Article 1 
The Council hereby authorises the Republic of Austria to sign and ratify, and Malta to accede to, the Hague Convention of 15 November 1965 on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters, in the interest of the Union. The text of the Convention is attached to this Decision.
Article 2 
1. The Republic of Austria shall take the necessary steps to deposit its instrument of ratification of the Convention with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands within a reasonable time and at the latest by 31 December 2017. 2. The Republic of Austria shall inform the Council and the Commission of the date of its deposit of the instrument of ratification.
Article 3 
1. After this Decision takes effect Malta shall notify the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands of the date on which the Convention will become applicable to Malta. 2. Malta shall likewise inform the Council and the Commission of the date referred to in paragraph 1.
Article 4 
This Decision shall take effect on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .
Article 5 
This Decision is addressed to Malta and the Republic of Austria.