Proposal for a DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Council Decision 2008/971/EC as regards the equivalence of forest reproductive material produced in the United Kingdom to such material produced in the Union

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

Council Decision 2008/971/EC establishes rules for the equivalence of forest reproductive material produced in third countries.

Following the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union on 1 February 2020, and in view of the end of the transition period provided for in the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community (Withdrawal Agreement) on 31 December 2020, the United Kingdom has submitted a request to the Commission to recognise equivalence, as regards forest reproductive material produced in that country complying with the requirements of Council Directive 1999/105/EC.

The United Kingdom has transposed and effectively implemented Directive 1999/105/EC since its adoption.

It has informed the Commission that its respective legislation, which has transposed that Directive, will not change and will continue to apply from 1 January 2021. The Commission has examined the legislation of the United Kingdom and concluded that forest reproductive material produced in the United Kingdom is equivalent to forest reproductive material produced in the Union and complying with Directive 1999/105/EC, since the former affords the same assurances as regards the approval of its basic material and the measures taken for its production with a view to marketing, as the latter.

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

amending Council Decision 2008/971/EC as regards the equivalence of forest reproductive material produced in the United Kingdom to such material produced in the Union

(Text with EEA relevance)

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 43(2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee,

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure,

Whereas:

1. Council Decision 2008/971/EC ¹ establishes rules for the equivalence of forest reproductive material produced in third countries.

2. Council Directive 1999/105/EC ² applies to the marketing within the Union of forest reproductive material. It concerns reproductive material of those tree species and artificial hybrids thereof, which are important for forestry purposes in all or part of the Union.

3. The United Kingdom has transposed and effectively implemented Council Directive 1999/105/EC, as well as its implementing acts.

4. Union law, including Directive 1999/105/EC and Decision 2008/971/EC, is applicable to and in the United Kingdom during the transition period that ends on 31 December 2020, in accordance with the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community (Withdrawal Agreement), and in particular Article 126 and Article 127(1) thereof.

5. In view of the end of the transition period provided for in the Withdrawal Agreement, the United Kingdom has submitted a request to the Commission for the recognition of the equivalence, from 1 January 2021, of forest reproductive material produced in that country with such material produced in the Union in accordance with respective Union law.

6. The United Kingdom has informed the Commission that its legislation, which has transposed Directive 1999/105/EC, will not change and will continue to apply from 1 January 2021.

7. The Commission has examined the relevant legislation of the United Kingdom. It has concluded that forest reproductive material, and in particular the categories ‘source identified’, ‘selected’ and ‘qualified’ categories, produced in the United Kingdom is equivalent to forest reproductive material produced in the Union and complying with Directive 1999/105/EC and the conditions of Annex II to Decision 2008/971/EC, since the former affords the same assurances as regards the approval of its basic material and the measures taken for its production with a view to marketing as the latter.

8. Therefore, it is appropriate to recognise the equivalence of such forest reproductive material produced in the United Kingdom to that produced in the Union.

9. The United Kingdom should therefore be included in Annex I to Decision 2008/971/EC, without prejudice to the application of Union law to and in the United Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland in accordance with Article 5(4) of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland to the Withdrawal Agreement in conjunction with Annex 2 to that Protocol.

10. Decision 2008/971/EC should therefore be amended accordingly.

11. As the transition period provided for in the Withdrawal Agreement ends on 31 December 2020, this Decision should apply from 1 January 2021,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

Amendments to Decision 2008/971/EC

Annex I to Decision 2008/971/EC is amended in accordance with the Annex to this Decision.

Article 2

Entry into force and application

This Decision shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from 1 January 2021.

Article 3

Addressees

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels,

ANNEX

In Annex I to Decision 2008/971/EC, the table is amended as follows:

1. the following entry is inserted between the entry ‘CH’ and the entry ‘NO’:

___________________________

(**) In accordance with the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, and in particular Article 5(4) of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland in conjunction with Annex 2 to that Protocol, for the purposes of this Annex, references to the United Kingdom do not include Northern Ireland’;

2. the footnote (*) is replaced by the following:

‘(*) CA – Canada, CH – Switzerland, GB— United Kingdom, NO – Norway, RS – Serbia, TR – Turkey, US – United States.’