These changes had various consequences for many proposals presented by the Commission, on the basis of the "old" treaties, before that date. For more information, see COM (2009)0665. In some cases, a new legal framework was conferred on certain proposals that had not previously been subject to the interinstitutional decision-making process. The European Parliament would now be involved in any decision on those proposals.

The proposal in this procedure file is one such case. It was previously based on Articles 133 and 300 of the EC Treaty, (covering the common commercial policy and the conclusion of agreements between the European Community and one or more States or international organisations). It now falls under Articles 207 and 218(6)(a) of the TFEU, under which the European Parliament's consent must be obtained, under the new interinstitutional non-legislative procedure, before the Council adopts any decision concluding an international agreement relating to the common commercial policy.