Proposal for a Council regulation repealing certain obsolete Council acts
Date: 2009-07-17
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Community acquis, Council of the European Union, EU law, application of EU law, common agricultural policy, drafting of EU law

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 17.7.2009 
COM(2009) 375 final 

2009/0102 (ACC) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

repealing certain obsolete Council acts 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

A number of acts which were adopted over the last decades have exhausted all their effects, 
but  remain  technically  into  force.  They  have  become  obsolete  because  of  their  temporary 
character  or  because  their  content  has  been  taken  up  by  successive  acts.  Several  measures 
linked  to  the  accession  of  new  Member  States  have  become  obsolete  following  their 
accession. The European  Parliament,  the Council and the Commission agreed in their inter-
institutional  agreement  on  better  law  making  that  Community  law  should  be  updated  and 
condensed  by  repealing  acts  which  are  no  longer  applied.1  Acts  which  have  no  continued 
relevance  should  be  removed  from  the  'acquis  communautaire',  in  order  to  improve 
transparency and certainty of Community law.  

The  Commission  has  carried  out  several  exercises  to  remove  obsolete  legislation  from  the 
acquis,  partly  trough  the  traditional  repeal  procedure,  partly  by  declaring  the  relevant 
Commission  acts  obsolete.  Most  recently,  the  Commission  declared  some  250  agricultural 
acts obsolete.2 In its Communication "A simplified CAP for Europe - a success for all" of 18 
March  2009,  the  Commission  confirmed  its  intention  to  clean  up  agricultural  rules.3  The 
present  proposal  is  foreseen  in  the  Simplification  Rolling  Programme  adopted  in  the 
framework  of  the  implementation  of  the  Commission's  strategy  for  simplification  of  the 
regulatory  environment,  as  updated  recently  -  document  COM  (2008)  712  Annex  2  to  the 
2009 Commission's Legislative and Work Programme. 

The  Commission  identified  a  number  of  Council  acts  related  to  the  Common  Agricultural 
Policy, but which are based upon Article 133 of the Treaty, which have exhausted all practical 
effects, but are formally still in force. It is not within the Commission's powers to declare acts 
obsolete  which  were  adopted  by  the  Council.  In  the  interest  of  legal  certainty,  the 
Commission suggests that the acts listed in this proposal shall be repealed by the Council.  

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OJ C 321, 31.12.2003, p. 1. 
OJ C 30, 6.2.2009, p. 18. 
COM(2009) 128 final, 18.3.2009. 

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2009/0102 (ACC) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

repealing certain obsolete Council acts 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

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

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission4, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

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Improving  the  transparency  of  Community  law  is  an  essential  element  of  the  better 
lawmaking strategy that Community institutions are implementing. In that context it is 
appropriate  to  remove  from  active  legislation  those  acts  which  no  longer  have  real 
effect. 

Council  Decision  91/373/EEC  of  8  July  1991  on  the  conclusion  by  the  European 
Economic  Community  of  an  Agreement  in  the  form  of  an  Exchange  of  Letters 
between  the  European  Economic  Community  and  the  Union  of  Soviet  Socialist 
Republics  on  a  credit  guarantee  for  exports  of  agricultural  products  and  foodstuffs 
from the Community to the Soviet Union5 and Council Regulation (EEC) No 599/91 
of 5 March 1991 introducing a credit guarantee for exports of agricultural products and 
foodstuffs  from  the  Community  to  the  Soviet  Union6  should  be  repealed,  as  the 
agreement was meant to deal with a temporary situation and has lost all its effects. 

Council Regulation (EC) No 3093/95 of 22 December 1995 laying down the rates of 
duty to be applied by the Community resulting from negotiations under GATT Article 
XXIV.6  consequent  upon  the  accession  of  Austria,  Finland  and  Sweden  to  the 
European Union7 has been incorporated into Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 
23  July  1987,  as  amended,  on  the  tariff  and  statistical  nomenclature  and  on  the 
Common Customs Tariff8 and has as a result exhausted its effects. 

Council Regulation (EC) No 1804/98 of 14 August 1998 establishing an autonomous 
duty applicable for residues from the manufacture of starch from maize falling within 
CN codes 2303 10 19 and 2309 90 20 and introducing a tariff rate quota on imports of 
residues from the manufacture of starch from maize (corn gluten feed) falling within 

OJ C , , p. . 
OJ L 202, 25.7.1991, p. 39.  
OJ L 67, 14.3.1991, p. 21. 
OJ L 334, 30.12.1995, p. 1. 
OJ L 256, 7.9.1987, p. 1. 

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(5) 

(6) 

(7) 

CN codes 2303 10 19 and 2309 90 20 originating in the United States of America9 was 
adopted in the framework of a trade dispute with the United States of America. As that 
dispute  has  been  settled,  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  1804/98  has  no  longer  any 
practical relevance. 

Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  2249/1999  of  22  October  1999  opening  a  Community 
tariff  quota  for  the  import  of  meat  of  bovine  animals,  boneless,  dried10  had  a 
temporary character and has exhausted all its effects.  

The  Agreement  in  the  form  of  an  Exchange  of  Letters  between  the  European 
Community and the Kingdom of Morocco fixing, from 1 January 1994, the additional 
amount  to  be  deducted  from  the  levy  or  the  customs  duties  on  imports  into  the 
Community  of  untreated  olive  oil  originating  in  Morocco  and  the  Agreement  in  the 
form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Community and the Kingdom 
of Morocco derogating temporarily, as regards the importation into the Community of 
tomatoes  originating  in  Morocco,  from  Agricultural  Protocol  No  1  to  the  Euro-
Mediterranean  Agreement  establishing  an  association  between 
the  European 
Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Kingdom of Morocco, 
of  the  other  part,  have  exhausted  all  their  effects.  Therefore,  Council  Decision 
96/620/EC11 of 1 October 1996 on the first agreement in the form of an Exchange of 
Letters between the European Community and the Kingdom of Morocco and Council 
Decision  2002/958/EC  of  28  November  200212  on  the  conclusion  of  the  second 
agreement should be repealed.  

The following measures linked to the accession of new Member States have become 
obsolete  following  such  accession:  (i)  Council  Decision  85/211/EEC  of  26  March 
1985  concerning the  conclusion  of an exchange of letters  extending the arrangement 
relating  to  clause  2  of  the  Agreement  between  the  European  Economic  Community 
and  the  Socialist  Republic  of  Romania  on  trade  in  sheep  meat  and  goat  meat13;  (ii) 
Council  Decision  93/722/EC  of  23  November  1993  concerning  the  conclusion  of  an 
Agreement  between  the  European  Community  and  Republic  of  Bulgaria  on  the 
reciprocal protection and control of wine names14; (iii) Council Decision 93/724/EC of 
23 November 1993 concerning the conclusion of an Agreement between the European 
Community and Republic of Hungary on the reciprocal protection and control of wine 
names15;  (iv)  Council  Decision  93/726/EC  of  23  November  1993  concerning  the 
conclusion  of  an Agreement between the European Community and Romania on the 
reciprocal  protection  and  control  of  wine  names16;  (v)  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No 
933/95 of 10 April 1995 opening and providing for the administration of Community 
tariff  quotas  for  certain  wines  originating  in  Bulgaria,  Hungary  and  Romania17;  (vi) 
Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  1926/96  of  7  October  1996  establishing  certain 
concessions  in  the  form  of  Community  tariff  quotas  for  certain  agricultural  products 

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OJ L 233, 20.8.1998, p. 1. 
OJ L 275, 26.10.1999, p. 2. 
OJ L 277, 30.10.1996, p. 35. 
OJ L 333, 10.12.2002, p. 21. 
OJ L 96, 3.4.1985, p. 30. 
OJ L 337, 31.12.1993, p. 11. 
OJ L 337, 31.12.1993, p. 93. 
OJ L 337, 31.12.1993, p. 177. 
OJ L 96, 28.4.1995, p. 1. 

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and  providing  for  the  adjustment,  as  an  autonomous  and  transitional  measure,  of 
certain agricultural concessions provided for in the agreements on free trade and trade-
related matters with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, to take account of the Agreement 
on  Agriculture  concluded  during 
the  Uruguay  Round  Multilateral  Trade 
Negotiations18;  (vii)  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  410/97  of  24  February  1997  on 
certain  procedures  for  applying  the  Interim  Agreement  on  Trade  and  Trade-Related 
Measures  between  the  European  Community,  the  European  Coal  and  Steel 
Community  and  the  European  Atomic  Energy  Community,  of  the  one  part,  and  the 
Republic of Slovenia, of the other part19; (viii) Council Regulation (EC) No 2658/98 
of  19  January  1998  concerning  the  approval  of  an  exchange  of  letters  between  the 
European  Community  and  the  Republic  of  Hungary  on  certain  import  arrangements 
for agricultural products20; (ix) Council Decision 1999/86/EC of 18 May 1998 on the 
conclusion of a Protocol adjusting trade aspects of the Europe Agreement establishing 
an  association  between  the  European  Communities  and  their  Member  States,  of  the 
one  part,  and  the  Republic  of  Estonia,  of  the  other  part,  to  take  account  of  the 
accession  of  the  Republic  of  Austria,  the  Republic  of  Finland  and  the  Kingdom  of 
Sweden to the European Union and the outcome of the Uruguay Round negotiations 
on agriculture, including improvements to the existing preferential arrangements21; (x) 
Council Regulation (EC) No 678/2001 of 26 February 2001 concerning the conclusion 
of Agreements in the form of Exchanges of Letters between the European Community 
and  the  Republic  of  Bulgaria,  the  Republic  of  Hungary  and  Romania  on  reciprocal 
preferential trade concessions for certain wines and spirits, and amending Regulation 
(EC) No 933/9522; (xi) Council Decision 2002/63/EC of 23 October 2001 relating to 
the conclusion of a Protocol adjusting trade aspects of the Europe Agreement between 
the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic 
of  Poland,  of  the  other  part,  to  take  account  of  the  accession  of  the  Republic  of 
Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden to the European Union 
and  the  outcome  of  the  Uruguay  Round  negotiations  on  agriculture,  including 
improvements  to  the  existing  preferential  arrangements23;  (xii)  Council  Decision 
2003/18/EC of 19 December 2002 concerning the conclusion of a Protocol adjusting 
the  trade  aspects  of  the  Europe  Agreement  establishing  an  association  between  the 
European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and Romania, of the 
other part, to take account of the outcome of negotiations between the Parties on new 
mutual  agricultural  concessions24;  (xiii)  Council  Decision  2003/285/EC  of  18  March 
2003 concerning the conclusion of a Protocol adjusting the trade aspects of the Europe 
Agreement  establishing  an  association  between  the  European  Communities  and  their 
Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Hungary, of the other part, to take 
account of the outcome of negotiations between the parties on new mutual agricultural 
concessions25; (xiv) Council Decision 2003/463/EC of 18 March 2003 concerning the 
conclusion  of  a  Protocol  adjusting  the  trade  aspects  of  the  Europe  Agreement 
establishing  an  association  between  the  European  Communities  and  their  Member 
States, of the one part, and the Republic of Estonia, of the other part, to take account 

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OJ L 254, 8.10.1996, p. 1. 
OJ L 62, 4.3.1997, p. 5. 
OJ L 336, 11.12.1998, p. 1. 
OJ L 29, 3.2.1999, p. 9. 
OJ L 94, 4.4.2001, p. 1. 
OJ L 27, 30.1.2002, p. 1. 
OJ L 8, 14.1.2003, p. 18. 
OJ L 102, 24.4.2003, p. 32.  

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of  the  outcome  of  negotiations  between  the  parties  on  new  mutual  agricultural 
concessions26; (xv) Council Decision 2003/286/EC of 8 April 2003 on the conclusion 
of  a  Protocol  adjusting  the  trade  aspects  of  the  Europe  Agreement  establishing  an 
association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one 
part, and the Republic of Bulgaria, of the other part, to take account of the outcome of 
negotiations  between  the  Parties  on  new  mutual  agricultural  concessions27;  (xvi) 
Council  Decision  2003/298/EC  of  14  April  2003  on  the  conclusion  of  a  Protocol 
adjusting  the  trade  aspects  of  the  Europe  Agreement  establishing  an  Association 
between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the 
Czech  Republic,  of  the  other  part,  to  take  account  of  the  outcome  of  negotiations 
between the parties on new mutual agricultural concessions28; (xvii) Council Decision 
2003/299/EC  of  14  April  2003  on  the  conclusion  of  a  Protocol  adjusting  the  trade 
aspects  of  the  Europe  Agreement  establishing  an  Association  between  the  European 
Communities  and  their  Member  States,  of  the  one  part,  and  the  Slovak  Republic,  of 
the other part, to take account of the outcome of negotiations between the parties on 
new  mutual  agricultural  concessions29;  (xviii)  Council  Decision  2003/452/EC  of  26 
May  2003  on  the  conclusion  of  a  Protocol  adjusting  the  trade  aspects  of  the  Europe 
Agreement  establishing  an  association  between  the  European  Communities  and  their 
Member States, acting within the framework of the European Union, of the one part, 
and  the  Republic  of  Slovenia,  of  the  other  part,  to  take  account  of  the  outcome  of 
negotiations  between  the  parties  on  new  mutual  agricultural  concessions30;  (ixx) 
Council Decision 2004/484/EC of 22 September 2003 on the conclusion of a Protocol 
adjusting  the  trade  aspects  of  the  Europe  Agreement  establishing  an  association 
between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the 
Republic  of Latvia,  of  the  other part,  to take account  of the outcome of  negotiations 
between the parties on new mutual agricultural concessions31; (xx) Council Regulation 
(EC)  No  1361/2002  of  22  July  2002  establishing  concessions  in  the  form  of 
Community  tariff  quotas  for  certain  agricultural  products  and  providing  for  an 
adjustment,  as  an  autonomous  and  transitional  measure,  of  certain  agricultural 
concessions  provided  for  in  the  Europe  Agreement  with  Lithuania32;  (xxi)  Council 
Regulation  (EC)  No  1037/1999  of  17  May  1999  on  the  application  of  specific 
measures for the import of grape juice and must originating in Cyprus.33 

(8) 

For  reasons  of  legal  security  and  clarity,  those  obsolete  Regulations  and  Decisions 
should be repealed, 

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OJ L 156, 25.6.2003, p. 31.  
OJ L 102, 24.4.2003, p. 60. 
OJ L 107, 30.4.2003, p. 12. 
OJ L 107, 30.4.2003, p. 36. 
OJ L 152, 20.6.2003, p. 22. 
OJ L 162, 30.4.2004, p. 78. 
OJ L 198, 27.7.2002, p. 1. 
OJ L 127, 21.5.1999, p. 5. 

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HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

Regulations  (EEC)  No  599/91,  (EC)  No  933/95,  (EC)  No  3093/95,  (EC)  No  1926/96,  (EC) 
No  410/97,  (EC)  No  1804/98,  (EC)  No  2658/98,  (EC)  No  1037/1999,  (EC)  No  2249/1999, 
(EC)  No  678/2001  and  (EC)  No  1361/2002  and  Decisions  85/211/EEC,  91/373/EEC, 
93/722/EC,  93/724/EC,  93/726/EC,  96/620/EC,  1999/86/EC,  2002/63/EC,  2002/958/EC, 
2003/18/EC,  2003/285/EC,  2003/286/EC,  2003/298/EC,  2003/299/EC,  2003/452/EC, 
2003/463/EC and 2004/484/EC are repealed.  

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the 
Official Journal of the European Union. 

Article 2 

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. 

Done at Brussels,  

For the Council 
The President 
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