COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union concerning the position of the Council on 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 (2011/0260(COD))
Date: 2013-01-10
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Zimbabwe, association agreement (EU), free-trade agreement, generalised preferences, market access, ratification of an agreement, trade agreement (EU), trading operation

EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION 

Brussels, 10.1.2013  
COM(2013) 7 final 

2011/0260 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 

concerning the 

position of the Council on 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 (2011/0260(COD)) 

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   EN 

 
 
 
  
 
 
 
2011/0260 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 

concerning the 

position of the Council on 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 (2011/0260(COD)) 

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the European Parliament and 
to the Council 

30 September 2011 

(document COM(2011)0598 final - (2011/0260(COD)): 

Date  of  the  opinion  of  the  European  Economic  and  Social 
Committee:  

n.a. 

Date  of  the  position  of  the  European  Parliament,  first  reading:

13 September 2012 

Date of adoption of the position of the Council: 

11 December 2012 

2. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSAL FROM THE COMMISSION 

The  Market  Access  Regulation  (MAR)  grants  unilateral  advance  provisional  application  of 
duty- and quota-free access to those  ACP countries that concluded negotiations of (interim) 
Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) by the end of 2007. The Regulation was conceived 
as a temporary solution pending the ratification of the agreements to avoid trade disruption. It 
was based on a clear commitment of the countries concerned to move towards ratification and 
implementation  of  the  agreements  they  had  negotiated.  The  Commission  proposes  the 
amendment  to  the  Market  Access  Regulation  to  reserve  the  benefits  of  the  Market  Access 
Regulation to those countries that have ratified or applied their EPAs by 1 January 2014, i.e. 6 
(six) years after the Regulation entered into force. Out of the 36 MAR beneficiaries, 19 have 
ratified or applied their agreements. Yet the other 17 countries have neither ratified nor signed 
their  agreement.  The  situation  is  unfair  towards  those  which  have  ratified  and  also  towards 
other developing countries that are not getting free access to the EU, despite being at similar 
stages of development. 

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3. 

COMMENTS ON THE POSITION OF THE COUNCIL 

On 13 September 2012, the European Parliament voted in first-reading a legislative resolution 
including  four  amendments  to  the  Commission's  proposal.  The  Commission  rejects  three  of 
these  four  amendments.  Two  of  the  amendments  concern  procedural  aspects  related  to 
delegated acts and are not in line with the Common Understanding on Delegated Acts. The 
third  one  relates  to  the  date  for  entry  into  force  of  the  amendment  to  the  Regulation  (it 
suggests 1 January 2016 rather than 1 January 2014). 

On 11 December 2012, the Council adopted the Commission's proposal. It did not take up the 
Parliament's  amendments.  The  Council  introduced  one  modification  which  re-instates  in 
Annex I Zimbabwe which has ratified an EPA since the Commission's proposal was adopted. 
The  modification  is  in  line  with  the  logic  of  the  proposal  itself.  The  Commission  can 
therefore accept the amendment introduced by the Council. 

4. 

CONCLUSION 

The Commission can accept the amendments introduced by the Council to its proposal. 

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