Proposal for a Council Decision on the signature and provisional application of the Interim Partnership Agreement between the European Community, of the one part, and the Pacific States, of the other part
Date: 2008-12-16
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Fiji, Papua New Guinea, cooperation agreement, development aid, free-trade area, signature of an agreement, trading operation

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 16.12.2008 
COM(2008) 858 final 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

on the signature and provisional application of the Interim Partnership Agreement 
between the European Community, of the one part, and the Pacific States, 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  the  Interim  Partnership  Agreement  between  the  European  Community,  of  the 
one part, and the Pacific ACP States, of the other part: 

Proposal  for  a  Council  Decision  on  the  signature  and  provisional  application  of  the  Interim 
Partnership Agreement. 

As  announced  in  the  Communication  to  the  Council  and  the  European  Parliament  dated 
23 October 2007, the Interim Partnership Agreement has been negotiated to avoid disrupting 
trade  with  the  Community  on  the  expiry  of  the  trade  regime  set  out  in  Annex  V  of  the 
Cotonou Agreement on 31 December 2007 and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) waiver 
covering  that  trade  regime.  These  negotiations  were  concluded  by  the  Interim  Partnership 
Agreement on 23 November 2007 with the Republic of Fiji Islands and Papua New Guinea. 

As a result the signatory Pacific States (Fiji and Papua New Guinea) were included in the list 
of  countries  in  Annex  1  of  the  EPA  Market  Access  Regulation  adopted  by  Council  on 
20 December 20071 that have benefited from the Community market access offer made in the 
context  of  EPAs  from  1  January  2008.  Their  inclusion  on  this  list  will  become  permanent 
following ratification of the Interim Partnership Agreement by all parties. This will ensure a 
single harmonised trade regime with the EU providing improved market access for signatory 
Pacific States. 

The Interim Partnership Agreement is a framework for an EPA and includes all the measures 
necessary to establish a Free Trade Area compatible with the provisions of Article XXIV of 
the GATT 19942, including provisions on Customs and Trade Facilitation, Technical Barriers 
to Trade, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and Dispute Settlement.  

Both  development  cooperation  provisions  and  institutional  provisions  are  very  limited,  the 
major  focus  of  the  Interim  Partnership  Agreement  is  purely  trade  in  goods.  The  Interim 
Partnership  Agreement  contains  a  rendezvous-clause  for  continuation  negotiations  of  the 
comprehensive  EPA,  which  will  cover  other  areas,  e.g.  development  cooperation,  services, 
fisheries, agriculture, trade related rules, etc.  

The negotiation of a comprehensive EPA continues consistently with the directives for EPAs 
with ACP States adopted by Council on 12 June 2002. 

Pending the entry into force of the Interim Partnership Agreement, the provisional application 
of the Agreement is foreseen. 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: 

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to  authorise  the  signature,  on  behalf  of  the  European  Community,  of  the  Interim 
Partnership Agreement; 

Council Regulation 1528/2007 
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (1994) 

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– 

to approve the provisional application of the Interim Partnership Agreement. 

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Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

on the signature and provisional application of the Interim Partnership Agreement 
between the European Community, of the one part, and the Pacific States, of the other 
part 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Community,  and  in  particular  the 
Article 133, 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. 

Negotiations for an Interim Partnership Agreement, which establishes a framework for 
an Economic Partnership Agreement (hereinafter referred to as the 'interim EPA') have 
been concluded on 23 November 2007 with Papua New Guinea and Republic of the 
Fiji Islands. 

Article  76(3)  of  the  interim  EPA  provides  for  its  provisional  application  pending  its 
entry into force. 

The  interim  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  Interim  Partnership  Agreement  between  the  Pacific  States  and  the 
European Community is hereby approved on behalf of the Community, subject to the Council 
Decision concerning the conclusion of the said interim EPA. 

The text of the interim EPA is attached to this Decision. 

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OJ C , , p. . 

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

Article 2 

Article 3 

The interim EPA shall be applied on a provisional basis as provided for in Article 76(3) of the 
Agreement,  pending  completion  of  the  procedures  for  conclusion.  The  Commission  will 
publish a notice providing information on the date of provisional application. 

Done at 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  the  Interim 
Partnership  Agreement  between  the  European  Community,  of  the  one  part,  and  the 
Pacific States, 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 17 of the Interim Partnership Agreement between the Pacific 
States  and  the  European  Community.  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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