Position (EU) No 1/2013 of the Council at first reading with a view to the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1528/2007 as regards the exclusion of a number of countries from the list of regions or states which have concluded negotiations Adopted by the Council on 11 December 2012
Date: 2012-12-11
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: ACP countries, delegation of power, free-trade agreement, generalised preferences, negotiation of an agreement (EU), ratification of an agreement, trade agreement (EU)








CE2013039EN.01000101.xml










12.2.2013   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


CE 39/1





POSITION (EU) No 1/2013 OF THE COUNCIL AT FIRST READING
with a view to the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1528/2007 as regards the exclusion of a number of countries from the list of regions or states which have concluded negotiations
Adopted by the Council on 11 December 2012
2013/C 39 E/01
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 207(2) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,
Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (1),
Whereas:






(1)


Negotiations on the Economic Partnership Agreements (‘the Agreements’) between:






 


the CARIFORUM states, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part, were concluded on 16 December 2007;










 


the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Central Africa Party, of the other part, were concluded on 17 December 2007 (the Republic of Cameroon);










 


Ghana, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part, were concluded on 13 December 2007;










 


Côte d’Ivoire, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part, were concluded on 7 December 2007;










 


the Eastern and Southern Africa States, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part, were concluded on 28 November 2007 (the Republic of Seychelles and the Republic of Zimbabwe), on 4 December 2007 (the Republic of Mauritius), on 11 December 2007 (the Union of the Comoros and the Republic of Madagascar) and 30 September 2008 (the Republic of Zambia);










 


the SADC EPA states, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part, were concluded on 23 November 2007 (the Republic of Botswana, the Kingdom of Lesotho, the Kingdom of Swaziland, the Republic of Mozambique) and 3 December 2007 (the Republic of Namibia);










 


the East African Community Partner States, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part, were concluded on 27 November 2007;










 


the Pacific States, of the one part, and the European Community, of the other part, were concluded on 23 November 2007.














(2)


The conclusion of negotiations on the Agreements by Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, the Republic of Botswana, the Republic of Burundi, the Republic of Cameroon, the Union of the Comoros, the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, the Commonwealth of Dominica, the Dominican Republic, the Republic of Fiji, the Republic of Ghana, Grenada, the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, the Republic of Haiti, Jamaica, the Republic of Kenya, the Kingdom of Lesotho, the Republic of Madagascar, the Republic of Mauritius, the Republic of Mozambique, the Republic of Namibia, the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, the Republic of Rwanda, the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Republic of Seychelles, the Republic of Suriname, the Kingdom of Swaziland, the United Republic of Tanzania, the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the Republic of Uganda, the Republic of Zambia and the Republic of Zimbabwe permitted their inclusion in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1528/2007 of 20 December 2007 applying the arrangements for products originating in certain states which are part of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States provided for in agreements establishing, or leading to the establishment of, Economic Partnership Agreements (2).










(3)


The Republic of Botswana, the Republic of Burundi, the Republic of Cameroon, the Union of the Comoros, the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, the Republic of Fiji, the Republic of Ghana, the Republic of Haiti, the Republic of Kenya, the Kingdom of Lesotho, the Republic of Mozambique, the Republic of Namibia, the Republic of Rwanda, the Kingdom of Swaziland, the United Republic of Tanzania, the Republic of Uganda and the Republic of Zambia have not taken the necessary steps towards ratification of their respective Agreements.










(4)


Consequently, in accordance with Article 2(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1528/2007, and in particular point (b) thereof, Annex I to that Regulation should be amended to remove those countries from that Annex.










(5)


In order to ensure that those countries can swiftly be reinstated in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1528/2007 as soon as they have taken the necessary steps towards ratification of their respective Agreements, and pending entry into force thereof, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be delegated to the Commission to reinstate the countries removed from Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1528/2007 pursuant to this Regulation. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level. The Commission, when preparing and drawing up delegated acts, should ensure a simultaneous, timely and appropriate transmission of relevant documents to the European Parliament and to the Council,




HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Regulation (EC) No 1528/2007 is hereby amended as follows:






(1)


the following Articles are inserted:
‘Article 2a
Delegation of power
The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 2b to amend Annex I to this Regulation by reinstating those regions or states from the ACP Group of States which were removed from that Annex pursuant to Regulation (EU) No …/… of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) and which have since taken the necessary steps towards ratification of their respective agreements after removal from that Annex.
Article 2b
Exercise of the delegation
1.   The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article.
2.   The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 2a shall be conferred on the Commission for an indeterminate period of time from … (4).
3.   The delegation of power referred to in Article 2a may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of the delegated acts already in force.
4.   As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.
5.   A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 2a shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.










(2)


Annex I is replaced by the text set out in the Annex to this Regulation.




Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply as from 1 January 2014.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at …,


For the European Parliament


The President

[…] […]



For the Council


The President

[…] […]




(1)  Position of the European Parliament of 13 September 2012 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and position of the Council at first reading of 11 December 2012. Position of the European Parliament of ….

(2)  OJ L 348, 31.12.2007, p. 1.

(3)  OJ L …

(4)  Date of entry into force of this Regulation.’;


ANNEX


‘ANNEX I
List of regions or states which have concluded negotiations within the meaning of Article 2(2):






 


ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA










 


THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS










 


BARBADOS










 


BELIZE










 


THE COMMONWEALTH OF DOMINICA










 


THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC










 


GRENADA










 


THE COOPERATIVE REPUBLIC OF GUYANA










 


JAMAICA










 


THE REPUBLIC OF MADAGASCAR










 


THE REPUBLIC OF MAURITIUS










 


THE INDEPENDENT STATE OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA










 


FEDERATION OF SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS










 


SAINT LUCIA










 


SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES










 


THE REPUBLIC OF SEYCHELLES










 


THE REPUBLIC OF SURINAME










 


THE REPUBLIC OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO










 


THE REPUBLIC OF ZIMBABWE’









STATEMENT OF THE COUNCIL’S REASONS
I.   INTRODUCTION

On 30 September 2011, the Commission submitted to the Council and the European Parliament its proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1528/2007 as regards the exclusion of a number of countries from the list of regions or states which have concluded negotiations (1).
The European Parliament adopted its position at first reading and the accompanying legislative resolution during the plenary session on 13 September 2012 (2).
On 22 October 2012 the Council reached a political agreement on the text of the proposal (3).
II.   OBJECTIVE

Economic Partnership Agreements are conceived as instruments for promoting regional integration and economic development in the ACP countries; they are based on the principle of asymmetrical market opening and the provision of substantial financial resources to support economic policy reforms in the ACP countries. Economic Partnership Agreements replace the previous market access regime of unilateral preferences for ACP countries, following the expiry of a WTO waiver on 31 December 2007.
By the end of 2007 it was possible to initial a number of Economic Partnership Agreements, and on 20 December 2007, the Council adopted the Regulation (EC) No 1528/2007, which set the EU import regime for the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries that had negotiated, but not yet signed and ratified, Economic Partnership Agreements. The aim of the Regulation was to avoid a disruption in trade whilst the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries moved towards the ratification of the agreements. However, in 2011, eighteen countries had either not signed their agreement or were still not applying it. In the light of these developments and in an attempt to unlock the negotiations, the Commission adopted on 30 September 2011 a Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1528/2007 as regards the exclusion of a number of countries from the list of regions or states which have concluded negotiations. Following the criteria set out in Article 2(3) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1528/2007, trade preferences granted to these countries should no longer be maintained. The draft Regulation aims at amending the list of countries that benefit from trade preferences in the Regulation (EC) No 1528/2007, by withdrawing those countries that have not yet taken the necessary steps towards ratifying the Economic Partnership Agreements with the EU.
III.   ANALYSIS OF THE COUNCIL’S POSITION AT FIRST READING


General

The Council supports the Commission proposal with a technical adjustment related to the insertion of Zimbabwe in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1528/2007. At the time when the Commission submitted its proposal, eighteen countries, including the Republic of Zimbabwe, had not taken the necessary steps towards ratifying the Economic Partnership Agreements. However, in spring 2012, Zimbabwe notified the deposit of the instrument of ratification of the Interim Economic Partnership Agreement.

EP amendments

On 13 September 2012, the European Parliament adopted its position at first reading introducing an amendment regarding the postponement of the date of entry into force of the Regulation from 1 January 2016 instead of 1 January 2014. The Council shares the Commission approach that the initially proposed timetable gives those potentially affected countries the time to implement an Economic Partnership Agreement and thus maintain their current access to the EU. Consequently the Council could not accept amendment 4.
As for the powers conferred on the Commission, the European Parliament has emphasised the need to be duly involved in preparation and implementation of delegated acts by limiting the delegation of power conferred on the Commission for a period of five years, and asking the Commission to draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power not later than nine months before the end of the five-year period. The European Parliament suggests that the delegation of power shall be tacitly extended for periods of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council oppose such extension not later than three months before the end of each period. The European Parliament also suggests that the European Parliament and Council should have four months (rather than two) to object to a delegated act. The Council shares the Commission approach regarding the powers conferred on the Commission and in this context the Council could not accept amendments 1-3.
IV.   CONCLUSION

The Council welcomes and supports the Commission proposal as useful and appropriate, and can accept it with a technical adjustment in order to reflect the introduction of Zimbabwe in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) no 1528/2007. The Council believes that its position at first reading represents a balanced package. It looks forward to constructive discussions with the European Parliament at second reading with a view to the early adoption of the Regulation.


(1)  Doc. 15025/11 ACP 188 WTO 338 UD 244 CODEC 1583.

(2)  P7_TA-PROV(2012)0342.

(3)  Doc. 14646/12 ACP 195 WTO 322 UD 242 CODEC 2310.