Proposal for a Council Decision on the position to be taken by the European Union within the Trade Committee set up by the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Korea, of the other part, as regards the adoption of the rules of procedures of the Trade Committee and the establishment of a list of 15 individuals to serve as arbitrators

The Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Korea, of the other part was signed on 6 October 2010, and it is provisionally applied as of 1 July 2011.

Article 15.1 of the Agreement establishes a Trade Committee and sets out its main tasks and functions. Article 15.1.4(f) of the Agreement specifies that the Trade Committee may establish its own Rules of Procedure. In the light of the need to swiftly initiate the implementation of the Agreement, the Rules of Procedure of the Trade Committee are to be adopted at one of the first meetings of the Trade Committee. The first such meeting is scheduled to take place on 12 October 2011 in Seoul. At a later stage, detailed rules of procedure for the Specialised Committees and Working Groups will follow.

Article 14.18 of the Agreement requires the Trade Committee to establish a list of 15 individuals to serve as arbitrators within six months from the entry into force or provisional application of the Agreement. In case of a dispute, the parties will consult with a view to agreeing on the arbitrators who would sit on an arbitration panel (if the parties cannot agree on the composition of the panel, the arbitrators will be selected by lot from the roster). The establishment of the roster is therefore important in ensuring that the dispute settlement procedure under the Agreement is effectively available.

This document constitutes the proposal for a legal instrument approving the position that the European Union will be taking in the Trade Committee on the above mentioned two issues.

EUR-Lex: COM(2011)592: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2011:592:FIN

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