Activites

• 2005/06/30 Final act published in Official Journal
  • Regulation 2005/980
  • OJ L 169 30.06.2005, p. 0001-0043
• #2671
• 2005/06/27 Council Meeting
• 2005/06/27 End of procedure in Parliament
• 2005/06/27 Act adopted by Council after consultation of Parliament
• #2650
• 2005/03/16 Council Meeting
  • 2650 summary

    The Council examined a draft Regulation applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences (GSP) for trade with developing countries over the period 1 April 2005 to 31 December 2008. It agreed to mandate the Permanent Representatives Committee to pursue the outstanding issues at its next meeting on 24 March 2005, so that the Regulation could be adopted by 1 April 2005. The main question considered by the Council concerned treatment of the textiles sector and in particular the implications for trade in that sector with India. Discussions focused in particular on the problem of the graduation threshold, i.e. the percentage of total imports of the product concerned from all beneficiary countries above which a particular country ceases to benefit from the GSP. The difficult situation of the European textiles industry was emphasised by many delegations. The main innovations proposed by the Council were the following:• a more generous offer, introducing in particular some 300 extra products, most in the area of agriculture and fisheries;• a special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance in beneficiary countries that ratify and implement a certain number of international conventions on the subject.The "Everything but Arms" regime, which provides for zero duties on imports of products from the least developed countries, would remain unchanged.In addition, the draft Regulation envisages bringing forward the entry into force of the new GSP to 1 April 2005, to take account of the action plan adopted for countries affected by the December 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean.

• 2005/03/09 Results of vote in Parliament
  • Results of vote in Parliament
  • T6-0066/2005 summary

    The European Parliament adopted the report by Antolín SÁNCHEZ PRESEDO (PES, ES). (Please refer to the summary dated 22/02/2005).

• 2005/03/08 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 2005/02/24 Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading
  • A6-0045/2005
• 2005/02/22 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
• 2005/02/10 Modified legislative proposal published
  • COM(2005)0043 summary

    Due to the tsunami disaster, which occurred on 26 December 2004, the new GSP system should enter into force as quickly as possible. However, in the interest of a smooth transition from the current GSP scheme to the new GSP scheme it is appropriate to provide for a transitional period until 30 June 2005 until when preferences under the Regulation 2501/2001/EC shall continue to apply if they provide for a more favourable treatment to products than the new GSP scheme.This new regime provides for better market access for all developing countries including the tsunami-hit countries. They benefit from the new regulation through the reinsertion of tariff preferences for several of their products as well as inclusion of new products in the GSP. Sri Lanka will also benefit byinclusion in the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance. The entry into force of the regulation should therefore be advanced to 1 April 2005. The procedure for the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance has been changed accordingly by provisionally incorporating the countries that already qualify for the arrangement. These beneficiary countries, like any other developing countries, shall submit a request for a definitive selection as beneficiary by 31 May 2005. The Commission will assess all the requests. A final list of countries qualifying on 1 July 2005 will be published. Finally, due to the advanced entry into force of the new GSP it appears necessary to provide for a transition period from the current GSP system underCouncil Regulation 2501/2001/EC to the new GSP scheme.It should be noted that some technical details in the regulation have also been fine-tuned.

  • DG [{'url': 'http://ec.europa.eu/trade/', 'title': 'Trade'}],
• 2005/01/13 Referral to associated committees announced in Parliament
• 2005/01/11 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 2004/10/20 Legislative proposal published
  • COM(2004)0699 summary

    PURPOSE : to apply a scheme of generalised tariff preferences. PROPOSED ACT : Council Regulation. CONTENT : the Commission is proposing a new Generalised Tariff Preferences Regulation based on guidelines adopted in July 2004. It builds upon and incorporates many of the provisions included in the previous GSP Regulation, which is set to expire on 31 December 2005. New measures have, however, been incorporated into the proposed Regulation based on best practice and past experience. In addition, some elements of the old Regulation have been streamlined in a bid to create a more efficient system for preferential trading. For example, the Commission proposes reducing the number of arrangements from the current five to three. The three arrangements would refer to – a general arrangement, a special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance and a special arrangement for least developed countries (in other words "everything but arms" or EBA). As under the current scheme, preferences for products will continue being differentiated depending on a product's sensitivity. Thus, the current flat rate reduction of 3.5% for sensitive products and 100% rate for non-sensitive products will be maintained. At the same time, however, the products range in the general arrangement is enlarged and will apply mostly to agricultural and some fishery products. Moreover, a new generous special incentive scheme is being introduced. The special arrangement for sustainable development and good governance targets those developing countries most in need. Any country to have ratified and effectively implemented the 16 core conventions on human labour rights and seven of the Conventions related to good governance and the protection of the environment, will be immediately granted additional preferences. Further changes include adjustments to the graduation mechanism in a bid to make it simpler. The existing criterion has been replaced with a single straightforward criterion – share of the Community market, expressed as a share of preferential imports. Graduation should play an important role in regulating trade flows for textile products and clothing, following the abolition of MFA quotas on 31 December 2004. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: The regulation does not incur costs charged to the EC budget. Its application does, however, entail loss of customs revenue. The annual loss of customs revenue for the draft regulation is estimated to be EUR 2,2 billion (based on GSP statistics for the year 2003).

  • DG [{'url': 'http://ec.europa.eu/trade/', 'title': 'Trade'}],

Documents

• Legislative proposal published: COM(2004)0699
• Modified legislative proposal published: COM(2005)0043
• Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading: A6-0045/2005
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T6-0066/2005
• Debate in Council: 2650
• : Regulation 2005/980
• : OJ L 169 30.06.2005, p. 0001-0043

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)