Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION establishing the position to be taken on the Union's behalf in the EPA committee set up by the Stepping Stone Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between Côte d'Ivoire, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part, on the adoption of the rules of procedure of the EPA Committee.

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

This proposal concerns the decision establishing the position to be taken on the Union's behalf in the EPA committee set up by the Stepping Stone Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between Côte d'Ivoire, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part, on the adoption of the rules of procedure of the EPA committee.

The Stepping Stone Economic Partnership Agreement (hereinafter known as ‘the Agreement’) between Côte d'Ivoire, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other, aims to contribute to reducing and eradicating poverty by developing a consistent trade partnership, promoting a more competitive and diversified economy and stronger growth, trade cooperation and good governance, promoting the gradual integration of Côte d'Ivoire into world trade, improving capacities relating to trade policy and trade-related issues, reinforcing existing relations between the parties, based on solidarity and mutual interest, and promoting the development of the private sector and job creation.

The Agreement was signed in Abidjan on 26 November 2008 and in Brussels on 22 January 2009 ¹ and has been applied provisionally since 3 September 2016 ² .

Article 73 of the Agreement establishes an EPA Committee, which is responsible for the administration of all the fields covered by the Agreement and for the achievement of all the tasks mentioned in the Agreement.

Article 73 of the Agreement states that the EPA Committee determines the rules governing its organisation and operation, that its meetings may be open to third parties, and that the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) commissions may be invited to the EPA Committee meetings.

Decisions of the EPA Committee are adopted by consensus between the parties and after corresponding internal procedures.

The Union and its Member States are parties to the Agreement. The EU parties on the EPA Committee are representatives of the European Commission and the Member States.

At its first meeting, the EPA Committee must adopt a joint decision establishing the rules of procedure of the EPA Committee (the ‘envisaged act’).

The aim is to determine, pursuant to Article 73(2) of the Agreement, the rules governing its organisation and operation.

This proposal for a Council Decision establishes the Union position on a decision to be adopted by the EPA Committee on the rules of procedure of the EPA Committee.

After consulting each other in advance, the two parties to the Agreement approved and initialled the proposed text at the inaugural meeting of the EPA Committee on 5 April 2017 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. The draft rules of procedure are in line with Article 73 of the Agreement and similar to rules of procedure adopted by the European Union in the context of other economic partnership agreements.

The draft rules of procedure cover, in particular, the composition and chair of the EPA Committee, its secretariat, the organisation of its meetings, minute-taking and the decisions of the EPA committee, the language regime and expenses associated with EPA Committee meetings.

The obligation to draw up rules of procedure is set out in the Agreement. 

The proposal has no impact on the economic, social or environmental policy of the EU or of Côte d'Ivoire. 

Article 218(9) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides for decisions establishing ‘the positions to be adopted on the Union's behalf in a body set up by an agreement, when that body is called upon to adopt acts having legal effects, with the exception of acts supplementing or amending the institutional framework of the agreement..’

The concept of ‘acts having legal effects’ includes acts that have legal effects by virtue of the rules of international law governing the body in question. It also includes instruments that do not have a binding effect under international law, but that are ‘capable of decisively influencing the content of the legislation adopted by the EU legislature’ ³ .

The EPA Committee is a body set up by the Agreement.

Article 73 of the Agreement provides that the EPA Committee determines the rules governing its organisation and operation.

The act which the EPA Committee is called upon to adopt constitutes an act having legal effects. The envisaged act will be binding under international law in accordance with Article 72 of the Agreement.

The envisaged act does not supplement or amend the institutional framework of the Agreement.

The procedural legal basis for the proposed Council decision, therefore, is Article 218(9) TFEU.

The substantive legal basis for a decision depends primarily on the objective and content of the envisaged act in respect of which a position is adopted on behalf of the Union. If the envisaged act pursues two aims or has two components, and if one of those aims or components is identifiable as the main one, whereas the other is merely incidental, the decision must be founded on a single substantive legal basis, namely that required by the main or predominant aim or component.

Given the nature of the Agreement, the envisaged act pursues objectives and components in the areas of the common commercial policy and development cooperation. These aspects of the envisaged act are inseparably linked without one being incidental to the other.

The substantive legal basis of the proposed Council Decision, therefore, is Articles 207 and 209 TFEU.

The legal basis of the proposed Council Decision should be Articles 207 and 209 in conjunction with Article 218(9) TFEU.

COUNCIL DECISION

establishing the position to be taken on the Union's behalf in the EPA committee set up by the Stepping Stone Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between Côte d'Ivoire, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part, on the adoption of the rules of procedure of the EPA Committee.

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Articles 207 and 209, in conjunction with Article 218(9), thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:

1. The Economic Partnership Agreement (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Agreement’) between Côte d'Ivoire, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part, was signed in Abidjan on 26 November 2008 and in Brussels on 22 January 2009 ⁴ and has been applied provisionally since 3 September 2016 ⁵ .

2. Article 73 of the Agreement establishes an EPA Committee, which is to be responsible for the administration of all the fields covered by the Agreement and for the achievement of all the tasks referred to in the Agreement.

3. Article 73 of the Agreement provides that the EPA Committee determines the rules governing its organisation and operation.

4. The EPA Committee shall, at its first meeting, adopt a decision on its rules of procedure.

5. It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on behalf of the Union within the EPA Committee, given that the decision of the EPA Committee is binding on the Union,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The position to be taken on behalf of the Union at the first meeting of the EPA Committee is based on the draft decision of the EPA Committee annexed to this Decision.

Article 2

This Decision is addressed to the Commission.

Done at Brussels,

ANNEX

DECISION No …/2017 OF THE EPA COMMITTEE

set up by the Stepping Stone Economic Partnership Agreement between Côte d’Ivoire, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part, on the adoption of the rules of procedure of the EPA Committee

THE EPA COMMITTEE,

Having regard to the Stepping Stone Economic Partnership Agreement between Côte d’Ivoire, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Agreement’), signed in Abidjan on 26 November 2008 and in Brussels on 22 January 2009 ¹ , and in particular Article 73 thereof,

Whereas:

The Agreement provides that the EPA Committee shall determine the rules governing its organisation and operation,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

The rules of procedure of the EPA Committee are established as set out in Annex I.

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on ….

Done at …,

ANNEX I

RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE EPA COMMITTEE

set up by the Stepping Stone Economic Partnership Agreement between Côte d’Ivoire, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part

Article 1

Composition and Chair

1. The EPA Committee shall be composed of representatives of the members of the Council of the European Union and of the European Commission, of the one part, and representatives of Côte d’Ivoire, at ministerial or senior official level, of the other part.

2. Reference to "the Parties" in the rules of procedure is in accordance with the definition provided for in Article 72 of the Agreement.

3. The EPA Committee shall be chaired alternately for periods of 12 months by a representative of the European Union and by a representative of Côte d’Ivoire. The first period shall begin on the date of the first meeting of the EPA Committee provided for in the Agreement and end on 31 December of the following year. The first chairperson of the EPA Committee shall be a representative of Côte d’Ivoire.

4. Representatives of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) commissions may be invited to attend EPA Committee meetings. The Parties may decide to invite representatives of civil society and the private sector, and experts, on an ad hoc basis, to meetings of the EPA Committee in the capacity of observers.

Article 2

Meetings

1. The EPA Committee shall meet at regular intervals, not exceeding a period of one year, and shall hold extraordinary meetings whenever circumstances so require, if the Parties so agree.

2. Each session of the EPA Committee shall be held at a date and place agreed by both Parties.

3. The meetings of the EPA Committee shall be convened by the Chairperson of the EPA Committee.

Article 3

Delegations

Before each meeting, the Chairperson of the EPA Committee shall be informed of the intended composition of the Côte d’Ivoire and EU delegations.

Article 4

Secretariat

Officials of the European Commission and of Côte d’Ivoire shall act alternately for periods of twelve months as the secretariat of the EPA Committee. This period shall coincide with the alternating chair of the EPA Committee by the EU Party and by Côte d’Ivoire. The Party providing the Chairperson shall also run the secretariat.

Article 5

Documentation

Where the deliberations of the EPA Committee are based on written supporting documents, such documents shall be numbered and circulated by the secretariat as EPA Committee documents.

Article 6

Correspondence

1. All correspondence addressed to the EPA Committee shall be directed to the secretariat of the EPA Committee.

2. The secretariat shall ensure that correspondence addressed to the EPA Committee is forwarded to the Chairperson of the Committee and, where appropriate, circulated as documents referred to under Article 5 of these rules of procedure to the correspondents of the Parties provided for in Article 73 of the Agreement.

3. Correspondence from the Chairperson of the EPA Committee shall be sent to the correspondents by the secretariat and circulated where appropriate as documents referred to in Article 5 of these rules of procedure.

Article 7

Agendas for meetings

1. A provisional agenda for each meeting shall be drawn up by the secretariat of the EPA Committee on the basis of proposals made by the Parties. It shall be forwarded by the secretariat of the EPA Committee to the correspondents no later than 15 days before the start of the meeting.

2. The provisional agenda shall include the items for which a request for inclusion in the agenda has been received by the secretariat no later than 21 days before the start of the meeting, although such items will not be included in the provisional agenda unless the relevant supporting documents have been received by the secretariat no later than the date of dispatch of the provisional agenda.

3. The agenda shall be adopted by the EPA Committee at the beginning of each meeting. Items other than those appearing on the provisional agenda may be placed on the agenda if the Parties so agree.

4. The Chairperson of the EPA Committee, in agreement with the Parties, may invite experts to attend the Committee's meetings in order to provide information on specific subjects.

5. With the agreement of the Parties, the secretary may shorten the time limits specified in paragraph 1 in order to take account of the requirements of a particular case.

Article 8

Minutes

1. Draft minutes of each meeting shall be drawn up by the secretariat as soon as possible.

2. The minutes shall, as a general rule, summarise each item on the agenda, specifying where applicable:

   1. all the documents submitted to the EPA Committee;

   2. any statement that a member of the EPA Committee has asked to be entered,

   3. the decisions adopted, recommendations made, statements agreed upon and conclusions adopted on specific items.

3. The minutes shall also include a list of the persons attending the EPA Committee meeting and a list of the members of the delegations accompanying them.

4. The minutes shall be approved in writing by both Parties within two months of the date of the meeting. Once approved, two copies of the minutes shall be signed by the secretary, and each of the Parties shall receive one original of these authentic documents.

Article 9

Decisions

1. The EPA Committee shall adopt its decisions by consensus.

2. The EPA Committee may decide to submit any general matter raised in the context of the Agreement and with an ACP-EU interest to the ACP-EU Council of Ministers as defined in Article 15 of the Cotonou Agreement.

3. In the period between meetings, the EPA Committee may adopt decisions by written procedure if both Parties so agree. A written procedure shall consist of an exchange of notes between the Parties.

4. Decisions of the EPA Committee shall be entitled "Decision" followed by a serial number, the date of their adoption and a description of their subject. Each decision shall indicate the date of its entry into force.

5. Decisions adopted by the EPA Committee shall be authenticated by a representative of the European Commission on behalf of the European Union Party and by a representative of Côte d’Ivoire.

6. Decisions shall be forwarded to the Parties as documents of the EPA Committee.

Article 10

Public access

1. Unless otherwise decided, meetings of the EPA Committee shall not be public.

2. Each Party may decide on the publication of the decisions of the EPA Committee in its respective official publication.

Article 11

Language regime

1. The working language of the EPA Committee shall be the official language common to the Parties.

2. The EPA Committee shall discuss and adopt decisions on the basis of documentation and proposals prepared in the language referred to in paragraph 1.

Article 12

Expenditure

1. Each Party shall meet any expenses it incurs as a result of attending the meetings of the EPA Committee, both with regard to staff, travel and subsistence expenditure and with regard to postal and telecommunications expenditure.

2. Expenditure in connection with the organisation of meetings and reproduction of documents shall be borne by the Party hosting the meeting.

3. Expenditure in connection with the provision of interpretation services at meetings and translation of documents shall be borne by the Party hosting the meeting. Expenditure associated with the provision of interpretation services and translation of documents into or from other official languages of the European Union shall be borne by the EU Party.