Article 1 
The signing of the Protocol to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement establishing a partnership between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Uzbekistan, of the other part, amending the Agreement in order to extend the provisions of the Agreement to bilateral trade in textiles, taking account of the expiry of the bilateral textiles Agreement (hereinafter ‘the Protocol’), is hereby approved on behalf of the Union, subject to the conclusion of the said Protocol ( 2 ) .
Article 2 
The President of the Council is hereby authorised to designate the person(s) empowered to sign the Protocol on behalf of the Union, subject to its conclusion, and to make the following declaration: ‘As a consequence of the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009, the European Union has replaced and succeeded the European Community and from that date exercises all rights and assumes all obligations of the European Community. Therefore, references to “the European Community” or to “the Community” in the text of the Agreement are, where appropriate, to be read as “the European Union”.’
Article 3 
This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its adoption.