Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1215/2009 introducing exceptional trade measures for countries and territories participating in or linked to the European Union’s Stabilisation and Association process and suspending its application with regard to Bosnia and Herzegovina

The EU's policy towards the countries of the Western Balkans is defined within the Stabilisation and Association Process launched in May 1999 by the European Commission. At its meeting in Lisbon on 23 and 24 March 2000, the European Council concluded that Stabilisation and Association Agreements with Western Balkan countries should be preceded by asymmetrical trade liberalisation. Asymmetrical trade liberalisation has been provided for by means of Council Regulation (EC) No 1215/2009 introducing exceptional trade measures for countries and territories participating in or linked to the Stabilisation and Association process. Regulation (EC) No 1215/2009 applies until 31 December 2015.

Since the launch of the Stabilisation and Association Process, Stabilisation and Association Agreements have been concluded between the Union and all concerned Western Balkan countries, with the exception of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. Bosnia and Herzegovina was recognised as a potential candidate country for EU accession in 2003 and signed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement in 2008, agreeing to the EU’s conditions for membership. Since then, an Interim Agreement on trade and trade-related matters with Bosnia and Herzegovina applies, pending the finalisation of the ratification process of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement.

Having regard to differences in the scope of the tariff liberalisation under the contractual regimes which have been developed between the Union and all participants to the Stabilisation and Association process and the preferences granted under Regulation (EC) No 1215/2009, it is suggested to prolong the duration of Regulation (EC) No 1215/2009 until 31 December 2020, so as to give the beneficiaries of the exceptional trade measures and the European Union sufficient time to align, where appropriate, preferences granted under Regulation (EC) No 1215/2009 with those provided for under the Stabilisation and Association Agreements.

Following the enlargement of the European Union on 1 July 2013, Bosnia and Herzegovina have not yet accepted to adapt trade concessions granted under the Interim Agreement in order to take into account the preferential traditional trade between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina under the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA). In case Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European Union do not find an agreement on the adaptation of trade concessions, preferences granted to Bosnia and Herzegovina under Regulation (EC) No 1215/2009 should be suspended as of 1 January 2016. Once Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European Union have signed and applied provisionally an agreement on the adaptation of trade concessions in the Interim Agreement, these preferences will be re-established.

Article 21(1) of the EU Treaty provides that the Union's action on the international scene shall be guided by the principles which have inspired its own creation, development and enlargement, and which it seeks to advance in the wider world, including democracy, the rule of law, the universality and indivisibility of human rights and fundamental freedoms and respect for human dignity. The Union must respect and promote those principles also in its external action, including its common commercial policy.

Regulation (EC) No 1215/2009 does not provide any possibility to temporarily suspend the grant of exceptional trade measures in case of serious and systematic violations of the fundamental principles of human rights, democracy and the rule of law by its beneficiaries. It is appropriate to introduce such possibility, so as to ensure that swift action can be taken in case serious and systematic violations of the fundamental principles of human rights, democracy and the rule of law would occur in one of the countries and territories participating in or linked to the European Union's Stabilisation and Association process.

Finally, a technical adjustment regarding Montenegro's access to the additional global quota for wine imports is included.

EUR-Lex: COM(2014)386: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2014:386:FIN

---