Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union in the 233rd session of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as regards the proposed amendments to Chapter 1 (“Definitions and general principles”), Chapter 3 (“Entry and Departure of persons and their baggage”) Paragraph C (“Security of travel documents”), Paragraph D (“Travel documents”), Paragraph G (“Embarkation/Disembarkation Cards”), Paragraph H (“Inspection of travel documents”) and Chapter 8 (“Facilitation provisions covering specific subjects”) Paragraph H (“Trafficking in persons”) and I (“Wildlife Trafficking”) as included in Amendment 30 of Annex 9 – Facilitation to the Convention on International Civil Aviation (‘the Chicago Convention’)
Date: 2024-10-16
Institutions: Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, European Commission
Subjects: International Civil Aviation Organisation, air traffic, carriage of passengers, civil aviation, illicit trade, international convention, international standard, passport, revision of an agreement, simplification of formalities, trafficking in human beings

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 16.10.2024  COM(2024) 477 final 2024/0261 (NLE)  Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union in the 233rd session of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as regards the proposed amendments to Chapter 1 (“Definitions and general principles”), Chapter 3 (“Entry and Departure of persons and their baggage”) Paragraph C (“Security of travel documents”), Paragraph D (“Travel documents”), Paragraph G (“Embarkation/Disembarkation Cards”), Paragraph H (“Inspection of travel documents”) and  Chapter 8 (“Facilitation provisions covering specific subjects”) Paragraph H (“Trafficking in persons”)  and I (“Wildlife Trafficking”) as included in Amendment 30 of Annex 9 – Facilitation to the Convention on International Civil Aviation (‘the Chicago Convention’)  
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE PROPOSAL 

This proposal concerns: 
(i)  the  position  to  be  taken  on  the  Union’s  behalf  in  the  233rd  session  of the  Council  of  the 
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for the proposed amendments to Chapter 1 
(“Definitions and general principles”), Chapter 3 (“Entry and Departure of persons and their 
baggage”) Paragraph C (“Security of travel documents”), Paragraph D (“Travel documents”), 
Paragraph  G  (“Embarkation/Disembarkation  Cards”),  Paragraph  H  (“Inspection  of  travel 
documents”) and Chapter 8 (“Facilitation provisions covering specific subjects”) Paragraph H 
(“Trafficking  in  persons”)    and  I  (“Wildlife  Trafficking”)  as  included  in  Amendment  30  of 
Annex  9  –  Facilitation  of  the  Convention  on  International  Civil  Aviation  concerning  the 
facilitation  of landside  formalities  for  clearance  of  aircraft  and  passengers,  goods  and 
mail, with respect to the requirements of customs, immigration, public health and agriculture 
authorities. These proposed amendments are contained in Amendment 30 which is included in 
the  State  Letter  EC  6/3  −  24/67  dated  19  June  2024  and  which  will  be  voted  at  the  233rd 
session of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). 

(ii) the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf after the ICAO announces the adoption of 
the Amendment 30 to Annex 9 Facilitation in respective State Letters, inviting its contracting 
States to notify any differences or compliance with the adopted measures. 

2. 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

2.1. 

The Convention on International Civil Aviation 

The Convention on International Civil Aviation (‘the Chicago Convention’) aims to regulate 
international  air  transport.  The  Chicago  Convention  entered  into  force  on  4  April  1947  and 
established the International Civil Aviation Organization. 

All EU Member States are Parties to the Chicago Convention. 

2.2. 

The International Civil Aviation Organization 

The International Civil Aviation Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations. 
The aims and objectives of the Organization are to develop the principles and techniques of 
international  air  navigation  and  to  foster  the  planning  and  development  of  international  air 
transport.  

The ICAO Council is a permanent body of ICAO with a membership of 36 contracting States 
elected by the ICAO Assembly for a period of three years. For the period of 2022-2025, there 
are  six  EU  Member  States  represented  in  the  ICAO  Council  namely  Austria,  France, 
Germany, Italy, Romania and Spain. 

Mandatory  functions  of  the  ICAO  Council,  listed  in  Article  54  of  the  Chicago  Convention, 
include  the  adoption  of  international  standards  and  recommended  practices  (SARPs), 
designated as Annexes to the Chicago Convention.  

Pursuant to Article 37 j) of the Chicago Convention, the ICAO shall adopt and amend from 
time  to  time,  as  may  be  necessary,  international  standards  and  recommended  practices  and 
procedures dealing with customs and immigration procedures. 

Pursuant to Article 90 of the Chicago Convention, the adoption by the Council of the Annexes 
requires  the vote of two-thirds of the Council at a meeting called for that purpose and shall 
then  be  submitted  by  the  Council  to  each  contracting  State.  Any  such  Annex  or  any 

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amendment  of  an  Annex  shall  become  effective  within  three  months  after  its  submission  to 
the ICAO contracting States, or at the end of such longer period of time as the ICAO Council 
may  prescribe,  unless  in  the  meantime  a  majority  of  contracting  ICAO  States  register  their 
disapproval. 

Pursuant to Article 38 of the Chicago Convention, any State which finds it impracticable to 
comply in all respects with any such international standard or procedure, or to bring its own 
regulations  or  practices  into  full  accord  with  respect  to  any  such  international  standard  or 
procedures  or  which  deems  it  necessary  to  adopt  regulations  or  practices  differing  in  any 
particular  respect  from  those  established  by  an  international  standard,  shall  give  immediate 
notification to the ICAO of the differences between its own practice and that established by 
the  international  standard.  In  the  case  of  amendments  to  international  standards,  any  State 
which  does  not  make  the  appropriate  amendments  to  its  own  regulations  or  practices  shall 
give  notice  to  the  Council  within  sixty  days  of  the  adoption  of  the  amendment  to  the 
international standards or indicate the action which it proposes to take. In any such case, the 
Council  shall  make  immediate  notification  to  all  other  states  of  the  difference  which  exists 
between  one  or  more  features  of  an  international  standard  and  the  corresponding  national 
practice of that State. 

2.3. 

The envisaged act of ICAO and its relationship with the existing Union rules 

During  its  233rd  or  any  consequent  session,  the  ICAO  Council  is  expected  to  consider  and 
adopt Amendment 30 to Annex 9 – Facilitation as referred to in the State Letter EC 6/3-24/67 
arising from the review of Annex 9 – Facilitation conducted by the Facilitation (FAL) Panel 
during its Thirteenth Meeting which was held from 26 February to 1 March 2024 (FALP/13).  

– 

– 

– 

Annex  9  -  Facilitation  is  based  on  10  articles  of  the  Chicago  Convention  which 
require that the civil aviation community comply with laws governing the inspection 
of  aircraft,  cargo  and  passengers  by  authorities  concerned  with  customs, 
immigration,  agriculture  and  public  health.  Annex  9  pertains  specifically  to 
Facilitation of landside formalities for clearance of aircraft and commercial traffic for 
both  passengers  and  cargo,  through  the  requirements,  inter  alia  of  customs, 
immigration, public health and agriculture authorities. 

Amendment  30  to  Annex  9  includes,  among  others,  new  and/or  revised  provisions 
relating  to  entry  and  departure  of  persons  and  their  baggage,  international  airports’ 
facilities  and  services  for  traffic,  passenger  name  record  (PNR)  data,  advance 
passenger  information  (API),  trafficking  in  persons,  as  well  as  the  relocation  of 
health-related provisions from other chapters to Chapter 10 of the Annex. 

The  envisaged  Amendment  to  be  adopted  by  the  ICAO  Council  will  be  binding 
under international law in accordance with the procedure and time-line laid down in 
Article 90(a) of the Chicago Convention, which provides that: “The adoption by the 
Council  of  the  Annexes  described  in  Article  54,  subparagraph  l),  shall  require  the 
vote of two-thirds of the Council at a meeting called for that purpose and shall then 
be  submitted  by  the  Council  to  each  contracting  State.  Any  such  Annex  or  any 
amendment  of  an  Annex  shall  become  effective  within  three  months  after  its 
submission to the contracting States or at the end of such longer period of time as the 
Council may prescribe, unless in the meantime a majority of the contracting States 
register their disapproval with the Council”. 

– 

Further, the above Amendment is capable of decisively influencing the content of EU 
legislation, as explained more in details below.  

The proposed Amendment covers the following areas as follows: 

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– 

– 

– 

– 

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2 

3 

D 

Paragraph 

documents”), 

in relation to Chapter 1 (“Definitions and general principles”) and Chapter 3 (“Entry 
and  Departure  of  persons  and  their  baggage”)  Paragraph  C  (“Security  of  travel 
documents”), 
G 
(“Travel 
(“Embarkation/Disembarkation  Cards”),  Paragraph  H 
travel 
documents”),  the  proposed  amendments  add  SARPs  related  to  the  security  of  the 
issuance  process  for  electronic  Machine  Readable  Travel  Documents  (“eMRTD”) 
and  to  update  the  access  control  protocol  and  technical  standard  for  encoding  the 
facial image in eMRTDs. The amendments cover subjects that  are regulated - under 
EU  law  by  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  2252/20041  (on  travel  documents  and 
passports)  and  Regulation  (EC)  No  1683/952  (on  visa  standards)  and  due  to  its 
binding nature are capable of decisively influencing the content of EU legislation.  

(“Inspection  of 

Paragraph 

with regard to Chapter 8 (“Facilitation provisions covering specific subjects”) former 
Paragraph  J  now  renumerated  to  H  (“Trafficking  in  persons”),  the  proposed 
Amendments are mainly of linguistics nature but they clarify that the requirements in 
standards 8.49 and 8.50 are binding for the Contracting States.  

Finally, with regard to Chapter 1 (“Definitions and general principles”) and Chapter 
9  (“Passenger  Data  Systems”)  the  proposed  amendments  are  largely  editorial  in 
nature;  additions  or  rephrasing,  mostly  under  the  form  of  explanatory  notes  to 
SARPs, clarifying the conditions of application of API and interactive API systems. 
The  proposed  amendment  seeks  to  streamline  the  use  of  advance  passenger 
information  (API)  system  and  interactive  advance  passenger  information  (iAPI) 
system throughout the text of Annex 9. It aims to provide clarity on the definition of 
(batch) API system and iAPI system (Chapter 1), with editorial changes in Chapter 9 
that  consists  on  repositioning  Recommended  Practice  9.8  on  recommending 
Contracting States to consider the introduction of an iAPI system earlier in the text of 
Annex  9.  The  amendments  keeps  Standard  9.7  as  establishing  an  obligation  on 
Contracting States to establish an advance passenger information (API) system with 
a  more  extensive  definition  of  iAPI  system  (Note  2  under  Standard  9.7).  Under 
Standard  9.7  each  Contracting  State  shall  establish  an  Advance  Passanger 
Information (API) system. On the basis of Notes 1 and 2 to that SARP, such API can 
take form of a normal API or iAPI. Based on the Recommended Practice under point 
9.8.  iAPI  remains  facultative  (“Each  Contracting  state  should  consider  the 
introduction  of  an  interactive  Advanced  Passanger  Information  (iAPI)  system.”). 
With regard to amendments in Chapter 9 on API system, there is no impact on Union 
law  namely  Council  Directive  2004/82/EC3  of  29  April  2004  on  the  obligation  of 
carriers to communicate passenger data (API Directive) as ICAO changes are purerly 
editorial.  

As substantiated above, the envisaged act concerns an area which is already largely 
covered  by  Union  rules  and  is  thus  liable  to  ‘affect  common  rules  or  alter  their 
scope’. The envisaged Amendment 30 to Annex 9 therefore concern an area in which 

Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  2252/2004  of  13  December  2004  on  standards  for  security  features  and 
biometrics in passports and travel documents issued by Member States (OJ L 385, 29.12.2004, p. 1–6  
ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2004/2252/oj). 
Council Regulation (EC) No 1683/95 of 29 May 1995 laying down a uniform format for visas (OJ L 
164, 14.7.1995, p. 1–4, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/1995/1683/oj). 
Council Directive 2004/82/EC of 29 April 2004 on the obligation of carriers to communicate passenger 
data (OJ L 261, 6.8.2004, p. 24–27, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2004/82/oj). 

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the Union has acquired  exclusive external  competence by virtue of the last  limb  of 
Article 3(2) TFEU on this matter.  

3. 

POSITION TO BE TAKEN ON THE UNION'S BEHALF 

3.1. 

Proposed amendments and their relationship with the existing Union rules 

Amendments  to  Chapter  1  (“Definitions  and  general  principles”),  Chapter  3  (“Entry  and 
Departure of persons and their baggage”), Paragraph C (“Security of travel documents”), 
Paragraph  D  (“Travel  documents”),  Paragraph  G  (“Embarkation/Disembarkation 
Cards”),  Paragraph  H  (“Inspection  of  travel  documents”)  and  Chapter  8  (“Facilitation 
provisions  covering  specific  subjects”)  Paragraph  H  (“Trafficking  in  persons”)  and  I 
(“Wildlife  Trafficking”)  included  in  Amendment  30  to  Annex  9  –  Facilitation  of  the 
Convention on International Civil Aviation  

The proposed amendments, included in Amendment 30 to Annex 9 as referred to in the State 
Letter  EC  6/3-24/67,  cover  subjects  that  are  also  regulated  by  EU  legal  acts  as  cited  in 
paragraph 2.3 and are consistent therewith.  

The  proposed  amendments  would  contribute  to  the  improvement  of  Annex  9  clarity  and 
efficiency thus better pursuing the aim of allowing that the flow of travellers, baggage, cargo, 
and mail is efficient and delivered in a healthy, safe, and secure environment on the ground 
and in the air. The Union acknowledges the need for continuosly reviewing Annex 9 in order 
to keep it updated and able to reflect the evolution of air travel.  

The  proposed  position  to  be  taken  on  behalf  of  the  Union  is  then  to  support  these 
amendments. 

Hence, the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf, provided the ICAO Council adopts the 
proposed Amendment 30 to Annex 9 – Facilitation, should be to not notify any disapproval 
but to comply with the adopted measures in reply to the respective ICAO State Letter.  

Where  Union  legislation  would  deviate  from  the  newly  adopted  ICAO  Standards  after  an 
envisaged date of application of those Standards, the Union position on the differences with 
those  particular  Standards  should  be  notified  to  ICAO  by  Member  States,  on  the  basis  of 
preparatory document submitted in due time by the Commission to the Council for discussion 
and approval,  and setting out the detailed differences  for the time necessary to  complete the 
implementation.  

4. 

LEGAL BASIS 

4.1. 

Procedural legal basis 

4.1.1.  Principles 

Article 218(9) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides for 
decisions establishing ‘the positions to be adopted on the Union’s behalf in a body set up by 
an  agreement,  when  that  body  is  called  upon  to  adopt  acts  having  legal  effects,  with  the 
exception of acts supplementing or amending the institutional framework of the agreement.’ 

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Article 218(9) TFEU applies regardless of whether the Union is a member of the body or a 
party to the agreement4. 

The concept of ‘acts having legal effects’ includes acts that have legal effects by virtue of the 
rules of international law governing the body in question. It also includes instruments that do 
not  have  a  binding  effect  under  international  law,  but  that  are  ‘capable  of  decisively 
influencing the content of the legislation adopted by the EU legislature’5 since several parts of 
the  proposed  Amendment  fall  within  Union  law  namely:  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No 
2252/2004 and Regulation (EC) No 1683/95. 

4.1.2.  Application to the present case 

The ICAO Council is a body set up by an agreement, namely the Chicago Convention. 

In  accordance  with  Article  54(l)  of  the  Chicago  Convention,  the  ICAO  Council  adopts 
international SARPs, designated as Annexes to the Chicago Convention.  The acts which the 
ICAO Council is called upon to adopt constitute acts having legal effects. The envisaged acts 
will  be  binding  under  international  law  in  accordance  with  Article  90(a)  of  the  Chicago 
Convention.  

Further, as explained above, the envisioned amendments to Annex 9 are capable of decisively 
influencing  the  content  of  Union  legislation  as  they  touch  upon  matters  already  regulated 
thereby, namely: Council Regulation (EC) No 2252/2004 and Regulation (EC) No 1683/95.  

The envisaged acts do not supplement or amend the institutional framework of the agreement. 

Therefore,  the  procedural  legal  basis  for  the  proposed  Decision  position  in  respect  of  such 
notifications is Article 218(9) TFEU. 

4.2. 

Substantive legal basis 

4.2.1.  Principles 

The  substantive  legal  basis  for  a  decision  under  Article  218(9)  TFEU  depends  primarily  on 
the objective and content of the envisaged act in respect of which a position is taken on the 
Union's  behalf.  If the  envisaged act  pursues two  aims or has two components  and if one of 
those  aims  or  components  is  identifiable  as  the  main  one,  whereas  the  other  is  merely 
incidental, the decision under Article 218(9) TFEU must be founded on a single substantive 
legal basis, namely that required by the main or predominant aim or component. By way of 
exception,  if  it  is  established  that  the  measure  simultaneously  pursues  several  objectives 
which are inseparably linked without one being secondary and indirect in relation to the other, 
the measure may be founded on the corresponding legal bases. 

4.2.2.  Application to the present case 

The envisaged act although pursues objectives of common transport policy has in its content 
several predominant  components in  the areas of border control and migration, including  the 
security  of  travel  documents.  At  the  same  time,  due  to  a  non-binding  and  purely  editorial 
nature  of  relevant  ICAO  amendments  concerning  collection  and  transfer  of  API  data  for 

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Judgment  of 
ECLI:EU:C:2014:2258, paragraph 64.  
Judgment  of 
ECLI:EU:C:2014:2258, paragraphs 61 to 64.  

the  Court  of  Justice  of  7  October  2014,  Germany  v  Council,  C-399/12, 

the  Court  of  Justice  of  7  October  2014,  Germany  v  Council,  C-399/12, 

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border  management  purposes  the  relevant  Union  rules  in  that  area  (namely  Directive 
2004/82/EC of 29 April 2004 on the obligation of carriers to communicate passenger data) are 
unaffected.  Furthermore,  ICAO  changes  (namely  Paragraph  H  in  Chapter  8)  concerning 
trafficking  in  persons  are  of  incidental  nature  to  the  predominant  content  of  those 
amendments, which is international border controls and migration (passports and visas).   

Therefore,  the  substantive  legal  basis  of  the  proposed  decision  is  Article  77(2)  (a)  and  (b) 
TFEU. 

4.3. 

Conclusion 

The legal basis of the proposed Council Decision is Article 77(2) (a) and (b), in conjunction 
with Article 218(9) TFEU.  

5. 

PUBLICATION OF THE ENVISAGED ACT 

For  reasons  of  transparency  and  proper  reference  as  the  proposed  amendments  will  amend 
Annex 9 of the Chicage Convention, it is necessary to publish it in the Official Journal of the 
into  force.
indicating 
European  Union  after 

the  date  of 

its  adoption 

its  entry 

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2024/0261 (NLE) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union in the 233rd session of the 
Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as regards the 
proposed amendments to Chapter 1 (“Definitions and general principles”), Chapter 3 
(“Entry and Departure of persons and their baggage”) Paragraph C (“Security of travel 
documents”), Paragraph D (“Travel documents”), Paragraph G 
(“Embarkation/Disembarkation Cards”), Paragraph H (“Inspection of travel 
documents”) and  Chapter 8 (“Facilitation provisions covering specific subjects”) 
Paragraph H (“Trafficking in persons”)  and I (“Wildlife Trafficking”) as included in 
Amendment 30 of Annex 9 – Facilitation to the Convention on International Civil 
Aviation (‘the Chicago Convention’) 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Article 77(2) (a) and (b), in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,  

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

The  Convention  on  International  Civil  Aviation  (‘the  Chicago  Convention’)  which 
regulates international air transport, entered into force on 4 April 1947. It established 
the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). 

All Member States are Contracting States to the Chicago Convention and members of 
the ICAO, while the Union has observer status in certain ICAO bodies. For the period 
2022-2025, there are six Member States represented in the ICAO Council. 

Pursuant to Article 37 j) of the Chicago Convention, the ICAO shall adopt and amend 
from  time  to  time,  as  may  be  necessary,  international  standards  and  recommended 
practices and procedures dealing with customs and immigration procedures. Pursuant 
to Article 54(l) of the Chicago Convention, the ICAO Council may adopt international 
Standards and Recommended Practices (‘SARPs’), and designate them as Annexes to 
the Chicago Convention. 
The  ICAO  Council,  at  its  233rd  session,  is  to  adopt  Amendment  30  to  Annex  9  – 
Facilitation to the Chicago Convention.  

The  main  purposes  of  the  Amendment  30  to  Annex  9  -  Facilitation  to  the  Chicago 
Convention included in the State Letter EC 6/3 − 24/67 is to to improve the clarity and 
consequently the consistency and efficiency of Annex 9.  

Amendment  30  to  Annex  9  -  Facilitation  to  the  Chicago  Convention  includes 
amendments  to  Chapter  1  (“Definitions  and  general  principles”),  Chapter  3  (“Entry 
and  Departure  of  persons  and  their  baggage”),  Paragraph  C  (“Security  of  travel 
G 
(“Travel 
documents”), 

documents”), 

Paragraph 

Paragraph 

D 

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(“Embarkation/Disembarkation  Cards”),  Paragraph  H 
travel 
documents”)  and  Chapter  8  (“Facilitation  provisions  covering  specific  subjects”), 
Paragraph H (“Trafficking in persons”) and I (“Wildlife Trafficking”).  

(“Inspection  of 

It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on the Union's behalf within the 
ICAO  Council  as  the  Amendment  30  to  Annex  9  –  Facilitation  to  the  Chicago 
Convention will be binding under international law in accordance with Article 90(a) of 
the Chicago Convention and and is of relevance to Union legislation, namely: Council 
Regulation  (EC)  No  2252/2004  of  13  December  2004  on  standards  for  security 
features and bimetrics in passports and travel documents issued by Member States6and 
Council Regulation (EC) No 1683/95 of 29 May 1995 laying down a uniform format 
for visas7  Pursuant to Article 38 of the Chicago Convention, any State which finds it 
impracticable  to  comply  in  all  respects  with  any  such  international  standard  or 
procedure, or to bring its own regulations or practices into full accord with any such 
international standard or procedures or which deems it necessary to adopt regulations 
or  practices  differing  in  any  particular  respect  from  those  established  by  an 
international  standard,  should  give  immediate  notification  to  the  ICAO  of  the 
differences between its own practice and that established by the international standard. 
The Union's position during the 233rd session of the ICAO Council or any consequent 
session  with  regard  to  the  adoption  of  the  proposed  amendments  to  Chapter  1 
(“Definitions and general principles”), Chapter 3 (“Entry and Departure of persons and 
their baggage”), Paragraph C (“Security of travel documents”), Paragraph D (“Travel 
documents”),  Paragraph  G  (“Embarkation/Disembarkation  Cards”),  Paragraph  H 
(“Inspection  of  travel  documents”)  and  Chapter  8  (“Facilitation  provisions  covering 
specific  subjects”)  Paragraph  H  (“Trafficking  in  persons”)    and  I  (“Wildlife 
Trafficking”)  contained  in  Amendment  30  to  Annex  9  -  Facilitation  to  the  Chicago 
Convention included in the State Letter EC 6/3 − 24/67, should be to vote to support 
these  amendments  in  their  entirety.  This  position  shall  be  expressed  by  the  Member 
States  of  the  Union  that  are  members  of  the  ICAO  Council,  acting  jointly  in  the 
interest of the Union.  

The Union’s position after the adoption of Amendment 30 to Annex 9 - Facilitation to 
the  Chicago  Convention  by  the  ICAO  Council,  to  be  announced  by  the  ICAO 
Secretary General  via  an ICAO State Letter procedure, should be to  not  register any 
disapproval  and  to  comply  with  the  amendments.  Where  Union  legislation  would 
deviate from the newly adopted SARPs after an envisaged date of application of those 
SARPs,  a  difference  with  those  particular  SARPs  should  be  notified  to  ICAO.  The 
Union position with respect of such difference should be based on a written document 
submitted  by  the  Commission  to  the  Council  for  discussion  and  approval.  This 
position should be expressed by all the Member States of the Union, acting jointly in 
the interest of the Union. 

This  Decision  does  not  constitute  a  development  of  the  provisions  of  the  Schengen 
in  accordance  with  Council  Decision 
acquis 

in  which  Ireland 

takes  part 

Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  2252/2004  of  13  December  2004  on  standards  for  security  features  and 
biometrics in passports and travel documents issued by Member States (OJ L 385, 29.12.2004, p. 1–6  
ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2004/2252/oj). 
Council Regulation (EC) No 1683/95 of 29 May 1995 laying down a uniform format for  visas (OJ L 
164, 14.7.1995, p. 1–4, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/1995/1683/oj).  

(7) 

(8) 

(9) 

(10) 

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2002/192/EC.8Ireland is therefore not taking part in the adoption of this Decision and 
is not bound by it or subject to its application. 

(11) 

In  accordance  with  Articles  1  and  2  of  Protocol  No  22  on  the  position  of  Denmark 
annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the 
European Union, Denmark is not taking part in the adoption of this Decision and is not 
bound by it or subject to its application.   

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: 

1. 

2. 

Article 1 

The  position  to  be  taken  on  the  Union's  behalf  in  the  233rd  session  of  the  ICAO 
Council,  or  in  one  of  the  consequent  sessions,  shall  be  to  vote  to  support  in  their 
entirety  the  proposed  amendments  to  Chapter  1  (“Definitions  and  general 
principles”),  Chapter  3  (“Entry  and  Departure  of  persons  and  their  baggage”) 
Paragraph  C  (“Security  of  travel  documents”),  Paragraph  D  (“Travel  documents”), 
Paragraph  G  (“Embarkation/Disembarkation  Cards)”,  Paragraph  H  (“Inspection  of 
travel  documents”),  Chapter  8  (“Facilitation  provisions  covering  specific  subjects”) 
and Paragraph H (“Trafficking in persons”)  and I (“Wildlife Trafficking”) contained 
in Amendment 30 to Annex 9 – Facilitation to the Chicago Convention included in 
the State Letter EC 6/3 − 24/67.  

The position to be taken on the Union’s behalf, provided the ICAO Council adopts 
without any substantial change the proposed amendment to Annex 9 – Facilitation to 
the  Chicago  Convention  referred  to  in  paragraph  1,  shall  be  to  not  register  any 
disapproval  and  to  notify  compliance  with  the  adopted  measure  in  reply  to  the 
respective ICAO State Letter. Where Union legislation would deviate from the newly 
adopted SARPs after the envisaged date of application of those SARPs, a difference 
with  those  particular  SARPs  shall  be  notified  to  ICAO,  in  accordance  with 
Article 38 of the Chicago Convention. 

To this effect, the Commission shall, in due time and at least two months before any 
deadline set by the ICAO for the notification of differences, submit to the Council, 
for  discussion  and  approval,  a  preparatory  document  setting  out  the  detailed 
differences to be notified to the ICAO on the Union’s behalf by the Member States. 

Article 2 

The position referred to in Article 1(1) shall be expressed by the Member States of the Union 
that are members of the ICAO Council, acting jointly in the interest of the Union. 

The  position  referred  to  in  Article  1(2)  shall  be  expressed  by  all  the  Member  States  of  the 
Union, acting jointly in the interest of the Union. 

8 

Council Decision 2002/192/EC of 28 February 2002 concerning Ireland’s request to take part in some 
of the provisions of the Schengen acquis (OJ L 64, 7.3.2002, p. 20). 

EN 

9 

  EN 

 
 
This Decision is addressed to the Member States. 

Done at Brussels, 

Article 3 

For the Council 
The President 

EN 

10 

  EN