| Author (Corporate) | European Commission |
|---|---|
| Series Title | COM |
| Series Details | (2012) 640 final (7.11.12) |
| Publication Date | 07/11/2012 |
| Content Type | Policy-making |
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With the accession of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania, the European Union enlarged its customs union. Consequently, the European Union was obliged under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules to enter into negotiations with WTO Members having negotiating rights in the schedules of any of the acceding Members in order to agree on compensatory adjustment. Such adjustment is due if the adoption of the EU’s external tariff regime results in an increase in tariffs beyond the level for which the acceding country had bound itself at the WTO, whilst taking ‘due account of reductions of duties on the same tariff line made by other constituents of the customs union upon its formation’. On 29 January 2007, the Council authorised the Commission to open negotiations under Article XXIV:6 of GATT 1994. The Commission has therefore negotiated with the Members of the WTO holding negotiating rights with respect to the withdrawal of specific concessions in relation to the withdrawal of the schedules of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania, in the course of their accession to the European Union. Negotiations with the People's Republic of China resulted in a draft Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters that was initialled on 31 May 2012. |
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| Source Link | http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2012:0640:FIN:EN:PDF |
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| Countries / Regions | China, Europe |
