Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION on the conclusion of a Protocol to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Uzbekistan, of the other part, extending the provisions of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement to bilateral trade in textiles
Date: 2010-11-15
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Uzbekistan, agreement (EU), textile product, trade agreement

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 15.11.2010 
COM(2010) 664 final 

2010/0323 (NLE) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

on the conclusion of a Protocol to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between 
the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic 
of Uzbekistan, of the other part, extending the provisions of the Partnership and 
Cooperation Agreement to bilateral trade in textiles 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

The Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between the European Communities and 
their  Member  States,  of  the  one  part,  and  the  Republic  of  Uzbekistan,  of  the  other  part, 
entered into force on 1 July 1999. 

This agreement contains a provision according to which its trade provisions – namely, most 
favoured  nation  (MFN)  trade  conditions  and  abolition  of  quantitative  restrictions  –  do  not 
apply to trade in textile products, which was regulated by a separate bilateral agreement. 

This bilateral agreement, in force since 1 January 2000, lapsed on 31 December 2004. While 
in  practice  trade  in  textiles  between  the  EU  and  Uzbekistan  continued  to  proceed  smoothly 
since 1 January 2005, legal certainty needs to be ensured.  

On  9  June  2010,  the  Council  authorised  the  Commission  to  enter  into  negotiations  with  the 
Republic of Uzbekistan to amend the PCA, so as to ensure that the principles which apply to 
trade in other goods are also extended formally to trade in textile products. These negotiations 
have been successfully concluded and the Protocol amending the PCA by abrogating Article 
16 and all references thereto, was initialled on 1 July 2010. 

In addition, some updates of a technical nature have been introduced. This has taken the form 
of the deletion of Article 8(3) and Annex I, stemming from the time of the dissolution of the 
USSR, and which had expired in 1998.  

The  Council  is  invited  to  adopt  the  attached  proposed  Decision  on  the  conclusion  of  a 
Protocol to the PCA, which shall form an integral part of the PCA. A separate proposal on the 
signature of the Protocol is also being submitted. 

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2010/0323 (NLE) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

on the conclusion of a Protocol to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between 
the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic 
of Uzbekistan, of the other part, extending the provisions of the Partnership and 
Cooperation Agreement to bilateral trade in textiles 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Article 207, in conjunction with Article 218(6)(a)(v) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

Having regard to the consent of the European Parliament1, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

On 9 June 2010 the Council authorised the Commission to enter into negotiations with 
the  Republic  of  Uzbekistan  to  amend  the  Partnership  and  Cooperation  Agreement 
(PCA) between the European Communities and their Member States, on the one part, 
and  the  Republic  of  Uzbekistan,  of  the  other  part,  so  as  to  ensure  that  the  principles 
which  apply  to  trade  in  other  goods  are  also  extended  formally  to  trade  in  textile 
products.  These  negotiations  have  been  successfully  concluded  and  the  Protocol 
amending  the  PCA  by  abrogating  Article  16,  and  all  references  thereto,  has  been 
initialled on 1 July 2010. 

In the framework of the negotiations it was agreed between both parties to carry out a 
clean  up  exercise  and  to  delete  an  obsolete  provision  and  the  corresponding  Annex 
referring to a technical provision that expired in 1998. 

In  accordance with Council Decision […/…/…2]  the Protocol to the Partnership and 
Cooperation Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, 
of  the  one  part,  and  the  Republic  of  Uzbekistan,  of  the  other  part,  amending  the 
Agreement  in  order  to  extend  the  provisions  of  the  Agreement  to  bilateral  trade  in 
textiles, taking account of the expiry of the bilateral textiles Agreement, the Protocol 
was signed on [xx.xx.xxxx], subject to its conclusion at a later date. 

(4) 

The Protocol should be concluded, 

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OJ C […], p.[…] 
See page … of this Official Journal. 

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HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:  

Article 1 

The Protocol to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (the PCA) between the European 
Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Uzbekistan, of the 
other part, extending the provisions of the PCA to bilateral trade in textiles, taking account of 
the expiry of the bilateral textiles Agreement, is hereby approved on behalf of the Union3. 

The President of the Council shall, on the behalf of the European Union, give the notification 
provided for in Article 101 of the PCA. 

Article 2 

Article 3 

This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its adoption. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the Council 
The President 

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The date of entry into force of the Protocol shall be published in the Official Journal of the European 
Union by the General Secretariat of the Council. 

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PROTOCOL 

to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the European Communities 
and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Uzbekistan, of the other 
part, amending the Agreement in order to extend the provisions of the Agreement to 
bilateral trade in textiles, taking account of the expiry of the bilateral textiles Agreement 

THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

of the one part, and 

THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN, 

of the other part, 

hereinafter referred to as "Parties" for the purpose of this Protocol. 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

The  Partnership  and  Cooperation  Agreement  (PCA)  between  the  European 
Communities  and  their  Member  States,  of  the  one  part,  and  the  Republic  of 
Uzbekistan, of the other part, entered into force on 1 July 1999. 

Negotiations have taken place to ensure that the principles in the PCA which apply to 
trade in other goods are also extended formally to trade in textile products. 

(3) 

Appropriate amendments to the PCA should be adopted, 

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS: 

Article 1 

The  Partnership  and  Cooperation  Agreement  between  the  European  Communities  and  their 
Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Uzbekistan, of the other part, is hereby 
amended as follows: 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

Article 8(3) is deleted. 

In Article 11 the references to Article 16 are deleted. 

Article 16 is deleted. 

Annex I of the Agreement is deleted. 

Article 2 

This Protocol shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the notification by 
the European Union or Uzbekistan of the completion of the necessary domestic procedures for 
the approval of this Protocol, whichever is the latter. 

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Article 3 

This  Protocol  shall  form  an  integral  part  of  the  Partnership  and  Cooperation  Agreement, 
establishing  a  partnership  between  the  European  Communities  and  their  Member  States,  of 
the one part, and the Republic of Uzbekistan, of the other part. 

Article 4 

This  Protocol  is  drawn  up  in  duplicate  in  each  of  the  official  languages  of  the  contracting 
parties, each of these texts being equally authentic. 

Done at…..,  

For the European Union 

For the Republic of Uzbekistan 

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