Proposal for a Council Decision on a European Union position concerning the decision by the WTO General Council on the extension of the WTO waiver in order to implement the EU autonomous trade preferential regime for the Western Balkans

In 2010 the European Union launched the process of renewing the autonomous preferential regime for the Western Balkans until 31 December 2015. The legislative procedure necessary for the adoption of the renewal of the regime has now been completed.

To permit the EU to provide preferential treatment for the application of autonomous preferential regime to the Western Balkans, without being required to extend the same preferential treatment to the like products of any other Member of the WTO, the EU needs to present a request for the extension of the waiver from the provisions GATT 1994 Article I:1 until 31 December 2016.

• Primary Source

EUR-Lex: COM(2011)716: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2011:716:FIN

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