CELEX: 52009SC0504
Language: en
Date: 2009-04-21
Title: Draft Decision of the EEA Joint Committee No […] of […] amending Protocol 31 to the EEA Agreement, on cooperation in specific fields outside the four freedoms

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EN    EN
 ---pagebreak---      COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                       Brussels, 21.4.2009
                                       SEC(2009) 504 final
                              Draft
       DECISION OF THE EEA JOINT COMMITTEE
                                No
                                of
         amending Protocol 31 to the EEA Agreement,
   on cooperation in specific fields outside the four freedoms
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 ---pagebreak---                          EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
   1. Protocol 31 to the EEA Agreement contains specific provisions on the cooperation
      between the Community and the EEA EFTA States outside the four freedoms.
   2. The attached draft Decision of the EEA Joint Committee aims to modify Protocol 31
      to extend cooperation in the field of Education, training and youth. It provides a
      framework for cooperation and sets out the modalities for full participation of the
      EEA EFTA States in the Community programmes and actions in this field, with
      effect from 1st January 2009 by incorporating:
      -     32008 D 1298: Decision 1298/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of the
            Council of 16 December 2008 establishing the Erasmus Mundus 2009-2013
            action programme for the enhancement of quality in higher education and the
            promotion of intercultural understanding through cooperation with third
            countries (OJ L 340, 19.12.2008, p. 83).
   3. Article 1.3 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2894/94 concerning the arrangements for
      implementing the EEA Agreement envisages that the Council establish the
      Community position for such Decisions on a proposal from the Commission.
   4. The draft decision of the EEA Joint Committee is submitted for the approval of the
      Council, after which the Commission will put forward the position of the Community
      in the EEA Joint Committee at the earliest possible occasion.
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 ---pagebreak---                                                  Draft
                          DECISION OF THE EEA JOINT COMMITTEE
                                                  No
                                                   of
                            amending Protocol 31 to the EEA Agreement,
                     on cooperation in specific fields outside the four freedoms
   THE EEA JOINT COMMITTEE,
   Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, as amended by the Protocol
   adjusting the Agreement on the European Economic Area, hereinafter referred to as ‘the
   Agreement’, and in particular Articles 86 and 98 thereof,
   Whereas:
   (1)     Protocol 31 to the Agreement was amended by Decision of the EEA Joint Committee
           No …/… of …1.
   (2)     It is appropriate to extend the cooperation of the Contracting Parties to the Agreement
           to include Decision 1298/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of
           16 December 2008 establishing the Erasmus Mundus 2009-2013 action programme
           for the enhancement of quality in higher education and the promotion of intercultural
           understanding through cooperation with third countries2.
   (3)     Protocol 31 to the Agreement should therefore be amended in order to allow for this
           extended cooperation to take place from 1 January 2009,
   HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
                                               Article 1
   Article 4 of Protocol 31 to the Agreement shall be amended as follows:
   1.        The following paragraph shall be inserted after paragraph 2l:
             ‘2m. The EFTA States shall, with effect from 1 January 2009, participate in actions
                   1 and 3 of the following programme:
                   -      32008 D 1298: Decision 1298/2008/EC of the European Parliament and
                          of the Council of 16 December 2008 establishing the Erasmus Mundus
   1
           OJ L …
   2
           OJ L 340, 19.12.2008, p. 83.
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 ---pagebreak---                             2009-2013 action programme for the enhancement of quality in higher
                            education and the promotion of intercultural understanding through
                            cooperation with third countries (OJ L 340, 19.12.2008, p. 83).’
   2.        The text of paragraph 3 shall be replaced by the following:
             ‘The EFTA States shall contribute financially in accordance with Article 82(1)(a) of
             the Agreement to the programmes and actions referred to in paragraphs 1, 2, 2a, 2b,
             2c, 2d, 2e, 2f, 2g, 2h, 2i, 2j, 2k, 2l and 2m.’
                                                      Article 2
   This Decision shall enter into force on the day following the last notification to the EEA Joint
   Committee under Article 103(1) of the Agreement∗.
   It shall apply from 1 January 2009.
                                                      Article 3
   This Decision shall be published in the EEA Section of, and in the EEA Supplement to, the
   Official Journal of the European Union.
   Done at Brussels, .
                                                         For the EEA Joint Committee
                                                         The President
                                                         The Secretaries
                                                         to the EEA Joint Committee
   ∗
            [No constitutional requirements indicated.] [Constitutional requirements indicated.]
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