Proposal for a Council Decision establishing the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union within the General Council of the World Trade Organization on the European Union request for an extension of the WTO waiver relating to the autonomous preferential regime for Western Balkans

The objective of this proposal is to establish the position to be taken by the European Union within the General Council of the World Trade Organization (WTO) concerning an extension of the WTO waiver on autonomous trade preferences which should be granted by the European Union to Western Balkans until 31 December 2021. This would be the third extension of the waiver by the WTO.

On 8 December 2000, the General Council of the WTO agreed to grant the European Union a waiver of its obligations under paragraph 1 of Article I of the GATT 1994 to the extent necessary to permit the European Union to afford the preferential treatment to the beneficiaries countries for a period through 31 December 2006. On 28 July 2006, the European Union was granted an extension until 31 December 2011. On 5 December 2011, the European Union was granted an extension until 31 December 2016.

EUR-Lex: COM(2016)233: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2016:233:FIN

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