Council Decision (EU) 2021/515 of 22 March 2021 on the signing, on behalf of the Union, of the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Union and Australia pursuant to Article XXVIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 relating to the modification of concessions on all the tariff-rate quotas included in the EU Schedule CLXXV as a consequence of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union
Date: 2021-03-22
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Australia, GATT, United Kingdom, agreement (EU), signature of an agreement, tariff preference, tariff quota, withdrawal from the EU








L_2021104EN.01002701.xml










25.3.2021   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


L 104/27








            COUNCIL DECISION (EU) 2021/515
of 22 March 2021
         
on the signing, on behalf of the Union, of the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Union and the Commonwealth of Australia pursuant to Article XXVIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 relating to the modification of concessions on all the tariff-rate quotas included in the EU Schedule CLXXV as a consequence of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union


THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 207(4), in conjunction with Article 218(5) thereof,


Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:







(1)


On 15 June 2018 the Council authorised the Commission to open negotiations pursuant to Article XXVIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 on the apportionment of the tariff rate quotas included in the EU Schedule CLXXV as a consequence of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the Union.












(2)


Negotiations with Australia have been concluded and an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Union and the Commonwealth of Australia pursuant to Article XXVIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 relating to the modification of concessions on all the tariff rate quotas included in the EU Schedule CLXXV as a consequence of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union (the ‘Agreement’) was initialled on 18 December 2020.












(3)


The Agreement should be signed,





HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:



Article 1
The signing on behalf of the Union of the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Union and the Commonwealth of Australia pursuant to Article XXVIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 relating to the modification of concessions on all the tariff rate quotas included in the EU Schedule CLXXV as a consequence of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EuropeanUnion is hereby authorised, subject to the conclusion of the said Agreement (1).


Article 2
The President of the Council is hereby authorised to designate the person(s) empowered to sign the Agreement on behalf of the Union.


Article 3
This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.




Done at Brussels, 22 March 2021.


For the Council


The President

J. BORRELL FONTELLES
            





(1)  The text of the Agreement will be published together with the decision on its conclusion.