. 

2 

OJ C […], […], p. […]. 

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The  President  of  the  Council  is  hereby  authorised  to  designate  the  person(s)  empowered  to 
sign the Agreement on behalf of the European Community subject to its conclusion. 

Article 2 

Article 3 

The  Agreement  shall  be  applied  on  a  provisional  basis  as  provided  for  in  Article  75  of  this 
Agreement,  pending  completion  of  the  procedure  for  conclusion.  The  Commission  will 
publish a notice providing information on the date of provisional application 

Done in Brussels, […] 

For the 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: 

COUNCIL  DECISION  on  the  signature  and  provisional  application  of  a  stepping 
stone  Economic  Partnership  Agreement  between  the  European  Community  and  its 
Member States, of the one part, and Côte d'Ivoire, of the other part 

2. 

BUDGET LINES: 

Chapter and Article: 12/120 

Amount budgeted for the year concerned: 16 431 900 000 (Budget 2008) 

3. 

FINANCIAL IMPACT  

(cid:59) 

(cid:133) 

Proposal has no financial implications 

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

4. 

ANTI-FRAUD MEASURES 

In  order  to  protect  the  Communities'  financial  interests  against  fraud  and  other 
irregularities,  the  Commission  may  carry  out  on-the-spot  checks  and  inspections  in 
accordance with Article 21 of the stepping stone Economic Partnership Agreement. 
Where  necessary,  investigations  shall  be  conducted  by  the  European  Anti-Fraud 
Office (OLAF) and these shall be governed by Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 of the 
European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council.  The  Commission  will  conduct  regular 
document-based and on-the-spot checks. 

5. 

OTHER REMARKS 

All remaining customs tariffs on products originating in those ACP regions or states 
that  concluded  negotiations  on  Economic  Partnership  Agreements  or  agreements 
including  WTO  compatible  trade  arrangements  were  removed  by  the  adoption  of 
Council  Regulation  1528/2007.  There  is,  therefore,  no  additional  financial  impact 
associated with this proposal. 

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