Proposal for a Council Decision establishing an EU position in view of the adoption of a decision of the EPA Committee regarding the EU accession of Croatia and changes in the list of countries and territories associated with the EU

Background information:

The Interim Agreement establishing a framework for an Economic Partnership Agreement between the Eastern and Southern Africa States, on the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, on the other part, was signed on 29 August 2009 and has been provisionally applied since 14 May 2012. The Agreement applies, on the one hand, to the territories in which the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union (TFEU) is applied, and on the other hand, to the territories of the Signatory Eastern and Southern Africa States (Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zimbabwe).

Article 67 of the Agreement states that the EPA Committee may decide on any transitional or amending measures that might be necessary concerning the accession of new Member States to the European Union (EU). The Republic of Croatia joined the EU on 1 July 2013 and deposited its Act of accession to the Agreement on 22 March 2017.

Article 70 of the Agreement provides that the Annexes and Protocols to the Agreement form an integral part thereof and may be reviewed and or amended by the EPA Committee. Annex IX to Protocol 1 to the Agreement lists the overseas countries and territories for the purposes of this Protocol without prejudice to the status of these countries and territories, or future changes in their status.

Saint Barthélemy became an overseas territory associated with the EU on 1 January 2012. Mayotte became an outermost region of the EU on 1 January 2014. The same date saw the entry into force of Council Decision 2013/755/EU on the association of the overseas countries and territories with the EU, which applies to all the overseas countries and territories listed in Annex II to the TFEU. The list of overseas countries and territories in Annex IX to Protocol 1 of the Agreement should therefore be updated.

This draft law puts forward the proposed position defended by the European Union with regard to the adoption of a decision of the EPA Committee regarding the accession of Croatia to the EU and changes in the list countries and territories associated with the EU.

EUR-Lex: COM(2017)382: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2017:382:FIN

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