Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION on the possible relocation of the ICCO headquarter from London to Abidjan
Date: 2015-08-28
Institutions: Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development, European Commission
Subjects: Côte d'Ivoire, administration headquarters, cocoa, international organisation

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 28.8.2015  COM(2015) 410 final 2015/0183 (NLE)   Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION on the possible relocation of the ICCO headquarter from London to Abidjan  
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

• 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

Reasons for and objectives of the proposal 

The Council of the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) decided in May 2002 to move 
its  headquarters  from  London  to  Abidjan  in  Cote  d'Ivoire  with  effect  from  1  January  2003. 
Due to the security situation in Cote d'Ivoire, the implementation of the relocation to Abidjan 
was several times postponed, the last time in March 2012 when the Council of ICCO agreed 
to make a final decision at its September 2015 session. 

With the current decision, the European Union will adopt its position to be taken in the 92nd 
regular  session  of  the  ICCO  Council  in  September  2015  (or  any  extraordinary  session  after 
September until the end of 2015) regarding the relocation of ICCO headquarter from London 
to Abidjan. 

2. 

• 

LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY 

Legal basis 

With  Council  Decision  2012/189/EU  of  26  March  2012  (OJ  L  102,  12.4.2012,  p.  1)  the 
European Union approved the International Cocoa Agreement on behalf of the Union.  

With Council Conclusion of 13 March 2012, the European Union adopted its position to be 
taken in the 85th session of the ICCO Council (March 2012) regarding the relocation of ICCO 
headquarter to Abidjan. 

3. 

• 

RESULTS 
CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS 

EX-POST 

EVALUATIONS, 

OF 

STAKEHOLDER 

Stakeholder consultations 

The contents of this decision were discussed in the Council Working Party on Commodities at 
a number of meetings in 2015. 

• 

Impact assessment 

Since  2002,  no  other  country  than  Cote  d'Ivoire  has  offered  to  host  the  ICCO.  As  Cote 
d'Ivoire  is  the  biggest  cocoa  producer,  a  relocation  of  ICCO's  headquarters  from  London  to 
Abidjan is appropriate, if the local conditions allow it. 

4. 

BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS 

Cote  d'Ivoire  has  indicated  to  take  over  the  relocation  costs  necessary  which  have  been 
assessed at 1,949,944£. 

The annual administrative budgets of ICCO after relocation to Abidjan would be more or less 
comparable to the budgets in London. 

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5. 

• 

OTHER ELEMENTS 

Implementation plans and monitoring, evaluation and reporting arrangements 

A  decision  to  move  ICCO  headquarters  from  London  to  Abidjan  should  be  taken  in 
September 2015 or at least not later than end of 2015. 

The relocation itself should take place in September 2016 and not later than March 2017. 

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2015/0183 (NLE) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

on the possible relocation of the ICCO headquarter from London to Abidjan 

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 of Article 218(9) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

The  EU  is  a  party  to  the  International  Cocoa  Agreement  2010  and  a  member  of  the 
International Cocoa Organization (ICCO), 

ICCO  is  supposed  to  adopt  a  decision  in  the  92nd  regular  session  of  its  Council  in 
September  2015  regarding  the  relocation  of  ICCO  headquarter  from  London  to 
Abidjan, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:  

Article 1 

The  European  Union’s  position  for  the  92nd  regular  session  of  the  ICCO  Council  (21-25 
September  2015)  regarding  the  seat  of  the  International  Cocoa  Organisation  is  set  out  as 
follows: 

Provided that by the 92nd regular session of the ICCO Council in September 2015 or by any 
upcoming extraordinary session thereof until the end of 2015, 

 

 

 

 

 

the UN security level for Cote d'Ivoire is number two or better; 

an updated Headquarters Agreement, Memorandum of Understanding or equivalent 
exchange  of  letters  between  the  ICCO  and  Cote  d'Ivoire  stipulating  the  mutual 
obligations  and  responsibilities  concerning  the  relocation  has  been  signed  or 
exchanged; 

an ICCO Council decision is approved on the share of the relocation costs (1,949,944 
GBP paid by Cote d'Ivoire) and responsibilities between Cote d'Ivoire and ICCO, the 
modalities and timelines for the payment of the relocation costs, bearing in mind that 
100% of the estimated relocation costs should be paid to ICCO by Cote d'Ivoire until 
March 2016); 

an ICCO Council decision is approved establishing the timelines for the relocation; 

an ICCO Council decision is approved concerning a  ossible construction of an ICCO 
office  10  years  after  the  relocation  to  Abidjan  including  appropriate  modalities  of 
funding  (for  example  accumulated  ICCO  member  contributions  for  this  specific 
budget item over the next 10 years); 

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the relocation to Abidjan should go ahead. 

The EU will not support deferring this decision beyond 2015. 

If it is decided to relocate the ICCO headquarter to Abidjan the EU will support the election 
of a candidate for Executive Director from consumer countries. 

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

Article 2 

This Decision is addressed to the Member States. 

Done at Brussels, 

Article 3 

For the Council 
The President 

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