Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the safeguard measures provided for in the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Swiss Confederation (codification)
Date: 2014-05-27
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Switzerland, agreement (EU), codification of EU law, protective clause, quantitative restriction, simplification of legislation













EUR-Lex - 52014PC0305 - EN











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52014PC0305

Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the safeguard measures provided for in the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Swiss Confederation (codification) /* COM/2014/0305 final - 2014/0158 (COD) */









EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
1.           In the context of a people’s
Europe, the Commission attaches great importance to simplifying and clarifying
the law of the Union so as to make it clearer and more accessible to citizens,
thus giving them new opportunities and the chance to make use of the specific
rights it gives them.
This aim cannot be achieved so long as numerous
provisions that have been amended several times, often quite substantially,
remain scattered, so that they must be sought partly in the original instrument
and partly in later amending ones. Considerable research work, comparing many
different instruments, is thus needed to identify the current rules.
For this reason a codification of rules that
have frequently been amended is also essential if the law is to be clear and
transparent.
2.           On 1 April 1987 the Commission
decided[1]
to instruct its staff that all acts should be codified after no more
than ten amendments, stressing that this is a minimum requirement and that
departments should endeavour to codify at even shorter intervals the texts for
which they are responsible, to ensure that their provisions are clear and
readily understandable.
3.           The Conclusions of the Presidency
of the Edinburgh European Council (December 1992) confirmed this[2], stressing the
importance of codification as it offers certainty as to the law
applicable to a given matter at a given time.
Codification must be undertaken in full
compliance with the normal procedure for the adoption of acts of the Union.
Given that no changes of substance may be made
to the instruments affected by codification, the European Parliament,
the Council and the Commission have agreed, by an interinstitutional agreement
dated 20 December 1994, that an accelerated procedure may be used for the
fast-track adoption of codification instruments.
4.           The purpose of this proposal is
to undertake a codification of Regulation (EEC)
No 2841/72 of the Council of 19 December 1972 on the safeguard measures
provided for in the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the
Swiss Confederation[3]. The new Regulation will supersede the various acts incorporated in
it[4]; this proposal fully
preserves the content of the acts being codified and hence does no more than
bring them together with only such formal amendments as are required by
the codification exercise itself.
5.           The codification proposal
was drawn up on the basis of a preliminary consolidation, in
22 official languages, of Regulation (EEC)
No 2841/72 and the instruments amending it,
carried out by the Publications Office of the European Union, by means of a
data-processing system. Where the Articles have been given new numbers, the
correlation between the old and the new numbers is shown in a table set out in
Annex II to the codified Regulation.
ê 2841/72
(adapted)
2014/0158 (COD)
Proposal for a
REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
AND OF THE COUNCIL
on the safeguard measures provided for in
the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Swiss
Confederation (codification)
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE
COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty Ö on the
Functioning of the European Union Õ , and in
particular Article Ö 207(2) Õ thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the
European Commission,
After transmission of the draft legislative
act to the national Parliaments,
Having regard to the opinion of the
European Economic and Social Committee[5],

Acting in accordance with the ordinary
legislative procedure,
Whereas:
ê 
(1)       Regulation
(EEC) No 2841/72 of the Council[6]
has been substantially amended
several times[7]. In the interests of clarity and rationality, that Regulation
should be codified.
ê 2841/72 recital
1 (adapted)
(2)       An
agreement between the European Economic Community and the Swiss Confederation Ö (‘the Agreement’) Õ was signed in Brussels on 22 July 1972.
ê 2841/72
recital 3 (adapted)
(3)        Detailed rules Ö are necessary Õ for
implementing the safeguard clauses and precautionary measures provided for in
Articles 22 to 27 of the Agreement.
ê 37/2014
Art. 1 and Annex .1 (adapted)
(4)        The implementation of the bilateral safeguard clauses of the
Agreement requires uniform conditions for the adoption of safeguard measures.
Those measures should be adopted in accordance with Regulation (EU)
No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council[8].
(5)       The
Commission should adopt immediately applicable implementing acts where, in duly
justified cases relating to situations referred to in Articles 24, 24a and 26
of the Agreement or in the case of export aids that have a direct and immediate
effect on trade, imperative grounds of urgency so require,
ê 2841/72
HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
ê 37/2014
Art. 1 and Annex .1(1)
Article 1
The Commission may decide to refer to the
Joint Committee established by the Agreement between the European Economic
Community and the Swiss Confederation, hereinafter referred to as ‘the
Agreement’, for the purpose of taking the measures provided for in Articles 22,
24, 24a and 26 of the Agreement. Where necessary, the Commission shall adopt
those measures in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in
Article 6(2) of this Regulation.
The Commission shall inform the Member
States should it decide to refer an issue to the Joint Committee.
ê 2841/72
(adapted)
è1 37/2014 Art. 1 and Annex .1(2)
Article 2
1. In the case of a practice that may
justify application by the Ö Union Õ of the
measures provided for in Article 23 of the Agreement, the Commission, after
examining the case on its own initiative or at the request of a Member State, shall decide whether such practice is compatible with the Agreement. è1 Where necessary, the Commission shall adopt
safeguard measures in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in
Article 6(2) of this Regulation. ç
2. In the case of a practice that may cause
safeguard measures to be applied to the Ö Union Õ on the basis
of Article 23 of the Agreement, the Commission, after examining the case, shall
decide whether the practice is compatible with the principles set out in the
Agreement. Where necessary, it shall formulate appropriate recommendations.
Article 3
In the case of a practice that may justify
application by the Ö Union Õ of the
measures provided for in Article 25 of the Agreement, the procedures
established by Council Regulation (EC) No 597/2009[9] and Council Regulation (EC) No 1225/2009[10] shall be applicable.
ê 37/2014
Art. 1 and Annex .1(3)
Article 4
1. Where exceptional circumstances require
immediate action in the situations referred to in Articles 24, 24a and 26 of
the Agreement or in the case of export aids that have a direct and immediate
effect on trade, the precautionary measures provided for in Article 27(3)(e) of
the Agreement may be adopted by the Commission in accordance with the
examination procedure referred to in Article 6(2) of this Regulation, or in
cases of urgency, in accordance with Article 6(3) of this Regulation.
2. Where the Commission is requested to
take action by a Member State, it shall take a decision on that request within
a maximum period of five working days of its receipt.
ê 2841/72
(adapted)
Article 5
Notification to the Joint Committee by the Ö Union Õ as required by
Article 27(2) of the Agreement shall be the responsibility of the
Commission.
ê 37/2014
Art. 1 and Annex .1(5)
Article 6
1. The Commission shall be assisted by the
Committee on Safeguards established by Article 4(1) of Council Regulation
(EC) No 260/2009[11]. That Committee shall be a committee within the meaning of
Regulation (EU) No 182/2011.
2. Where reference is made to this
paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.
3. Where reference is made to this
paragraph, Article 8 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011, in conjunction with
Article 5 thereof, shall apply.
Article 7
The Commission shall include information on
the implementation of this Regulation in its annual report on the application
and implementation of trade defence measures presented to the European
Parliament and to the Council pursuant to Article 22a of Regulation (EC)
No 1225/2009.
ê 
Article 8
Regulation (EEC) No 2841/72 is repealed.
References to the repealed Regulation shall
be construed as references to this Regulation and shall be read in accordance
with the correlation table in Annex II.
Article 9
This Regulation shall enter into force on
the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal
of the European Union.
ê 2841/72
This Regulation shall be binding
in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels,
For the European Parliament                        For
the Council
The President                                                 The
President
[1]               COM(87) 868 PV.
[2]               See Annex 3 to Part A of the Conclusions.
[3]               Entered in the legislative programme for 2014.
[4]               See Annex I to this proposal.
[5]               OJ C […], […], p. [...].
[6]               Regulation (EEC) No 2841/72 of the Council of 19
December 1972 on the safeguard measures provided for in the Agreement between
the European Economic Community and the Swiss Confederation (OJ L 300,
31.12.1972, p. 284).
[7]               See Annex I.
[8]               Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission's exercise of implementing powers (OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13).
[9]               Council Regulation (EC) No 597/2009 of 11 June 2009 on protection against subsidised imports from countries not members of the European Community (OJ L 188, 18.7.2009, p. 93).
[10]             Council Regulation (EC) No 1225/2009 of 30 November 2009 on protection against dumped imports from countries not members of the European Community (OJ L 343, 22.12.2009, p. 51).
[11]             Council Regulation (EC) No 260/2009 of 26 February
2009 on the common rules for imports (OJ L 84, 31.3.2009, p. 1).
é
ANNEX I
Repealed
Regulation with list of its successive amendments
 Regulation (EEC) No 2841/72 of the Council (OJ L 300, 31.12.1972, p. 284) ||   || 
 || Council Regulation (EEC) No 643/90 (OJ L 74, 20.3.1990, p. 7) ||   
 || Regulation (EU) No 37/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 18, 21.1.2014, p. 1) || Only point 1 of the Annex 
_____________
ANNEX II
Correlation Table
 Regulation (EEC) No 2841/72 || This Regulation 
 Articles 1 to 4 || Articles 1 to 4 
 Article 6 || Article 5 
 Article 7 || Article 6 
 Article 8 || Article 7 
 - || Article 8 
 - || Article 9 
 - || Annex I 
 - || Annex II 
_____________