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 Central Africa, of the other part
Date: 2008-07-10
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Central Africa, cooperation agreement, economic cooperation, negotiation of an agreement (EU)

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 10.7.2008 
COM(2008) 445 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 Central Africa, 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 Central Africa1, 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, and as it was not possible to conclude before end 2007 a complete EPA with 
the  whole  Central  African  region2,  this  stepping  stone  EPA  has  been  negotiated  in  order  to 
avoid  disrupting  trade  between  Central  Africa,  which  is  composed  of  Cameroon  in  the 
stepping stone EPA for the time being, and the European Community, pending completion of 
the  comprehensive  EPA  with  the  whole  Central  African  region.  Following  the  initialling  of 
this stepping stone EPA on 17 December 2007, Cameroon was added to the list of countries 
benefiting from the EPA trade regime established by Council Regulation (EC) No 1528/2007, 
adopted  on  20  December  2007.  This  Regulation  provides  for  an  advance  application  of  the 
EPA  trade  regime.  This  ensured  that  there  was  no  trade  disruption  for  Cameroon  upon  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. 

As Least Developed Countries (LDC), all other Central African countries, except Gabon and 
the  Republic  of  Congo,  benefit  from  the  Everything  But  the  Arms  (EBA)  initiative  since  1 
January 2008. This regime is broadly equivalent to the transitory trade regime of Cotonou and 
therefore does not disrupt their trade with the European Community. Gabon and the Republic 
of  Congo  are  subject  to  the  regular  GSP  regime  since  1  January  2008  but  were  offered  the 
possibility of joining the stepping stone EPA. Up to now, they have not decided to do so. 

The stepping stone EPA contains provisions on Trade in Goods, that is to say Customs and 
Non  Tariff  Measures,  Trade  Defence  Instruments,  Customs  Regime  and  Trade  Facilitation, 
Technical  Barriers  to  Trade  and  Sanitary  and  Phytosanitary  Measures,  and  Forestry 
Governance and Trade for Forest Related Products. It also contains Development Cooperation 
provisions setting out priority areas of action for its implementation. The stepping stone EPA 
establishes  a  framework  for  development  cooperation  towards  the  strengthening  of  capacity 
and reinforcement of  national  economies in  Central  Africa.  It also  recalls the Commission's 
and Member States' intention to contribute to a regional development fund. 

The negotiation of a full EPA with all Central African states continues, consistently with the 
negotiating  directives  for  EPAs  with  the  ACP  States  adopted  by  Council  on  12  June  2002. 
The stepping stone EPA initialled by Cameroon is intended to be available for the region as a 
whole.  It  will  be  extended  by  the  outcome  of  negotiations  for  full  EPA  reached  in  2008.  It 
therefore  foresees  the  continuation  of  negotiations  at  regional  level  on  Establishment, 
Services and Electronic Trade and Trade Related rules. 

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2 

At this stage, and for purposes of the present stepping stone EPA, the Central African part is composed 
of Cameroon which is the only country to have initialled it up to now. 
The  countries  of  this  region  are  Cameroon,  Central  African  Republic,  Chad,  Democratic  Republic  of 
Congo, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Sao Tomé and Principe. 

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

The  Commission  has  judged  the  results  of  the  negotiations  to  be  satisfactory  and  in 
accordance with the negotiating directives from the Council and requests the Council: 

– 

– 

to  authorise  the  signature,  on  behalf  of  the  European  Community,  of  the  stepping 
stone EPA with Central Africa; 

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 Central Africa, 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 Commission3, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

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

These negotiations for a stepping stone Economic Partnership Agreement (hereinafter 
referred  to  as  the  'stepping  stone  EPA')  have  been  concluded  and  the  stepping  stone 
EPA  between  the  European  Community  and  its  Member  States,  of  the  one  part,  and 
Central  Africa,  of  the  other  part  (comprising  Cameroon)  was  initialled  on  17 
December 2007. 

Article  98(4)  of  the  stepping  stone  EPA  between  the  European  Community  and  its 
member  States  and  Central  Africa  therefore  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  Central Africa 
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 stepping stone Economic Partnership Agreement is attached to this Decision. 

3 

OJ C […], […], p. […]. 

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Article 2 

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

Article 3 

The stepping stone Economic Partnership Agreement shall be applied on a provisional basis 
as  provided  for  in  Article  98(4)  of  this  stepping  stone  Economic  Partnership  Agreement, 
pending completion of the procedures 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 Central Africa, on the other part. 

2. 

BUDGET LINES: 

Chapter and Article: 12/20 

Amount budgeted for the year concerned: 16 431 900 000 (PDB 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 26 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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