Proposal for a Council Decision amending Commission Decision 2008/938/EC on the list of the beneficiary countries which qualify for the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance, provided for in Council Regulation (EC) No 732/2008 applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences for the period from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2011
Date: 2009-04-02
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: CCT duties, developing countries, generalised preferences, governance, sustainable development

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 2.4.2009 
COM(2009) 157 final 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

amending Commission decision 2008/938/EC on the list of the beneficiary countries 
which qualify for the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and 
good governance, provided for in Council Regulation (EC) No 732/2008 applying a 
scheme of generalised tariff preferences for the period from 1 January 2009 to 31 
December 2011 

(presented by the Commission) 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

The  attached  proposal  for  a  Council  Decision  aims  to  amend  Commission  Decision 
2008/938/EC  by  removing  Venezuela  from  the  list  of  countries  benefiting  from  special 
incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance (the GSP+) in 2009-
2011 

Council Regulation (EC) No 732/2008 applying the scheme of generalised tariff preferences 
in the years 2009-2011 provides for the granting of GSP+ preferences to developing countries 
which  satisfy  requirements  established  under  its  Articles  8  and  9.  In  line  with  these 
requirements  any  GSP+  beneficiary  country  must  be  "vulnerable"  and  have  ratified  and 
effectively  implemented  27  international  conventions  in  the  fields  of  human  rights,  core 
labour  standards,  sustainable  development  and  good  governance,  listed  in  Annex  III  to 
Regulation (EC) No 732/2008. A country must also commit to accept and comply fully with 
the  monitoring  and  review  mechanism  envisaged  in  the  relevant  conventions  and  related 
instruments. 

On 31 October 2008 the Government of Venezuela submitted to the Commission its request 
for GSP+ preferences for the period 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2011. The Commission's 
review of the request revealed that Venezuela had not at that time ratified the United Nations 
Convention  against  Corruption,  listed  under  point  27,  in  Part  B  of  Annex  III  to  Regulation 
(EC) No 732/2008.  

The  Government  of  Venezuela  in  a  letter  by  the  Mission  of  Venezuela  to  the  European 
Communities committed to ratify and effectively implement the  United Nations Convention 
against Corruption by no later than 31 December 2008.  

On the 9 December  2008  the Commission adopted Decision  2008/938/EC on the list of the 
beneficiary  countries  which  qualify  for  the  GSP+,  provided  for  in  Council  Regulation  (EC) 
No  732/2008  for  the  period  from  1  January  2009  to  31  December  2011  and  included 
Venezuela  on  the  list  of  the  beneficiary  countries  in  the  expectation  that  Venezuela  would 
take  appropriate  steps  to  ensure  the  ratification  and  effective  implementation  of  the  United 
Nations  Convention  against  Corruption  at  the  latest  by  31  December  2008,  as  it  had 
committed to do.  

Commission Decision 2008/938/EC of 9 December 2008 was taken with the prior agreement 
of the Standing Committee on the General System of Preferences on  25 November  2008 in 
which 26 Member States (318 votes) voted in favour, 1 Member State (27 votes) abstained, 
along  with  the  implicit  understanding  that  if  Venezuela  failed  to  ratify  and  effectively 
implement  the  missing  convention  by  the  end  of  the  year  action  would  have  to  be  taken  to 
amend the list.  

However,  as  of  31  December  2008  Venezuela  had  not  ratified  the  Convention  against 
corruption  and  accordingly  did  not  fulfil  all  the  necessary  requirements  under  Regulation 
(EC)  No  732/2008  to  be  granted  benefits  under  the  GSP+.  The  subsequent  actions  by 
Venezuela  in  January  2009  to  complete  the  ratification  are  not  relevant  for  meeting  the 
criteria specified in Regulation 732/2008 for countries to benefit from GSP+ from 1 January 
2009. It is therefore necessary to amend Commission Decision 2008/938/EC accordingly, by 
removing Venezuela from the list of countries benefiting from GSP+ in 2009-2011. 

To  avoid  any  adverse  impacts  on  economic  operators,  an  appropriate  transitional  period  for 
the application of the Decision should be provided for. 

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Against  this  background,  on  30  January  2009  the  draft  Commission  Decision  to  remove 
Venezuela  from  the  list  of  GSP+  beneficiary  countries  was  submitted  to  the  Standing 
Committee  on  the  General  System  of  Preferences  for  a  vote  pursuant  to  Article  10(2)  of 
Regulation  (EC)  No  732/2008  and  in  accordance  with  Article  5  of  Council  Decision 
1999/468/EC. The proposal was opposed by a blocking minority of Member States (72 votes 
against and 39 votes through abstention). 21 Member States (234 votes) were in favour of the 
proposal. The Committee has therefore not delivered an opinion by qualified majority. 

Consequently,  in  accordance  with  Article  5(4)  of  Council  Decision  1999/468/EC,  the 
Commission  is  required  to  submit  to  the  Council  a  proposal  relating  to  the  measures  to  be 
taken and shall inform the European Parliament. The Council may act by qualified majority 
within no later than three months from the date of referral of the proposal to the Council. 

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Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

amending Commission decision 2008/938/EC on the list of the beneficiary countries 
which qualify for the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and 
good governance, provided for in Council Regulation (EC) No 732/2008 applying a 
scheme of generalised tariff preferences for the period from 1 January 2009 to 31 
December 2011 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, 

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 732/2008 of 22 July 2008 applying a scheme of 
generalised tariff preferences for the period from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2011 and 
amending  Regulations  (EC)  No  552/97,  (EC)  No  1933/2006  and  Commission  Regulations 
(EC) No 1100/2006 and (EC) No 964/20071, and in particular Article 10(2) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

Regulation  (EC)  No  732/2008  provides  for  the  granting  of  a  special  incentive 
arrangement  for  sustainable  development  and  good  governance  to  developing 
countries which satisfy requirements established under its Articles 8 and 9. 

In accordance with Article 10(2) of that Regulation the Commission adopted Decision 
2008/938/EC  of  9  December  2008  on  the  list  of  the  beneficiary  countries  which 
qualify  for  the  special  incentive  arrangement  for  sustainable  development  and  good 
governance, provided for in Council Regulation (EC) No 732/2008 applying a scheme 
of generalised tariff preferences for the period from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 
20112.  

In  accordance  with  that  Decision,  the  Bolivarian  Republic  of  Venezuela  (hereinafter 
‘Venezuela’)  was  granted 
incentive  arrangement  for  sustainable 
development and good governance. 

the  special 

However,  it  has  now  come  to  light  that  Venezuela  did  not  ratify  the  United  Nations 
Convention  against  Corruption,  listed  under  point  27,  in  Part  B  of  Annex  III  of 
Regulation  (EC)  No  732/2008.  Therefore,  Venezuela  did  not  fulfil  all  the  necessary 
requirements under Regulation (EC) No 732/2008 to be granted the special incentive 
arrangement.  Commission  Decision  2008/938/EC  should  be  amended  accordingly, 

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2 

OJ L 211, 6.8.2008, p. 1. 
OJ L 334, 12.12.2008, p. 90. 

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while providing for an appropriate transitional period for its application. In accordance 
with  Article  214  of  Council  Regulation  (EEC)  No  2913/92  of  12  October  1992 
establishing  the  Community  Customs  Code3,  any  customs  debt  incurred  with  the 
benefit  of  Decision  2008/938/EC  until  the  date  of  application  of  this  Decision  will 
therefore not be affected 

Pursuant  to  Article  10(3)  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  732/2008,  this  Decision  is  to  be 
notified to Venezuela. 

The Generalised Preferences Committee has not delivered an opinion within the time 
limit  laid  down  by  its  chairman.  The  measures  provided  for  in  this  Decision  must 
therefore,  by  virtue  of  Article  10(2)  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  732/2008  and  in 
accordance  with  Article  5(4)  of  Council  Decision  1999/468/EC4,  be  adopted  by  the 
Council, 

(5) 

(6) 

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:  

In Article 1 of Decision 2008/938/EC, the words "(VE) Venezuela" are deleted. 

Article 1 

This decision shall apply from the sixtieth day following that of its publication in the Official 
Journal of the European Union. 

Article 2 

Article 3 

This Decision is addressed to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. 

Done at Brussels, […] 

For the Council 
The President 
[…] 

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4 

OJ L 302, 19.10.1992, p. 1 
OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.  

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