Decision (EU) 2019/349 establishing the position to be taken within the WTO Committee on Government Procurement on the accession of the United Kingdom to the Revised Agreement on Government Procurement

Summary:

Council Decision of 22 February 2019 on the position to be taken on behalf of the Union regarding the United Kingdom's accession to the WTO Revised Agreement on Government Procurement in the context of its withdrawal from the European Union.

Further information:

The European Union is a Party to the Revised Agreement on Government Procurement (‘the Revised GPA’), and its Member States are covered by the Revised GPA pursuant to Union law. In March 2017, the United Kingdom submitted notification of its intention to withdraw from the Union. In the absence of a withdrawal agreement, the Revised GPA will automatically cease to apply to the United Kingdom from the date of withdrawal.

On 1 June 2018 the United Kingdom applied for accession to the Revised GPA. The UK's commitments on government procurement market access coverage offer to the Union the maximum coverage the UK currently has under the Union's GPA schedule, which corresponds to the coverage that the UK currently has under the Union schedule as a Member State. The Union should provide reciprocal treatment and adapt its schedule in order to provide a corresponding level of access to the UK's economic operators under the Revised GPA.

Background:

The Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) is a plurilateral agreement within the framework of the WTO which aims to mutually open government procurement markets among its parties. The revised version of the Agreement entered into force on 6 April 2014. The European Union is a party to the Agreement.

The Committee on Government Procurement was established to administer the implementation of the GPA. It is composed of representatives from each of the parties as well as WTO members and inter-governmental organizations with observer status. The European Union, like all other Parties, is a member of the Committee, where it is represented by the Commission.